Stephen Loman took the fight with taller Frans Mlambo to the ground and got a unanimous decision to the delight of the Filipno audience during the initial staging of Brave Combat Federation fighting in Manama, Bahrain.
Loman, fighting out of Baguio City and of the famed Team Lakay, overcame the height and reach disadvantage of his South African native turned Irish opponent, a busted nose in the first that refused to stop dripping blood until the end of the fight, and a beautiful right-left counter combination also in the first to register his seventh win.
The taller Mlambo took a stance of baiting Loman to try to close the distance in the first in order to counter. Loman executed his first takedown, a single leg, but Mlambo managed to get back to his feet and caught Loman with a counter right-left combination that busted Loman’s nose and had him scampering for safe distance. Mlambo, however, failed to inflict more damage until the round’s end.
The fighters began the second frame with Mlambo retaining his strategy of letting Loman close up for a hit and counter. Loman refused to engaged and instead went back to take the fight to the ground with a double leg takedown, slamming the ‘Black Mamba’ to the mat, then deliver elbows and short punches to his face.
Mlambo again gets back on his feet but all damage he can do was a wayward kick to Loman’s groin who was then beautifully riding his bicycle in moving side to side to avoid Mlambo’s reach. Loman delivered a kick to the midsection ticks before the horn sounded to end the round with a flourish.
In the final round, Loman connected with another midsection kick, got tagged with a counter and again got the fight below by flipping over Mlambo in an explosive takedown, his third in the fight.
The ground wrestling got Mlambo got all kinds of trouble after he had taken his back and was almost a victim of a rear naked choke. Mlambo got on his feet again nevertheless.
He, however, never got the chance to execute his striking game as Loman cornered him to the fence and took him down again to the mat for the insurance.
Loman improves to 7-2 with his performance while Mlambo drops to 2-2.
