Indian rivals steal the show with brawl at Brave 5 weigh-ins

The weigh-ins for Brave 5 were held today in Mumbai, India, as the 20 athletes competing at the event came face to face with their opponents one last time before fight time. Although welterweights Carl “The Bomber” Booth and Tahar “Fast Hands” Hadbi will fight at the main event, it was local fighters Gurdarshan Mangat and Abdul Muneer who stole the show at public weigh-ins, which took place at the R City Mall.

Vying for the right to be called India’s top MMA fighter, Mangat and Muneer had an all out brawl during their staredown, but their matchup is confirmed as the co-main event of the evening, as the two featherweights had no problem making 66 kg., with both men coming in under the limit.

Former TUF Brazil fighter Paulo “Bananada” Gonçalves was one of two fighters to miss weight. The Brazilian came in 200g heavy for his catchweight fight against fellow TUF veteran Alejandro Martinez, who agreed to take the fight and will get 20% of Gonçalves’ purse. The same logic applies to Arnan Chayiasan, who had problems making the 71 kg. limit for his lightweight battle against Hardeep Rai, and will also grant his opponent 20% of his purse.

All other fighters made weight and are ready to put on a show for Brave’s first venture into India. Brave 5: Go For Glory is set to take place at The Dome @ NSCI, in Mumbai, on April 23rd. Tickets for the event are available at bookmyshow.com.

Watch the brawl between Muneer and Mangat:

#Brave5 weigh ins were intense. See the most commented moment of the night, the staredown between @cutman_muneer and @saintlion. Watch it by the point of view of Brave president @thehawkshahid.

Uma publicação compartilhada por BraveMMA (@bravemmaf) em Abr 22, 2017 às 10:20 PDT

Welterweight: Carl Booth (77.4kg) x Tahar Hadbi (77.3 kg)

Featherweight: Gurdarshan Mangat (65.5 kg) x Abdul Muneer (65.8 kg)

Featherweight: Alex Leko (66.2 kg) x Jakub Kowalewicz (66.1 kg)

Lightweight: Erick Indio Brabo (70.4 kg) x Brian Hooi (70.1 kg)

Bantamweight: Jeremy Pacatiw (61.2 kg) x Chaitanyia Gavali (61.5 kg)

Catchweight (68kg): Paulo Bananada (68.2 kg)* x Alejandro Martinez (67.7 kg)

Featherweight: Rolando Gabriel Dy (65.7 kg) x Nelson Paes (66.2 kg)

Bantamweight: Mohammad Farhad (60.6 kg) x Irfan Khan (60.8 kg)

Bantamweight: Bharat Khandare (60.8 kg) x Ahmed Faress (61,2 kg)

Lightweight: Hardeep Rai (70 kg) x Arnan Chayiasan (71.7kg)**

* Paulo Bananada missed the weight by 200g. Alejandro Martinez accepted the fight and will take 20% of his purse.

** Arnan Chayiasan missed the weight by 700g. Hardeep Rai accepted the fight and will take 20% of his purse.