Abdel Ahmed stars for Braveheart MMA on thrilling night of action in Kirkcaldy
As someone who lost nearly £1 million when beaten by Canada's Olivier Aubin-Mercier in a Professional Fighters League Lightweight World Championship contest at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2022, Mixed Martial Arts legend Stevie Ray knows what it’s like to suffer massive disappointment.
So that’s why promoter Ray was able to offer more than a little perspective to his nine amateur Braveheart MMA competitors who lost their respective three-round bouts during their home Braveheart Promotions 3 show in front of around 700 spectators at Fife Ice Arena on Saturday.
The only Braveheart success on the 16-fight card came when featherweight Abdel Ahmed, 18, defeated James McKenzie of Ox Fight Academy.
Much later, the final two ‘main event’ fights saw Dean Housley of Higher Level MMA Bathgate stop Manchester Top Team’s Zhiwar Nawroli in round three, before home favourite Tristan Van-Nuil controversially lost to Max Brodie by split decision.
And Kirkcaldy gym owner Ray told the Fife Free Press: “With nine of our 10 guys losing it wasn’t a good overall night for Braveheart MMA coaching wise in terms of getting the right results.
“Yet it had got off to a great start for us when Abdel won the first fight of the night when he punched the guy to the body and landed a liver punch in the third round.
"Then our Don Sakka nearly knocked Marcus Anderson out twice but the guy eventually caught Don with a punch and the fight was stopped in round one.
"Then Lucas McDonald, one of my best guys, absolutely folded his opponent in the first round but he didn't fall down.
"They ended up grappling and Lucas made the mistake of grappling for too long, allowing the guy to recover and he was able to pull off a really slick jumping triangle which might end up getting submission of the night.
“Tristan was hitting and moving and he landed some good shots. I thought he’d won three rounds and the other boy two, which one of the judges agreed with. But I couldn’t believe that the other two judges had Max winning all five rounds.
"But it was really competitive fights and all the guys are still in good spirits. It's amateur fighting, it's all about learning. We had a great crowd in and everybody loved it.”