Why BRAVE CF 82 is MMA history in the making

BRAVE Combat Federation is one of the fastest-rising mixed martial arts promotions in the world. With their upcoming event, the promotion is looking to make some major history in the sports.

BRAVE CF is a Bahrain-based mixed martial arts promotion founded in late 2016. With more than 80 nations represented throughout the roster, the promotion prides itself on being a global organization and building up the sport in different countries.

South Africa's Nkosi Ndebele is set to headline the BRAVE CF 82 card, as he makes his first defense of the bantamweight title. Fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, the former titleholder that is Jose Torres will find himself challenging for the gold.

Ndebele and Torres had their first meeting at BRAVE CF 73, where the latter was successful in claiming the vacant title via a split decision victory. They followed that with a rematch at BRAVE CF 80, which saw Ndebele capture the gold following a third-round retirement by Torres. Now, at BRAVE CF 82, the two meet in the cage once more - and this time, they are making history.

The pair's first encounter taking place in Bogotá, Colombia, and their second meeting was in Isa Town, Bahrain. With their third meeting set to take place in St. Pierre, Mauritius, this will mean that this is the first trilogy in mixed martial arts history to have all three fights take place on different continents.

Not only is this a historic achievement for Ndebele and Torres but this will also be quite the feat for the promotion itself. Less than a decade into its operations, BRAVE CF will achieve something that no other MMA promotion has ever done.

The promotion has previously visited the African continent with BRAVE CF 14 taking place in Morocco and the subsequent BRAVE CF 19 and BRAVE CF 31 events taking place in South Africa. Mauritius will be the third African country that BRAVE CF adds to its world map, and it will be the fourth overall event on the continent for the promotion.

The rest of the card is also stacked with the best African and international talent too. With a six-fight card, this event is one that is focused on the growth of the sport on the African continent.

The co-main event will be one that immediately provides the challenge for the winner of the main event as it will be a bantamweight title eliminator. Hailing from Zimbabwe, former EFC bantamweight champion Nicholas Hwende will go up against the undefeated Tajikistani that is Khurshed Nazarov.

Bidzina Gavashelishvili looks to become Georgia's next top fighter, and he goes up against the recently-signed former EFC flyweight champion Luthando Biko. The Democratic Republic of Congo's dominant featherweight Ananias Mulumba makes his first trip into the BRAVE CF cage, and he does so against the experienced Ylies Djiroun from France.

BRAVE CF 82 fight card

• Bantamweight title fight: Nkosi Ndebele (c) vs. Jose Torres
• Bantamweight fight: Nicholas Hwende vs. Khurshed Nazarov
• Flyweight fight: Bidzina Gavashelishvili vs. Luthando Biko
• Featherweight fight: Ylies Djiroun vs. Ananias Mulumba
• Super welterweight fight: Eliezer Kubanza vs. Karim Rabei
• Lightweight fight: Ramazan Gitinov vs. Prince Lolia

The event has a super welterweight (175lbs) bout on the cards as the DRC's undefeated Eliezer Kubanza goes up against Karim Rabei, who represents Algeria via France. The curtain-raiser on the card will be a battle where "someone's 0 has got to go" as Bahrain's Ramazan Gitinov welcomes the DRC's Prince Lolia to the promotion.

This event is significant as it could signify a new era for mixed martial arts on the African continent. Beyond that, this is a new era for mixed martial arts as a whole.