Ahead of Featherweight title fight, Lucas Mineiro vows to become two-division champion at Brave
Lucas Martins also known as Lucas Mineiro might still be looking for his first world title, but the featherweight has big plans for his Brave career. Ahead of his title fight against current champion Elias “Smile” Boudegzdame, set to take place at Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions, on November 17, the Brazilian vowed to become Brave’s first two-weight champion, putting the Lightweight division on alert.
In an interview with MMA Brasil’s weekly podcast, “Mineiro” claimed he was looking forward to making history with Brave, an organization which has “highlighted him as a star” and said he wanted to make sure he walked out of his MMA career with two belts.
“Brave has been very good to me. They made me feel like a star, they put me on a plane to challenge their champion and now it’s time for me to give back. I’m going to win the Featherweight title and I’m going up to fight for the Lightweight belt as well if they give me that opportunity. I’m very happy as a Brave fighter and if they let me I’ll make history. I have a lot of respect for Brave as an organization and look forward to growing together with them”, said “Mineiro”.
While he wants to eventually challenge for the Lightweight belt, Martins knows he has a tough challenge ahead of him in “Smile”, the current champ. The Brazilian has studied tape on his future opponent and is complimentary of Boudegzdame’s ground skills but warns the French-Algerian that he’s on the best shape of his career.
“We’ve been kind of set to fight each other for a while so I studied him a lot already. Elias is the champion, so if he has the belt it means he’s a tough fighter. His ground skills are impressive, but I don’t think he has faced anyone like me before. Honestly, my aggressive style will cause him problems, I’ll fight him Chute Boxe style and I’ve evolved a lot on my wrestling and jiu-jitsu, submitting my last two opponents. I feel amazing. Like I’m in the best shape of my life and wherever the fight goes I’m confident that I’ll take the belt back to Brazil”, claimed the challenger.
Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions marks the promotion’s return to Bahrain after a year. During 2017, the organization has put on groundbreaking events in countries such as Brazil (twice), Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, India, and Kazakhstan. Brave 9 will be the culmination of the International Combat Week, alongside the IMMAF World Championships, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Brave 9: The Kingdom of Champions Fight Card:
Main card:
Lightweight: Ottman Azaitar vs Alejandro Martínez (for the inaugural title)
Featherweight: Elias Boudegzdame (champion) vs Lucas Mineiro
Bantamweight: Gurdarshan Mangat vs Stephen Loman (for the inaugural title)
Welterweight: Jarrah Al Selawe vs Carl Booth
Lightweight: Gesias Cavalcante vs Alan Omer
Lightweight: Erick “Índio Brabo” vs Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady
Welterweight: Mohammad Fakhreddine vs Tahar Hadbi
Preliminary card:
Bantamweight: Mohammad Farhad vs Hamza Kooheji
Bantamweight: Felipe Efrain vs Nawras Abzakh
Lightweight: Ahmed Amir vs Erik Carlsson
Bantamweight: Frans Mlambo vs Michael Deiga-Scheck
Middleweight: Jeremy Smith vs Ikram Aliskerov
Catchweight (150 lbs): Hardeep Rai vs Alex Trinidad
Lightweight: Charlie Leary vs Daniele Scatizzi
Bantamweight: Jeremy Pacatiw vs Jalal Al Daaja
Strawweight: Atif Mohammed vs Haider Farman
