Vitalii Yakymenko scores huge upset over Mohammed Farhad at BRAVE CF 70

24 April 2023

Mohammed Farhad (12-5-0) set a milestone as he became the first Indian to compete in Slovenia when he faced Vitalii Yakymenko (5-1-0) of Ukraine at BRAVE 70 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Farhad was scheduled to face Ruel Panales (4-0-0) of the Philippines but Panales had to withdraw from the fight as he was unable to receive a visa for Slovenia. Yakymenko became the last-minute replacement against Mohammed Farhad and came to the cage with a significant disadvantage in reach and size. The 165-cm tall Ukrainian has three first-round stoppage victories, including two submissions, proving that he enjoys fast-paced action.

Farhad represented KHK Dagestan after he divided his current training camp between Dagestan's famous grappling, sambo, and wrestling schools and KHK Team Dagestan. Yakymenko had little hesitation to take India's MMA veteran, Farhad, into deep waters as he went ahead for a takedown in the opening round to totally dominate Farhad in a way unseen before. In one of the biggest upsets in BRAVE CF history, late-replacement Vitaliy Yakymenko dominated India’s number-one-ranked 135-pound athlete, Mohammed Farhad, over three rounds. Farhad’s training at Dagestan didn’t come to his aid as Yakymenko took him down at will and landed elbows that drew the first blood from the Indian veteran.

Yakymenko slowly progressed throughout the rounds with great timing and takedowns before going to work with superb top-control wrestling, transitioning, patience, and calculated striking.

The 26-year-old Yakymenko won the fight by an overwhelming 30-26, 30-26, and 30-25 as Farhad was unable to land any strikes throughout the fight with a lone low kick as an exception. Meanwhile, Yakymenko is on a three-fight winning streak in his career and was immediately called out by Farhad's former nemesis Ruel Panales from the Philippines. Click here for full results from BRAVE CF 70. 

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