TEAM Lakay will gun for a sweep tonight as Brave Combat Federation rolls out its first event in the Philippines with Stephen Loman defending his world bantamweight title for the third time.
Loman takes on challenger and former Brave featherweight champ Elias Boudegzdame in the main event of Brave 22: Storm of Warriors at the more than 20,000-seater Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Saturday, March 16.
Coach Mark Sangiao is optimistic his wards will put on a good show as they showcase their improved mixed martial arts skill in front of their Filipino fans.
“Loman is determined and ready to defend the title. I don’t see any pressure from our boys. Hopefully, we can win all our bouts tonight,” said Sangiao.
Aside from Loman, other Team Lakay fighters who will see action on Saturday is Jeremy Pacatiw taking on fellow Filipino fighter Marc Alcoba, Harold Banario who will make his Brave CF debut will take on replacement fighter Ariel Oliveros, John Cris Corton looking for a follow–up win against Abdul Hussein and Jomar Pa-ac as he seeks to get back to the winning circle when he takes on Sataya Behuria.
Other notable Filipinos fighting in Brave’s first Philippine event is former UFC fighter Rolando Dy who will take on Mehmosh Raza with Rex de Lara and Jayson Margallo facing each other in a flyweight clash.
Loman and Boudegzgame earlier showcased to fight fans some of their skills and a little of what can be expected of them on fight night during the open workout on March 13 at the luxurious World Resort Manila.
Dy, meanwhile, lit up the crowd as he talked about the pride in representing his country at Brave.
“I’ll be honest, I was always an average student, I got my college degree because I had to. I was an average basketball player and an awful dancer. Fighting is what I really know, it’s what I love. Being able to be here and representing my country, back to Brave, it’s amazing,” said Dy.
John Brewin, who co-headlines the card against Cian Cowley, was emotional after talking about what it meant to fight in Manila and promised to put on a show for the Filipino fans.
“I’m living the dream, two years ago I was here in Manila, cornering one of my good friends and teammate at Bali MMA. I thought “One day I’ll get back here for my own fight”, I never thought it’d be so fast, though. I went from all kinds of temporary jobs to co-headlining a card in Manila. I know a lot of people say that their stories are all about struggle and overcoming but that’s nothing but the truth in my case. I live for fighting, I’m here to put on a show and I’ll fight until my last breath”, promised Brewin.