How tragedy and trash talk are fueling Mohammad Fakhreddine to make BRAVE CF history

Mohammad Fakhreddine’s 2020 started out in horror but ended in triumph.

A pioneer of mixed martial arts in the Middle East, Fakhreddine had to overcome his house burning down, canceled bouts, injuries, and last year’s devastating explosion in his native Lebanon amidst the COVID-19 pandemic before realizing his dream of becoming BRAVE CF middleweight champion in September 2020.

But Fakhreddine’s goals didn’t end there. The former two-weight Desert Force champion was looking to replicate his dual-champ status on the international stage, but the road only wound up getting harder for the 37-year-old.

Scheduled to face Mohamed Said Maalem (11-3) for the vacant light heavyweight title at BRAVE CF 50 this past April, Fakhreddine (14-4) was forced to withdraw just two hours before the fight due to a viral stomach infection that left him hospitalized.

“When I got there, I got there on a Sunday, and Monday I started having problems with my stomach,” Fakhreddine told MMA Junkie. “I started having diarrhea. I started not being able to eat as much. Whatever I eat, I just had to go straight to the bathroom. Even drinking water would give me troubles. So it started on a Monday then it was Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. It was unbelievable. I couldn’t eat anything all day on Wednesday and Thursday before the fight, and I wasn’t feeling myself.

“I thought I’d still go through with the fight, but when I got to the event, I went to the doctors, he checked my blood pressure, and it was really low. I should have been passed out at that level and my resting heart rate was like 140. That’s how much I was dehydrated. I just wasn’t feeling myself, and the doctor’s advice was not to fight. He told me you’ll have one minute and a half at the most and then you’re gonna pass out in the cage, so I decided to not go through with it.”

It was hard enough for Fakhreddine to have to pull out of the fight, but a frustrated Maalem wasn’t having it. He requested that BRAVE crown him the champion and accused Fakhreddine of avoiding the fight. He went on to post an array of memes mocking Fakhreddine, and a war of words between both men erupted. The promotion rebooked the fight for the BRAVE CF 52 headliner on Aug. 1 in Milan, Italy, and Fakhreddine can’t wait to make Maalem pay for his trash talk.

“It’s childish,” Fakhreddine said. “I’ve never heard a guy asking to get the belt without fighting for it. I never heard a real man asking to get a belt without fighting for it, and he wants to call himself a champion. What kind of champion would you be if you get the belt without fighting for it. All that trash talk and him trying to be mad, you can tell he’s trying to fake it to make it. On Aug. 1, I’m gonna mess him up.”

The aftermath of the explosion in Beirut has not been easy for those living there. Fakhreddine has spent his training camp in his home country and is taking all the trials and tribulations he’s been through into the cage with him at BRAVE CF 52.

And he would love nothing more than to bring another title back to Lebanon.

“On Aug. 1, he’s gonna face someone who’s been through hell,” Fakhreddine said. “Right now we’ve been in the gas station for a couple of hours to put gas in the car just to be able to go to the gym. You can only imagine what kind of life we’ve been living here. No electricity, it’s hard to get food, it’s hard to get gas. We’ve been going through hell, and I’m taking all that with me mentally to the fight. I’m going to make him feel every second that I’ve been feeling here. That sh*t is going through my blood and veins right now. I love Lebanon, and I’m here to represent to the fullest.”

He continued, “Being a double champ, it’s gonna mean everything. It’s gonna make me accomplish pretty much everything I’ve always wanted to accomplish in my career. I’ve been a double champ in Desert Force as an Arab champion, but being a double world champion, it’s gonna mean everything to me and my country. It’s gonna mean so much for Lebanon especially through these hard times right now. I’m gonna be giving hope to all the other fighters and to everyone in Lebanon that we can actually do what we want to as long as we put our minds to it.”