Mohammed Shahid: Manny Pacquiao ushers combat sports’ golden age in the Philippines

Manny Pacquiao, Lucas Matthysse

The Philippines is home to several combat sports champions. Among them are World Boxing Association Regular Welterweight Champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao, 39, and Brave CF Bantamweight Champion Stephen “The Sniper” Loman, 23.

On June 9, 2018, Loman became the youngest champion to successfully defend his title in Brave CF, a Bahrain-based mixed martial arts promotion. On July 14, 2018, Pacquiao earned his first WBA title as he dethroned his Argentine opponent Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse, 35.

Brave CF president Mohammed Shahid recognizes what the success of Filipino fighters like Pacquiao and Loman means to Filipinos. Shahid explained, “The historic title defense by the youngest champion in Brave Combat Federation, Stephen Loman and the return of the legend, Manny Pacquiao ushers the golden age of combat sports in Philippines where you see the continuous pursuit for excellence from the youngsters while the legends never cease to inspire and mesmerize not just Philippines but the whole world.”  

Pacquiao has been fighting professionally since 1995 and now holds a professional boxing record of 60 wins and 7 losses. On the other hand, Loman has a professional MMA record of 9 wins and 2 losses.

Brave CF is preparing for its first event in the Philippines with Loman’s second title defense in the main event. Recently, Shahid had a meeting with His Excellency Alfonso A. Ver, Ambassador of Philippines to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

“The Kingdom of Bahrain and the Philippines share a strong bond when it comes to nurturing relations, greater cooperation in trade investments, tourism, as well as culture and education,”Shahid stated. “We have found yet another common ground when it comes to the passion that we share for combat sports.”

There is a large Filipino community in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which shares strong relations and mutually beneficial ties with the Philippines. There are initiatives that strengthen economic relations as well as exchange and cooperation in trade investments, tourism and culture and education between the two countries.

Learn more about the recent developments in Brave CF here: