Filipino fighter Rolando Dy yielded to Kyrgyz foe Abdisalam Kubanychbek in the main event of BRAVE CF 47: Asian Domination at the Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa Thursday night (early Friday morning, Manila time).
Kubanychbek, who remained undefeated in BRAVE Combat Federation, scored a technical knockout win through a corner stoppage in the world lightweight title eliminator to move one step closer for a crack at the belt.
The 26-year-old Kubanychbek now awaits the winner between current champion Amin Ayoub of France and Ahmed Amir of Egypt in BRAVE CF 50 in April.
Dy's corner opted not to continue fighting after suffering ground game punishment from the Kyrgyz warrior in the first and second rounds.
Kubanychbek unloaded a mix of punches and elbows on Dy, who was pinned against the wall, before a huge takedown at the three-minute mark of the second canto.
He followed it up with ground and pound action and threw elbow strikes while on dominant top position down the canvas.
Early in the opening round, both fighters took their time in distancing themselves and exchanging minimal strikes.
At around the three-minute mark, Kubanychbek scored his first takedown of the match and since then took commanding ground control over Dy.
Kubanychbek rolled on with 10 straight wins since February 2018, including three in BRAVE, for an overall 18-3 record while Dy suffered his first defeat this year after being named as BRAVE 2020 Fighter of the Year with a 14-10 slate.