Semifinals set for Brave CF’s one-night, four-man openweight tournament

UFC veteran Guto Inocente is one of the names confirmed for a one-night, four-man openweight tournament at Brave Combat Federation on Nov. 15 in Bahrain.

Brave CF officially announced the semifinal match-ups on Monday, revealing Inocente will take on Azamat Murzakanov and Moise Rimbon will fight Malik Merad. Less than 24 hours later, though, tournament alternate Mohammad Fakhreddine had to step in and replace an injured Merad.

The winners will collide for a $100,000 check offered to the tournament’s victor.

Inocente (7-4) hasn’t fought in mixed martial arts rules since 2015, when he knocked out Cristiano Souza in his sole MMA bout since leaving the UFC. The one-time Strikeforce veteran fought twice in the Octagon, losing to Derrick Lewis at heavyweight and then to Anthony Perosh in a light heavyweight contest.

Inocente has been very active in the kickboxing circuit in his post-UFC life, winning nine of 12 bouts and challenging Rico Verhoeven for the Glory heavyweight championship, a contest he lost by decision in Sept. 2018.

His opponent in Bahrain will be Murzakanov, who is undefeated with six stoppages in seven wins as a professional fighter. Murzakanov was signed by the UFC in 2017 but was pulled from a fight with Joachim Christensen and suspended by USADA for two years due to an anti-doping violation.

The other side of the grand prix features light heavyweight Rimbon (25-13-3), a longtime veteran of the sport who has shared cages and rings with the likes of Alistair Overeem, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricco Rodriguez, taking on middleweight Fakhreddine (12-3, 1 no-contest).