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Brave puts Bahrain in the international spotlight

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The Kingdom of Bahrain is definitely a sports-friendly nation, with many activities taking place every single day throughout the island and several international events having editions or stages of their calendars happening in the country.
Despite that, one thing that Bahrain has always lacked was a local initiative taking over the international scene, instead of an international event coming seasonally to the country. And that’s exactly what Brave Combat Federation, the Mixed Martial Arts promotion founded under the patronage of His Royal Highness Shiekh Khalid bin Hamad al-Khalifa brought to the mix.
Established in 2016, with two events taking place in Bahrain, Brave took the international step in its third edition and crossed the Atlantic, landing in Brazil, the home of Mixed Martial Arts, for a very successful fight night which left the fans, fighters, and media eager for the next instalment.
As a reference, since Brave 3: Battle in Brazil was first announced, the Brazilian media featured more than 1,500 articles about Brave, and the interest was kept for the other editions, even those that didn’t take place in the country. Every one of these pieces featured “the Bahrain-based promotion, founded under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Khalifa”, which now became a well-known fact in the 207-million-people country.
The awareness created by Brave made Bahrain’s image stronger in Brazil and created business opportunities between both countries, according to Renato Mesquita, executive director at Textua, Brazil’s leading sports PR company.
“We conducted an independent survey about the impact of Brave Combat Federation in the Brazilian market and the results were impressive”, Mr Mesquita said. “The event introduced at least 40% of the audience to Bahrain, people that had no idea where was the country before. The internet searches regarding the Kingdom and the Royal Family grew almost 900% during the fight week”.
“Also, business-wise, Brave has opened many doors, directly and indirectly”, Mr Mesquista continued. “The volume of business opportunities created by the event was massive and many local companies turned their eyes to the Middle East, most specifically to Bahrain”, he completed.
In other cases, like Brave 6: Kazakhstan, which took place on April 29th in Almaty, the MMA show was the first contact between both countries.
“There was no diplomatic or economic relation between Bahrain and Kazakhstan”, said Brave President Mohammad Shahid. “That was something, at the same time, challenging and motivating for us. Brave broke out a new market for the Kingdom of Bahrain and after the success of the event, we’re sure it’ll have a huge impact on our status within Central Asia”.
Brave 6 drew thousands of fans to the Halyk Arena and many others to the weekly activities, such as the open workouts and the public weigh-ins, both hosted in the city’s most popular mall for huge audiences.
“We got many calls from Kazakhstan after last week’s event”, Shahid continued. “People wanting to partner up with Brave, people wanting to know when our next event is going to be, and, especially, people wanting to thank Sheikh Khalid for his transformative vision. This is a great opportunity not only for Brave, but, at the end of the day, it can benefit Bahrain’s economy”.
Another country visited by Brave Combat Federation over the last months was India, a long-time partner of Bahrain, which hosted its first fight night on April 23rd.
“Brave 5 in India was a milestone not only to combat sports but for sports ventures in te country”, said Aditya PS, director of the All India Mixed Martial Arts Federation (AIMMAF). “And it was even more special because we had His Highness Sheikh Khalid himself attending the event. That meant a lot for India and for sure strengthened the relation between both countries. The truth is, people in India can’t wait to have another Brave Combat Federation card held here”.
With a busy schedule until the end of the year, Brave Combat Federation will continue its international tour, with eve more countries being added to the list. The promotion is set to come back to Bahrain at least one more time before the end of 2017, with a November event scheduled to take place during the IMMAF World Amateur MMA Championships.
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