Tariq Ismail VS Bernardo Sopai

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.

This bout is both fighters’ first 2020 competition. Ismail, 30, is going for a perfect 7-0 record before becoming a free agent.

“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 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 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.”

“At this stage in my career, I prefer bantamweight because I’m much faster,” he said.

A member of the 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.

“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 the 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.”