BRAVE CF Super Welterweight champion Marcin Bandel wins Oscar of Polish MMA

29 March 2023

When Super Welterweight champion Marcin Bandel was honoured in his home nation this past weekend for his success inside the BRAVE CF Arena last year, BRAVE Combat Federation's top talent continues to garner global recognition.

Following his spectacular armbar win over world-renowned Austrian and top contender Ismail Naurdiev in their BRAVE CF 63 Super Welterweight world title battle at BRAVE CF 63, in Bahrain, late last year, Poland's Bandel got the 2022 Herakles Submission of the Year Award.

The famous Herakles award, known as the "Oscar" of Polish MMA awards, is the highest accolade bestowed by the national athletic council on a Polish combat sports athlete. The celebration, which took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Warsaw, celebrated a who's who of the Polish mixed martial arts scene, including Jan Blachowicz, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, and Mateusz Gamrot.

The Herakles Event has a strict selection process, and participants are chosen based on a variety of variables, including the level of international and local competition encountered and the rankings climbed. Judges consider the visual element of the method, the degree of difficulty of execution, craftsmanship, elegance, and the lineage of the submitted opponent when awarding the Submission of the Year Award.

Bandel stood up and stunned the world in this regard when he promptly eliminated fan-favorite and previous number-two rated Naurdiev via armbar in less than two minutes of the opening round of their five-round title bout.

Naurdiev displayed his lethal punching in the opening exchanges, breaking Bandel's jaw with sharp boxing before the Pole thought on his feet, level-changed, and went for a takedown, quickly moving to a choke.

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The veteran Bandel responded with an even tighter effort at seizing Naurdiev's arm, forcing the 'Austrian WonderBoy' to tap, making Bandel the champion of the vacant category and the number one 175-pounder in the world. That entry had previously garnered him a nomination for Submission of the Year at the 2022 BRAVE CF Awards.