BRAVE Combat Federation’s final event of the calendar year will take place from Dusseldorf, Germany and is a co-promote with the host nation’s top regional MMA promotion, National Fighting Championship. BRAVE CF 68 will emanate from the Maritim Hotel and see resident German Joilton Lutterbach go for the BRAVE CF interim super lightweight championship against Mihail Kotruta.
The event will be the second this week for the Bahrani-based promotion after BRAVE CF 67. Monday’s main event saw Eldar Eldarov defeat Denis Maher with a beautiful kneebar to close out the first round of their non-title fight.
Fight fans can catch BRAVE CF 68 streaming live and free on the BRAVE CF website beginning at Noon ET/9 a.m. PT. The card will also be available to stream on DAZN.
BFC Interim Super Lightweight Championship — Lutterbach vs Kotruta
Few fighters outside of major organizations have put together the resume the Brazilian-born Lutterbach has since 2017. The well-traveled 30-year-old is 23-4 in that span with wins over UFC veterans such as Alex Oliveira, and two of his defeats came by way of split decision to Raush Manfio and Clay Collard in PFL, two of the four finalists in the 2021 PFL lightweight playoffs. He picked up a first round victory in his only other promotional appearance at BRAVE CF 61, but found a new opponent in the scale on Friday morning.
Lutterbach went to the extreme at the weigh-ins in an attempt to make the 165-pound limit. Despite shaving his head, the Brazilian missed the hard weight limit by 100g, or just less than a quarter of a pound. As a result, Lutterbach is now ineligible to talk out of Dusseldorf as the interim super lightweight champion and will pay Kotruta 20 percent of his purse. As for Kotruta, the Moldovan has been a victor in eight of his last nine. Both of his BRAVE CF appearances have ended in the first round, whether in victory or defeat. Given Lutterbach’s finishing ability and weight miss, Saturday’s fight appears likely to end early one way or the other, though a Lutterbach victory would leave the promotion without a champion much in the same way fight Charles Oliveira‘s victory over Justin Gaethje did in the UFC earlier this year.
Co-Main Event – Naurdiev vs. Kutsy
Two months after coming up short for the super welterweight championship, “The Austrian Wonderboy” Ismael Naurdiev is set to return to the cage against 16-1 Vadim Kutsy from Belarus. Kutsy has forged a path on the Eastern European regional scene that makes him a BRAVE CF prospect worth monitoring. A win over recent title challenger Naurdiev could put him next in line for a shot at the divison’s champion, Polish submission specialist Marcin Bandel.
Kutsy may not provide quite the level of submission threat Bandel provides, but the 31-year-old does have submission wins on his record and could be live to lock one up if he can take the Austrian striker to deep waters. In spite of his recent setback, Naurdiev looked as explosive as ever, and given Kutsy’s only professional loss came by way of a quick first-round knockout, it will be telling to see which of the fighters in Saturday’s co-main event can enact the winning game plan on the other fighter the quickest.
Rest of the Card
Saturday’s card will feature eight fights in all, three of which will be resigned to the prelims. Husein Kadimagomaev is scheduled to meet Agshin Babaev in the featured fight of the main card. The 23-year-old Swiss prospect Kadimagomaev will have chance to build on his major early-career momentum against Babaev, a native of Azerbaijan who will represent the toughest test in his career. Elsewhere on the main card, Matheus Miranda is set to take on Axel Sola in a battle of 4-0 prospects, and a featherweight bout between Mihammed Trabelsi and Pantelei Taran will open up the main card.
Germany’s own Julian Pennant will open up the prelims with a middleweight fight against Alexander Djukic. Both fighters have found a variety of different finishes in their young career, and will be sure to close down the preliminary portion of Friday’s card on a high note. The prelims will also play host to fights between Christian Mach and Gokhan Aksu in the lightweight division, and Jefferson Oliveira and Ali Guliev in the featherweight division. Oliveira, a winner in three of his last four, is taking Friday’s fight on short notice.
BRAVE CF 68 Results
Main Card
Joilton Lutterbach def. Mihail Kotruta via TKO (strikes) at 2:35 of Round 1 — For the BFC interim super lightweight championship*
Vadim Kutsy def. Ismail Naurdiev via TKO (punches) at 3:23 of Round 1
Pantelei Taran def. Mihammed Trabelsi via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Husein Kadimagomaev def. Agshin Babaev via Submisison (Guillotine) at 2:05 of Round 3
Axel Sola def. Matheus Miranda via TKO (punches) at :34 of Round 2
Preliminary Card
Julian Pennant def. Alexander Djukic via Submission (RNC) at 4:21 of Round 1
Gokhan Aksu def. Christian Mach via Knockout (punches) at 1:04 of Round 1
Ali Guliev def. Jefferson Oliveira via TKO (punches) at 3:55 of Round 2
*-Lutterbach is ineligible to win the championship due to missing weight
