BRAVE CF 70 Full Card Preview

Overtime Heroics Editorial

253 days ago

BRAVE Combat Federation will make history on March 9 when it lands in Tel-Aviv for the first time for BRAVE CF 70. The event will transform Israel into the 29th country to host an event for the fastest-growing organization in the world, which will once again be the sole leader in the number of nations visited.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, BRAVE CF has put together a fight card featuring some of the top Israeli fighters going up against a host of international fighters, as well as some of its biggest stars featured in monumental bouts. In total, athletes from 12 nations will represent their flags at BRAVE CF 70: Russia, Kyrgyzstan, the United States, South Africa, Brazil, Germany, Israel, South Korea, Greece, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, and Ukraine.

In the main event of the evening, Roman Bogatov will look to continue a huge tradition among BRAVE CF Featherweight champions when he defends his title against top contender Nemat Abdrashitov. All previous 145-pound titleholders have successfully defended their thrones, and he will strive to carry on the torch from Elias Boudegzdame and Bubba Jenkins.

In the co-main event, Jose ‘’Shorty’’ Torres meets Nkosi Ndebele, the reigning BRAVE CF Breakout Fighter of The Year in a bout that could very well determine the next contender to Brad Katona’s Bantamweight crown.

The Brazilians will also feature heavily on the card as former world champion Lucas ‘’Mineiro’’ Martins will look to reinsert himself in the title conversation against Marcel Grabinski, and his pupil Flavio Queiroz will go in search of the biggest win of his career as he takes on Zach Makovsky. Bigfoot Silva, the former Heavyweight MMA fighter, will take on Haim Gozali in a grappling match, while Breno Peterson features in the prelims.

Main Event Preview

Russia’s own Bogatov has had a perfect start to his career, winning his first two bouts against Nurzhan Akishev and Abdulmutalip Gairbekov to earn a shot at the then-vacant Featherweight world title. At BRAVE CF 64, he put on a dogged performance to edge Tae Kyun Kim and become only the third 145-pound world champion in BRAVE Combat Federation history.

Nemat Abdrashitov will look to dethrone Bogatov in his first world title shot. The Kyrgyz standout has three wins in as many BRAVE CF outings, and all by KO’s or TKO’s – he first burst onto the scene with a shocking third-round KO of Anzor Abdulkhozhaev. He was on the verge of losing as Anzor had a ninja choke locked in late in the fight. Nemat was able to defend it properly and knocked Abdulkhozhaev out seconds later.

Since then, he earned two further huge wins, culminating with a KO of The Year nominee against Marcus Vinicius Costa at BRAVE CF 63, which was enough for Abdrashitov to put himself as the top contender at 145 pounds.

Co-Main Torres vs Ndebele

Torres and Ndebele will compete with a likely shot at Brad Katona’s 135-pound title on the line after both athletes have been on fantastic runs.

“Shorty’’ is unbeaten inside BRAVE Combat Federation, but things have not always been easy for the American. He had to deal with his father’s passing just days before his BRAVE CF Flyweight title fight – which eventually fell through – before Covid-19, and weight-cutting issues further marred his title aspirations at 125 pounds.

Now, “Shorty” is back to his best following a move up to 135 pounds and has been unstoppable with two dominating wins against Ireland’s Blaine O’Driscoll and Jordan’s Izzedine Al-Derbani at BRAVE CF 49 and 65, respectively.

Torres might be a highly respected name in global MMA, a man with championship credentials after winning the Titan FC Flyweight and Bantamweight titles – but for Ndebele – he is the “new fish” in the division. “The Future” won’t allow anybody to spoil his incredible run thus far. South Africa’s number-five ranked BRAVE CF Bantamweight athlete is riding a five-fight win streak and remains unbeaten at Bantamweight.

His last victory came against Indonesia’s Fajar “Macho Kamacho’’ at BRAVE CF 66 when he beat the Indonesia star via TKO in the second round. Before facing Fajar, Ndebele was supposed to face Latvia’s Matiss Zaharovs at BRAVE CF 64, but the Latvian had to pull out at the eleventh hour due to health reasons – a big letdown for Ndebele, of course. Ndebele was so hungry to get his 135-pound title campaign back on track that he was willing to take a risk and face the unranked BRAVE CF debutant “Macho Kamacho” to stay active and ready.

His willingness to apply himself has rewarded him with a fantastic opportunity as he now faces superstar Torres for a shot at the golden strap at the first-ever BRAVE event in Israel.

Grabinski vs Martins

Both men have conjured up an intense rivalry even though they have yet to face off in the BRAVE CF Arena. Brazil’s Lucas Martins and Germany’s Marcel Grabinski were initially scheduled to meet in the BRAVE CF 51 main event, in Belarus, in 2021. With minutes to go, however, Grabinski fell ill and the bout was canceled right there and then.

A couple of months later, their meeting was rescheduled for BRAVE CF 53, which took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan – however, Grabinski was once again forced to pull out, this time at the beginning of fight week, due to COVID infection. Lucas then fought Olzhas Eskaraev and, despite a great showing in the second round, ended up submitted by the Kazakh star.

“Mineiro’’ has since bounced back with a vicious KO of countryman Henrique Marques in the main event of BRAVE CF 60 and is now eager to finally settle his rivalry with Grabinski and move on towards another title shot. The former champion has vowed to become the first two-time BRAVE CF Lightweight world champion.

Grabinski had moved up to Super Lightweight, but after losing to top contender Joilton Lutterbach, is back to 155 pounds and is eager to make a run at the world title himself.

Gozali vs Bigfoot Silva

📢 BRAVE CF 70 BOUT ANNOUNCEMENT

A huge grappling match is set for #BRAVECF70 between Antonio @BigfootSilva and @Haimgozali 🔥 Stay tuned for an exciting battle as the two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts face off under the brightest lights in combat sports👏 pic.twitter.com/1gOFGwIdgP

— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf) January 8, 2023

This blockbuster duel will help set the tone for an exciting 2023 BRAVE CF schedule as these two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts compete on the fastest-growing combat sports platform.

A Renzo Gracie student, Haim has traveled the world competing in various forms of martial arts on the most prestigious platforms participating in grappling, mixed martial arts, boxing, and more.

In 2010, Gozali produced the MMA event Israel FC: Genesis in Israel, which featured multiple combat sports veterans. Gozali is the president of ADCC Israel and the first Israeli to compete in an ADCC event.

Antonio ”Bigfoot” Silva is a former Heavyweight MMA title contender, who holds several wins against fellow legends of the sport, including Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem, and Andrei Arlovski. Silva has recently announced his retirement from mixed martial arts after accumulating an unwanted loss streak but intends to keep active in the grappling circuit, starting with his BRAVE CF debut.