Brave CF’s “European Invasion” continues this weekend in Sweden where Canada’s Tariq Ismai (6-0) will face Greece’s Bernardo Sopai (7-1) at Brave CF 38 in a bantamweight bout on Saturday.
The 'European Invasion' series is Brave CF's most ambitious project yet — eight events across Europe in a span of weeks, running through a pandemic that shut down most of the sport — and Canadian fighters like Ismail have been among the biggest beneficiaries, getting consistent work on international cards when the Canadian regional scene went quiet.
This bout is both fighters’ first 2020 competition. Ismail, 30, is going for a perfect 7-0 record before becoming a free agent.
An undefeated record at 30 is a rare thing in this sport — most fighters hit six or seven wins and take their first loss somewhere along the way — and Ismail's unblemished mark makes every fight from here a referendum on whether he's a real prospect or just well-matched.
A first fight of the year in August says everything about how 2020 went for regional fighters — gyms closed, cards cancelled, contracts paused — and two athletes finally getting back in the cage in Sweden is exactly the kind of return-to-action story Brave CF's whole summer run was built on.
“I really love Brave,” Ismail said in an interview with MMA Empire.
“Best promotion I’ve been a part of, hands down.”
Saturday’s fight will be Ismail’s third under the Brave CF banner, after he left TKO MMA in 2019 following a dispute with the promotion’s front man, Stephane Patry.
TKO MMA was the gold standard of Canadian regional MMA for a decade — the promotion that launched Georges St-Pierre and a generation of Quebec fighters — and a fighter leaving that home for Brave CF's international stage is exactly the kind of career move that separates those chasing a paycheck from those chasing a belt.
Ismail looks to continue undefeated record
“Desert Storm” has six wins under his belt—all coming via unanimous decision. A natural boxer and muay thai striker, Ismail wants to show his complete MMA arsenal as he progresses.
Six straight unanimous decisions is the kind of streak that cuts both ways — it says Ismail is technically sound and never loses rounds, but it also means he hasn't yet shown he can finish a fight, and against a younger, hungrier opponent that question becomes the whole fight.
“I actually train for grappling more than I train for striking,” Ismail said.
The grappling-first approach is a strange fit for a natural boxer — most strikers stay on the feet because that's where they're dangerous — but Ismail's insistence that he's hiding a full wrestling game suggests he's building toward a version of himself nobody's seen yet.
“For the past five years, I’ve wrestled three or four times per week. I’ve yet to show my full MMA game; only the right opponent will bring it out of me. If I want to out-strike my opponent, I can. If I want to out-wrestle my opponent, I can. My true specialty [is] controlling the tempo of the fight and manipulating my opponent’s timing and rhythm.”
The Toronto fighter will certainly face a tough challenge this weekend as his opponent has won all seven victories by knockout or submission, and is the top-ranked bantamweight in Greece.
“I studied his fights, devised a game plan with my coaching staff and training partners, and prepared my mind and body for a war,” Ismail said.
“Only difference for this fight is I sparred three or four times per week.”
Ismail is ranked 12 in Canada’s bantamweight rankings and 10 at featherweight. When talking with MMA Empire, Ismail jokingly said his preferred weight class is “140 pounds, right in the middle.”
Canada's bantamweight division is one of the deepest in the world — a pipeline of talent that's sent fighters like T.J. Grant and Patrick Cote to the UFC — and a #12 ranking at 135 with an undefeated record means Ismail is exactly one statement win away from getting noticed by the big promotions.
“At this stage in my career, I prefer bantamweight because I’m much faster,” he said.
Sopai eager to resume competition
At only 19 years old, Sopai is looking to add another win to his resume and rise in the rankings. “The Lion King” considers himself a solid kickboxer and likes to finish his opponents with punches.
Nineteen in a professional cage is rare air — Sopai is fighting grown men with real records while most teenagers are still figuring out what weight class they want to be — and the fact that he's already a top-ranked fighter in two divisions in Greece says the Europeans are taking him seriously even if Canada isn't yet.
“I don’t usually go to the ground, but if I do, I like to smash [my opponent],” Sopai said in an interview with MMA Empire.
Sopai is the top-ranked flyweight and bantamweight in Greece. In the Europe Balkans, he is ranked 11 at bantamweight and second at flyweight. The young Albanian has no qualms competing against a larger fighter this weekend.
“I don’t really care if [Tariq] fought at featherweight before,” Sopai said.
“It’s the same for me. The fight is in bantamweight.”
A member of Allstars Training Center, Sopai practiced hard for his return to the cage. Even with gym closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked with a small group of trainers outside of the facility.
Allstars in Stockholm is one of the most famous gyms in European MMA — the home of Alexander Gustafsson and a pipeline of UFC talent that most Canadian fighters have only seen on TV — and a 19-year-old training full-time there is exactly the kind of preparation that makes a prospect dangerous.
“Every day is a war with Allstars. Who comes here knows, trust me,” Sopai said.
“I have trained [a lot] for this fight and feel really, really good, more than ready. I don’t do anything different for Ismail, he is one more win on my record.”
For Sopai, this weekend’s fight is another chance to display his dominance in the cage. He hopes another finishing performance will move him closer to main-event status.
“I do my job right, in the best gym and with the best coaches,” Sopai said.
“I’m very confident in myself.”
