Ylies Djiroun vs Lucas Martins: A fight for the legacy of the BRAVE CF Lightweight division

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Fighters, fans, and the entire BRAVE Nation family will be glued to the BRAVE CF 74 main event as two warriors from the northern and southern hemisphere will battle it out for the center of attention on the west coast of France on Thursday night.

The epic Lightweight clash between France’s Ylies Djiroun and Brazil’s Lucas Martins will not only close out France’s first-ever BRAVE CF event but more than that, will be a fight for the legacy of the glamorous 155-pound division.

Djiroun and decorated former champion Martins will offer a vivid breakdown of what it means to compete for a shot at the BRAVE CF Lightweight title, and with so much on the line, this bout promises to go down in the annals of BRAVE Combat Federation as one of the most competitive bouts in the brand’s history.

For Martins (21-6), BRAVE CF 74 will be a chance to reclaim what was once his before facing darker days in which he recorded three losses amidst eight fight cancellations.

The 34-year-old knockout specialist can still scrap with the world’s best, and he proved it in his comeback bout when he knocked out compatriot Henrique Marques at BRAVE CF 60.

But the fight veteran has been around long enough to know just how stacked BRAVE CF’s Lightweight division is and the pressure that comes with that.

That, along with the birth of his daughter, has boosted Martin’s drive to waste no time in giving chase to another World Championship.

While Djiroun is as experienced as Martins with 26 fights and 19 wins, the Frenchman has not tasted the sweet success of holding a BRAVE CF belt yet, and that, compounded by the reality of him facing a superstar of Martins’ stature in front of his home crowd, will fortify the submission specialist’s mind to climb to new heights.

Despite Djiroun’s impressive wins over Abdul-Rakhman Makhazhiev and the ever-dangerous and former number-one contender Olzhas Eskaraev, Martins has predicted a “firstround knockout over the grappler” in his pursuit of a title fight with undisputed champion Abdisalam Kubanychbek.

“Djiroun is a good athlete, and he is highly focused,” said Mineiro earlier this week. “But he has never faced someone like Lucas Martins.

When he stands opposite me in the cage, and he realizes who is standing in front of him, when he remembers who Lucas Martins fought and what Lucas Martins went through, you will soon see the fear in his eyes, and he will revert back to his little holding game.

I am a different athlete now,” concluded Martins. Djiroun - a former French Pancrase champion, refused to be bothered by the psychological games laid out by Martins, sending out a warning of his own: “ I can knock you out, Lucas.

This is an MMA fight, not a wrestling match. Should it be via knockout, takedown, or submission, I am ready for any opportunity.

I hope you are ready for anything, too, Lucas,” added Djiroun, who is well on his way to stardom after facing a troubling recent run which included two wins, one loss, and two cancellations.

The build-up and storyline behind this BRAVE CF 74 main event have been like none other before, and the dynamics involved have even left BRAVE CF President Mohammed Shahid waiting with bated breath.

“The main event is the fight that’s going to be focused on the mentality of these two athletes. It’s not because these two athletes are coming at their peak, and they’re looking with that hunger of, you know, ‘I am this young guy at the top of my game and I want to go out there and win the fight’.

This is different,” says President Shahid. “These are two veterans in the sport, two guys that have seen everything. They have gone through the ups and downs. The rise, the fall, and the rise again. I think that is going to be the theme of this main event. The sad part about this main event, for me, is to look at these two absolute warriors with amazing mentality, and only one story about the rise again can be written on that day.”

BRAVE CF 74 takes place at the H Arena, in Nantes, France, in association with leading organization Hexagone MMA.

The show will transform France into the 29th nation to host a BRAVE CF show, which is an absolute record in the mixed martial arts industry as no other promotion has achieved that figure.