Middleweight World Champ Working To Get His Name Written in BRAVE CF History

BRAVE CF Middleweight World Champion Mohammad “The Latest” Fakhreddine has learned plenty of lessons in his life so far, but the most important is that hard work makes dreams come true.

As a result of his dedication, he is now revered by many as one of the most recognizable faces in the burgeoning Arab mixed martial arts (MMA) circuit by becoming the first Lebanese to ever hold a major world title in the sport.

The 36-year-old knockout artist has an opportunity to write his name in history books by becoming a two-division world champion. He is set to face Mohamed “L’Ambiance” Said Maalem for the vacant BRAVE CF Light Heavyweight World Championship in the main event of BRAVE CF 52: Bad Blood, which takes place in Milan, Italy on August 1.

Though betting odds tell Fakhreddine that he is the favorite to walk out with two gold-plated belts draped over his shoulders on fight night, complacency is a non-existing word in his vocabulary as he earned his stature in the world of MMA the hard way.

Nothing was ever handed to Fakhreddine, going through trials and tribulations both inside and outside the cage. The most painful of them all was when he lost his humble home in Beirut to a fire that took away 200 lives and affected thousands in their neighborhood.

His family had no other choice but to migrate to the United States, where they found a new lease on life. Nothing came easy for them, but they had come too far to give up on the American dream.  

Fakhreddine pushed through language barriers and prejudice as he turned an unfamiliar place into his home. 

Participating in athletics was one way for the then-youngster to ingratiate himself with the local community. Doing so broke the ice and allowed him to make new friends and stay active, but it wasn’t until he discovered MMA that he truly began to shine. He went from being a run-of-the-mill practitioner to a prodigy.

Even with a natural aptitude for MMA, success in the cage is never a given. It has to be manufactured through thousands of hours of hard work–something Fakhreddine was not afraid of after seeing the sacrifices his peers in training.

Fakhreddine was determined to be better than good. He wanted to be great, and his coaches helped put the pieces together for him to achieve that. It was evident when he had a career-defining moment in September 2020 when he knocked out Daniel Pereira in the fourth round to capture the BRAVE CF Middleweight World Championship.

Fast forward to 2021, “The Latest” now stands on a much higher pedestal. His persistence has taken him this far. On August 1, one more step remains on his journey towards staking a claim as one of the MMA greats.

Roberto Villa

Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.