With just hours remaining for the historic BRAVE CF 86 event in Bulgaria, tensions rose during the staredowns in Burgas on Friday evening, requiring officials to intervene.
Before their main event clash on Saturday night, Mohamed Said Maalem and Atanas Djambazov had an intense face-off. However, the incident that drew the most attention at the staredowns was Khamzat Maaev, who went at opponent Antonio Bushev.
Turkish star Khamzat Maaev slapped Antonio Bushev, which led to a scuffle between the fighters that had to be controlled by the officials in attendance. Later, Maaev explained that he slapped Bushev because of his recent comments. Bushev had suggested that Maaev was a "Khamzat Chimaev from AliExpress or Temu," a remark that did not sit well with Maaev.
Maaev, who recently fought at BRAVE CF 79, has often been compared to Khamzat Chimaev, who also gained global recognition through BRAVE Combat Federation. Meanwhile, Bushev aims to challenge the hype surrounding Maaev and give the Bulgarian fans something to cheer. Earlier in the week, Antonio had jokingly said Maaev was a ''discounted Chimaev'', claiming he was a ''Temu Chimaev'' or ''Aliexpress Chimaev''.
Elsewhere, Jivko Stoimenov and Alex Lohoré had a heated staredown ahead of their Super Welterweight co-main event at BRAVE CF 86, with both fighters clashing heads. Christian Mach and Pavel Vladev also heightened the intensity during the staredown before their Lightweight bout on Saturday night.
Prior to the staredowns, all fighters successfully made weight on their first attempt, making all bouts official for the historic event in Burgas.