BRAVE CF 70: Ruel Panales took the easy way out, says Mohammed Farhad

14 March 2023

As we approach BRAVE CF 70, which takes place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on April 23, the impending Bantamweight rematch between Mohammed "Sher-e-Hind" Farhad of India and Ruel "Bagsik" Panales of the Philippines is shaping up to be the conclusion of a huge rivalry.

These two sportsmen have unfinished business after a "No Contest" verdict at BRAVE CF 66, when Farhad landed an inadvertent kick to Panales' crotch in the second round of their battle in Bali, Indonesia, last year. Ruel appeared willing to continue, but the BRAVE CF officials decided to end the bout because of his expression and body language.

India's top MMA fighter was furious and believed that Ruel took the easy way out after the outcome, which left him with a bad taste in his mouth. In his post-fight interview, Farhad did not hold back while discussing what happened inside the BRAVE CF cage. He was eager to advance through the 135-pound division in his quest to become the first-ever Indian BRAVE CF champion.

“Both Ruel and I know what happened in that cage,” said Farhad. “If I really connected that way, I would have felt embarrassed. The first kick was a toenail. The second kick was a shin block. It was by no means a kick to his groin area. After the incident, he was in the cage, ready to fight again because he knew he could continue. But then his coach spoke to him in Filipino. From what I understood, his coach instructed him to 'end the fight'. His coach knew that he was getting beaten and informed Ruel not to continue fighting,” said the veteran with eleven knockouts.

"How can you be okay with a fight ending this way? I really did not expect that. I am a fighter. We are all martial artists and warriors. And if you are a warrior, then you should fight. But the truth is, he knew that if he was going to continue fighting in that second round, I was going to destroy him,” said Farhad.

“There was no second option left for him. It was clear for all to see that I was dominating him. I could read his eyes. That is why he called off the fight. Be a warrior, Ruel. Come back, and let’s do this again," added the top Indian fighter, who got his wish, as he will take on Panales at BRAVE CF 70.

In order to conclude this chapter and go up the 135-pound ladder at BRAVE CF's 20th event in Europe, Farhad and the emerging star from the Philippines, Panales, have now had the chance to reboot and improve. The prestigious local group WFC, which returns to action with WFC 25 on the same night, will co-promote BRAVE CF 70.

Marko Drmonjic of Slovenia and Erko Jun of Bosnia face off in the main event's Light Heavyweight division, while Jose "Shorty" Torres of the United States and Nkosi "The Future" Ndebele of South Africa square off in the co-main event's Bantamweight division. Visit www.bravecf.com for additional details.