Brave starts international expansion with massive event in Brazil
Since day one, Brave Combat Federation president Mohammed Shahid has called the project a “truly global MMA promotion”, and now, shortly after six months of the event’s foundation, the prediction is starting to take shape. Brave 3: Battle in Brazil is going to be the very first international installment of the Bahrain-based promotion, taking place on March 18th, in the city of Curitiba.
Curitiba is one of the most traditional martial arts hubs in Brazil, specially when it comes to striking, being the hometown of one of the most historical Brazilian teams: Chute Boxe. The gym presented to the world some of the biggest legends of the sport, such as Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Maurício “Shogun” Rua, Fabrício Werdum, and many others. Nowadays, Curitiba has a lot more than just Chute Boxe and keeps its relevant spot in the Brazilian martial arts scene.
To headline this historical card, the main event was handpicked. Lucas “Mineiro” Martins, a former UFC fighter from Chute Boxe’s branch in São Paulo, will face his long-time rival Paulo “Bananada” Gonçalves, a veteran of MMA since the time of “Vale Tudo” and Anderson Silva’s training partner and pupil.
The card also counts with the biggest contemporary stars of Curitiba’s MMA, like ex-Bellator Diego Marlon, ex-WSOF Marcel Adur, Brazilian Fighter of the Year in 2016 Luan “Miau” Santiago, Marcos “Pirata”, and Cristiano “Pequeno” Souza. All of them facing internationally established fighters and some of the most exciting prospects around the world, coming from USA, Mexico, Africa, and India.
President Mohammed Shahid guaranteed that this will be the first of many Brazilian incursions for Brave. “We definitely want to come back soon”, he stated. “We didn’t even finish our first event and I can guarantee that Brazil is going to be on of our key markets. I was very serious about how aggressive is our expansion strategy, so, if you didn’t buy it before, there’s still time to come on board”.
Brave 3: Battle in Brazil will take place at the Max Rosenaman Arena, a modern sports complex with capacity for almost 5,000 fans in São José dos Pinhais, Curitiba Metropolitan Area. The tickets are on sale at Brave’s official websitehttp://www.bravefights.com.
Brave 3: Battle in Brazil official fight card:
Main event – Featherweight (66kg): Lucas “Mineiro” Martins vs Paulo “Bananada” Gonçalves
Co-main event – Welterweight (77kg): Thiago “Monstro” Martins vs Carlston “Moçambique” Harris
Middleweight (84kg): Jeremy “Pitbull” Smith vs Marcos “Pirata”
Featherweight (66kg): Nate “The Train” Landewhr vs Julio César “Morceguinho” Neves
Lightweight (70,3kg): Ivan “Choko” Castillo vs Luan “Miau” Santiago
Bantamweight (61kg): Diego Marlon vs Walel “The Gazelle” Watson
Bantamweight (61,2kg): Ivan “Niño Demoledor” Lopez vs Marcel Adur
Featherweight (66kg): Fabian Galván vs William Lima
Bantamweight (61,2kg): Cristiano “Pequeno” Souza vs Cristian “El Taylon” Quiñonez
Welterweight (77kg): James Pou vs Pawan Maan Singh