Khabib Nurmagomedov, Stephen Loman (©BRAVE CF)

Stephen “The Sniper” Loman, 24, of the Philippines has been reigning as the champion of BRAVE Combat Federation’s bantamweight division since November 17, 2017 when he beat Gurdarshan “Saint Lion” Mangat, 32, of India and Canada. Training out of Team Lakay in La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines, the Igorot mixed martial artist is undefeated in the division.

Recently, BRAVE CF welcomed an undefeated MMA fighter in its bantamweight division. Muhammad “The Punisher” Mokaev, 19, of the United Kingdom has signed with the Bahrain-based MMA promotion.

While Mokaev is fighting out of London, England, he is originally from Dagestan, Russia, the hometown of  Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov, 31. The reigning UFC Lightweight Champion was the one who handed Loman his belt when the Team Lakay representative successfully defended his title at “Brave 18: Bahrain” on November 16, 2018.

Khabib Nurmagomedov, Stephen Loman (©BRAVE CF)

“Brave 18: Bahrain” took place at the Khalifa Sports City Arena, Isa Town, Bahrain. In the 11th bout of the evening, Loman won via unanimous decision against his challenger Felipe Efrain, 24, of Brazil after five five-minute rounds.

It marked the second successful title defense of Loman as the reigning BRAVE CF Bantamweight World Champion. From 2018 to 2019, he successfully defended his belt four times beating Efrain, Frans “The Black Mamba” Mlambo, 29, of Ireland, Elias “Smile” Boudegzdame, 26, of France and Louie “Leonidas” Sanoudakis, 31, of Canada.

BRAVE CF has yet to announce Loman’s next opponent. A great challenger for the Team Lakay product is someone like Mokaev, who trains out of KHK MMA in Bahrain.

Pitting Loman against Mokaev will be unique for BRAVE CF. The former is a five-time champion who is undefeated in the promotion while the latter is undefeated as an amateur fighter.

Mokaev will make his professional MMA debut in BRAVE CF. Details about his promotional debut have yet to be announced, as well.

Loman has been competing professionally since 2012. He joined BRAVE CF in 2016 and he currently holds a professional MMA record of 14 wins and 2 losses.

On the other hand, Mokaev is riding a 23-bout winning streak as an amateur MMA fighter. Most of his wins from 2017 to 2018 were in the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation.