Bubba Jenkins v Lucas Martins | BRAVE CF
The evening’s headliner sees featherweight champion, Bubba Jenkins, defend his belt against Lucas Martins.
BRAVE 24: London has garnered headlines over the last few weeks due to the unique concept surrounding the show. On Thursday, July 25th from the Copperbox Arena in London, England, the biggest MMA promotion in the Middle East are looking to elevate the status of MMA over Europe by hosting an invite-only, exclusive event. The show aims to connect the highest-level celebrities, personalities and businessmen with high-level MMA in the hope of empowering the sport. Seven fights will take place on the card where athletes from ten different countries will feature and endeavour to make statements within their divisions.
The evening’s headliner sees the BRAVE CF featherweight title up for grabs as former NCAA Division I wrestling champion, Bubba Jenkins (13-4), looks to retain his belt against UFC veteran, Lucas Martins (20-4). Jenkins won the title in his debut with the company when he earned a unanimous decision over Elias Boudegzdame so will be looking to cement his status as the featherweight to beat within the division. The 31-year-old has competed for Bellator and ACB during his professional career and intends on proving his game is always evolving as he continues his journey to become a complete fighter.
Since being released from the UFC in 2016, Martins has gone 4-1 with that lone defeat being down to a leg injury he suffered in the first round of his last bout. BRAVE CF clearly have confidence in his ability to perform inside the cage as they feel confident in giving him the shot at the belt despite coming off of a loss. The Brazilian will look to keep this standing so he can get off his vicious, damaging strikes while defending the incoming takedowns to add to his 60% knockout finishing rate.
In the co-main event, SBG Ireland product, Cian Cowley (2-2) hopes to bounce back from his most recent defeat as he takes on Polish striker, Maciej Gierszewski (4-4) at lightweight. This should be an intriguing, stand-up affair where both men will be looking to beat their opponent to the punch to finish the fight decisively. All of Gierszewski’s losses have come by first round submission but that won’t make Cowley deflect from his usual fighting style. He has made it clear that he won’t be shooting for any takedowns against the man who has picked up all four of his professional victories by first round knockout. This one could well be a fan-pleaser that may be over in the blink of an eye!
The final fight on the evening’s main card is a classic prospect vs veteran match-up as Aidan James (4-0) faces off against Englishman, Cameron Else (6-4). James intends to be the next hot prospect coming out of Wales, which is producing a lot of high-level martial artists currently, as he looks to keep his unbeaten record in tact. Most of his professional career has taken place in BRAVE CF and he hopes to extend his 100% finishing rate to put himself in title contention at bantamweight. Else has fought for the BAMMA title in the past and will look to derail the hype surrounding James on the domestic scene to remind everyone that his best days aren’t behind him. All of Else’s victories have come inside the first round so James will need to be aware of the threat that his opponent poses early in order to be not caught off guard.
Another notable bout on Thursday evening is a bantamweight clash between Ilias Sanoudakis (7-1) and James Brum (18-5) on the preliminary card. Brum has fought in BAMMA, Cage Warriors and ACB but hasn’t competed since 2016 so will be looking to remind fans of the skills he possesses inside the cage. Gamzat Magomedov (3-1) also looks to get back into the win column at bantamweight after suffering a disqualification loss in October and has been compared to Khabib Nurmagomedov by the company’s president. Furthermore, fighting out of Lebanon (which BRAVE CF believe is one of a number of different countries where other promotions don’t scout enough) is Rami Hamed (7-2) who aims to continue climbing the ranks at welterweight.
BRAVE 24: London kicks off at 7pm BST and can be viewed for free at bravecftv.com in the UK/Ireland while viewers in the US can purchase the show at FITE TV. 2pm Eastern/11am Pacific is the start time for viewers in the United States. Bloody Elbow will be in attendance at the Copperbox Arena so stay tuned for more fight week coverage.
The complete BRAVE 24: London card is:-
Featherweight title – (c) Bubba Jenkins (13-4) v Lucas Martins (20-4)
Lightweight – Cian Cowley (2-2) v Maciej Gierszewski (4-4)
Bantamweight – Aidan James (4-0) v Cameron Else (6-4)
Welterweight – Rami Hamed (7-2-1, 1NC) v John Robinson (3-0)
Bantamweight – Louie Sanoudakis (7-1) v James Brum (18-5)
Bantamweight – Gamzat Magomedov (3-1) v Ian Cleary (1-1)
Flyweight – Hussain Ayyad (3-2) v Mitchell Johnson (0-0)