8th May 2024
The Zimbabwean has paused his appearances in the EFC in Johannesburg and will face his Tajikistan counterpart Khurshed Nazarov in the co-main event for BRAVE Combat to be the number one contender in the division on Saturday.
Speaking to SABC Sport prior to departing for Saint Pierre this week, Hwende says he wanted to test his skills.
"I finished my fights with EFC and in that process I didn't want to quickly rush into fighting again, so I just got a message from my message saying, 'Nicholas, do you want to fight in BRAVE? Just a taste'," he explained.
"Then I was like, 'Ja, I'd want to fight in other promotions, I want to fly.' So it was my first time to fly, and I was excited just to fly and not to go and fight."
In August 2022, Hwende was crowned EFC bantamweight champion, which was one of the achievements that helped him get noticed.
To make the fight card as the co-main event says a lot about his growth and prospects.
"For BRAVE to come to Africa, and I'm representing Africans in Africa, it's something I would thank BRAVE for, that at least this is awesome for us.
"It's a good platform for Africans to see that when you go out there, you can do something, we have talent, we have skill and we can represent on the greatest stage.
"So for BRAVE to come to Mauritius, to me, it's an absolute honour and a win as well."