Daniel Gaucho [center] (©BRAVE Combat Federation)

BRAVE CF held “BRAVE CF 31” at the Sibaya Casino in Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa on December 7, 2019. In the main event, Pereira and Chad “Superman” Hanekom, 27, of Sunninghill, South Africa competed for the inaugural BRAVE CF Middleweight World Championship belt.

With a violent performance, Souza silenced the South African fans by knocking out Hanekom in the second round. With a sprawl-and-brawl tactic, the Brazilian contender was able to fend off submissions attempts by his South African opponent in the first round before hurting him in the last few seconds.

Still stunned, Hanekom came out in the second round without being able to fight to the best of his abilities, which played into Souza’s hand. Showing a lot of patience by waiting for the right moment to attack, the Brazilian mixed martial artist connected with a violent combination and kept on the hometown hero until the referee stopped the fight.

Also on the incredible fight night, a great performance by both Djamil “Dynamite” Chan, 29, of Rotterdam, Netherlands and Amin “Fierceness” Ayoub, 24, of Nantes, France, who made his BRAVE CF debut. It ended with the French debutante having his hand raised as he locked in a surprise and quick guillotine choke in the third round.

Jeremy “The Pitbull” Smith, 34, of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa and Mzwandile “Shakebone” Hlongwa, 29, of Durban lived up to the hype and put on an unforgettable show for the crowd. Both men kept swinging for the fences from the first to the last minute but in the end, the effectiveness of the Durban native was too much for his opponent from Johannesburg.

Opening up the main card was another violent knockout. Kevin Ruart of Geneva, Switzerland put the lights out on Ibrahim “Ibra Kumite” Mane of Paris, France after the two men had an incredibly close first two rounds.