Benoit St. Denis submitted Luan Santiago via
submission (arm-triangle choke) in the second round.
#BRAVECF49
#Superfights pic.twitter.com/8H1LARqXg4— BRAVE Combat Federation (@bravemmaf)
March 25, 2021
Brave Combat Federation‘s Benoit St.
Denis may be someone to watch out for going forward.
The
Brave CF 49 main event saw former 155-pound titleholder
Luan
Santiago (15-5) taking on St. Denis (7-0, 1 NC) at the
company’s super lightweight category of 165 pounds. Santiago
adopted a cautious game plan as he preferred to force his opponent
to catch him as he moved close to the fence. St. Denis dragged the
action down to the ground with an effective single leg takedown,
and he easily controlled his opponent while on top. After a few
scrambles, the Frenchman took his opponent’s back and sought after
a rear-naked choke, only to run out of time.
In the second frame, St. Denis took his opponent down again as soon
as the round began. While Santiago managed to get back on the feet
once, the Brazilian could not stop the “God of War” from wrenching
him to the mat again. In the following grappling exchanges, St.
Denis smoothly took top position and secured an arm-triangle choke.
As St. Denis applied the squeeze, “Miau” had no choice but to
surrender, marking the end of the contest at 3:51 in Round 2. With
his victory, the “God of War” earned a shot at Eldar
Eldarov’s super lightweight throne.
The co-main event featured a 134-pound catchweight contest between
Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Jose Torres
(10-1-1) and Bellator MMA vet Blaine
O’Driscoll (9-4) for a spot in the semifinals of the 125-pound
grand prix. O’Driscoll accepted the fight on short notice after
Sean
Santella suffered an injury during training, but he was ready
for the test in the early going. “Shorty” appeared surprised at the
SBG Ireland representative’s aggression, as he absorbed a plethora
of strikes as the round progressed.
O’Driscoll’s energy faded as the battle carried on, but the
Irishman did not shy away from trading with his opponent. Torres
started gaining momentum from the second frame onwards, courtesy of
superior conditioning that allowed him to control the fight by
mixing in strikes with takedowns. In the third frame, Torres’
strikes started showing some impact, as damage mounted on
O’Driscoll’s face. “Shorty” tried but ultimately failed to finish
the contest with a bulldog choke as the horn blew, but he was up on
the scorecards at the final bell. The three judges scored the fight
30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Torres, who moved on to the
semifinals.
Before the marquee attractions, Ikram
Aliskerov (11-1) submitted fellow middleweight Miro
Jurkovic (11-4) with a kimura at the 1:11 mark in the second
stanza.
Earlier on the card, highly touted 125-pound prospect Muhammad
Mokaev (5-0) kept his record unblemished after a hard-fought
decision against Abdul
Hussein (7-2), earning 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 nods from the
judges; Gamzat
Magomedov (6-1) outpointed Matiss
Zaharovs (4-1) to take home a unanimous decision victory at the
end of their 135-pound battle.
In a razor-close bantamweight affair, Francesco
Nuzzi (9-1) edged Bernardo
Sopaj (8-2) via split decision; 185-pound contender Chad
Hanekom (7-2) battered the leg of Dominic
Schober (11-10) with kicks before finishing him with a few
follow-up punches just 18 seconds into Round 2; in a welterweight
affair, Gadzhimusa
Gaziev (10-5) scored a late comeback by dispatching
Geraldo Coelho de Lima Neto (12-6) with punches as just 35
seconds remained in the third and final round.
Frenchman Axel Sola
(1-0) made his successful MMA debut by tapping out Kuitty
Begaj (1-1) with arm-triangle choke with one second left in
Round 1 in Brave’s super welterweight division; in a bantamweight
encounter, Frieh
Harahsheh (1-0) submitted Glenn
McVeigh (0-2) with ease using a quick guillotine choke that
forced McVeigh to tap at the 1:10 of the opening stanza; to begin
the fight card, Ali Marhoon
snatched a triangle choke on Hamad
Mubarak Saad in an amateur welterweight contest at 2:02 into
the first round.