Aidan James will make his return to Brave CF on October 27 at Brave 17 as he faces former title-challenger Frans Mlambo.
The bantamweight fighter out of Wales, James faced Tommy Martin at Brave 13 hosted in Belfast. It was a clear victory for James heading into round three where he wound up scoring the (T)KO win, claiming a Performance of the Night bonus in the process.
At 23-years-old as he prepares to make his bantamweight debut – dropping from featherweight – James is undefeated with two knockout wins in his pro career. He went a very impressive 13-3 as an amateur fighter, heading into his pro career with five-straight wins.
Meanwhile, his opponent, “The Black Mamba,” brings extensive experience and knowledge to the cage. Mlambo is a product of SBG Ireland, and a 2015 IMMAF Gold Medalist, also one of the first members of the KHK MMA Fight Team.
Lately, Frans Mlambo has also done some heavy training in South Africa with JP Buys and Chad Hanekom under coach Rich Quan. This in preparation for his fight earlier this year against Felipe Efrain. At Brave 10, Mlambo handed Efrain his first defeat in Brave. With a 3-2 record in the promotion, both of Mlambo’s losses come against Stephen Loman – the current bantamweight champion. He possesses a record of 5-3 and the 26-year-old was last seen in June, losing in a title fight against Loman.
As briefly mentioned above, both fighters have extensive amateur experience. Mlambo, who is primarily trained by John Kavanagh at SBG Ireland, became one of the first major stars from the IMMAF developmental system to flourish in professional MMA. He also aided Conor McGregor as a training partner during his prep for the historic boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. Aidan matches the experience of Mlambo on the amateur circuit.
Brave 17 will take place at the Nishtar Park Sports Complex in Lahore, Pakistan. The event marks the first international mixed martial arts event hosted in Pakistan. Twelve nations will be represented on the show.
