Sun.Star Baguio

Loman to defend title against Efrain in UAE

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STEPHEN Loman is set for another cage return as he defends his world bantamweig­ht title in Brave Combat Federation on November 16.

The Team Lakay fighter will be challenged by Felipe Efrain from Brazil in the main event of Brave 16 at Khalifa Sports City at Isa Town, Bahrain during the Brave Internatio­nal Combat Week 2018.

Loman is the first fighter from Philippine­s to be crowned as a world champion in Bahrain’s first MMA promotion after knocking out Gurdarshan Mangat within the first round in November of 2016 and was crowned by His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

Later, Loman made his first historic title defense in United Kingdom where he faced former IMMAF Gold Medalist Frans Mlambo in a fight that went all five rounds to be decided in favor of Loman.

The 23 – year - old is currently the longest reigning champion and the youngest fighter to be crowned a champion of Brave who trains under veteran coach, Mark Sangiao at Team Lakay which is considered as one of the best fight teams in Asia.

Although Efrain suffered a loss against Mlambo, he emerged strong with a 41 second knockout victory over Arnold Quero at Brave 14 hosted in Tangier, Morocco to earn him the opportunit­y to challenge Loman for the championsh­ip.

Efrain trains at the Chute Boxe Diego Lima which also hosts veteran bantamweig­ht fighters including Thomas Almeida.

The bout marks the first time Team Lakay clashes with Chute Boxe and a win will be iconic for both the fight teams.

Meanwhile, bembers of the Baguio City Council lauded Team Lakay for a recent win abroad, bringing pride to the

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