Ion Grigore, 42, of Bucharest, Romania earned his second victory in BRAVE Combat Federation in his hometown. The Romanian mixed martial artist was one of the winners at “BRAVE CF 35.”

Competing professionally since 2017, Grigore previously fought in Real Xtreme Fighting (RXF), X Fight Nights (XFN) and Eagles Fighting Championship. On November 4, 2019,  he made his BRAVE CF debut at “BRAVE CF 28” at Berăria H in Bucharest where he knocked out his countryman Constantin Florin Danila.

In association with RXF, BRAVE CF held “BRAVE CF 35” at Berăria H on July 20, 2020. It marked the return of the Bahrain-based MMA promotion after going on hiatus due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“BRAVE CF 35” featured six professional MMA bouts. In the co-main event of the evening, Grigore fought Mamadou “The Black Rock” Lamine Sene, 31, of Senegal and France in the heavyweight division.

Lamine Sene started faster and utilized his kicks and uppercuts to kept Grigore at bay.  The Senegalese-French contender almost finished the fight in the first round on more than one occasion.

Mamadou Lamine Sene, Ion Grigore (©BRAVE CF)

However, Grigore persevered and barely made to the second frame after eating a sequence of uppercuts by Lamine Sene. It seemed as if things were going to take a similar route with the Senegalese-French contender also adding in takedowns to neutralize his Romanian opponent.

Things seemed heading for a stoppage victory for Lamine Sene. But Grigore turned up the heat, used his boxing combinations to take over and put his opponent away with a series of punches.

The referee put a stop to the heavyweight contest after 4 minutes and 30 seconds in the second round. Grigore knocked out Lamine Sene via punches.

This is the fifth consecutive time Grigore knocked out an opponent in a professional MMA bout. Winning at “BRAVE CF 35” improved his professional MMA record to 7 wins and 1 loss.

On the other hand, Lamine Sene now has 3 wins and 2 losses. A former Glory kickboxer, he made his BRAVE CF debut at “BRAVE CF 35,” making him the first ever Senegalese MMA fighter to compete in the Bahrain-based MMA promotion.

Six countries were represented at “BRAVE CF 35” namely France, Italy, Mali, Romania, Senegal and Sweden. Grigore was one of the eight representatives of the host country while Lamine Sene solely represented Senegal and was one of the two fighters who represented France.