The U.S. national team alumni and UMMAF national champion has extensive experience in the amateur ranks and was crowned a 2017 IMMAF world gold medalist for his country, in the welterweight division of last year’s IMMAF World Championships, hosted in Bahrain as a part of the 2017 Brave International Combat Week. It was there, Bennett revealed, when he decided upon Brave Combat Federation for his first pro contract.
Bennett recalled that he had the opportunity to get a backstage pass to Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions, and witness how the promotion worked. A meeting with His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa helped make up his mind to initiate his professional career with the promotion.
“I chose to sign for Brave Combat Federation to make my professional debut after attending Brave 9. I met His Highness Sheikh Khalid and his initiatives were supportive for the development of MMA. The team at Brave was very nice to me. I got to see the way the organisation works and how much effort goes into each event. The way fighters are valued by the organisation is really inspiring. I was very intrigued with how Brave keeps growing consistently online and gathers a great fan base with each event. After I became the IMMAF world champion there were a lot of promotions after me, but I wanted to sign for an organisation that wanted to grow together with me and that’s Brave,” said Bennett.
The native from Alaska, USA will compete against Adam Byrne, who also makes his professional debut. Bennett said that going through the amateur system developed by IMMAF has given him the experience to be comfortable in the professional division.
“I feel I have made the best use possible of the IMMAF system. I have been with them since their first few events and, after trying for four years, I was finally able to become world champion at amateur level. I used this time in the amateur scene to build a large following and took the time to learn from my losses and from the mistakes I made. I’m leaving the amateur ranks with a 30-3 record so I’m more than ready for my pro debut,” guarantees Bennett.
Brave 13: European Evolution will be held at the SSE Arena, in Belfast. The main event will be a rematch for the Bantamweight title as current champion Stephen Loman looks to go 2-0 against challenger Frans Mlambo – also a former IMMAF world champion, winning the Men’s Featherweight title in 2015. The Brave 13 co-main event is set for a Catchweight of 73 kg between former UFC fighter Norman Parke and Myles Price.
