A welterweight stoush between Steve Micallef (pictured) and Regan Wilson headlines Saturday night’s Brace 29 event. The show takes place at the North Sydney Leagues Club and will feature the second and final stage of the promotion’s 2014 Championship Tournament Semi-Finals.
The first group of semi-final matchups are set for the night before (Aug. 8) at the same venue.
This season’s Tournament will come to head on November 22 at the AIS Arena in Canberra, where six final winners from bantamweight through to light heavyweight will be crowned 2014 champions.
Lying in wait for the winner of the welterweight semi-final headliner will be current champion Corey Nelson. The last welterweight champ before the inaugural Championship Tournament this year, Nelson received a free ticket to the final in Canberra and will now face the winner of Micallef vs Wilson.
Fighting professionally since 2007, former TUFFA middleweight champion Steve Micallef moved his MMA record to six wins and no losses with a unanimous decision win over Hoshi Friedrich at Brace 26. The win marked the end of a three year layoff for the SPMA product, and set up a welterweight semi-final clash against Lange’s MMA fighter Regan Wilson. Wilson earned his place in the semis, and snapped a two-fight skid, with a first round submission win over Ali Kocak at Brace 27 in Canberra.
A five-time Brace veteran, Phuket based Queenslander Gokhan Turkyilmaz makes his promotional return in prime form following a 29 second stoppage of Alex MacDonald at Nitro 11, and a unanimous decision win over Vaughn Donayre as a lightweight at Global Fighting Championship 3. ‘Pitbull’ will make the cut to featherweight for this one and face the undefeated JJ Van Aswegen for a place in the final. Van Aswegen burst onto the local scene and quickly picked up three stoppages from as many starts in late 2013 and early 2014. After submitting Adam Corbett and Kris Spence, the Beston-Gracie Newcastle product put away Luke Standing by TKO at Brace 26 to book his spot opposite Turkyilmaz on Saturday night.
Sydney based Kiwi Gerhard Voigt, of the SPMA gym, booked his place in the middleweight semi-finals with a 1 minute and 30 second knockout of Mohammed Naim in the main event at Brace 26. Voigt now faces promotional newcomer William Namoa, who has been out of action since losing to TUF: Nations fighter Tyler Manawaroa back in early 2013 (Fight Video).
Representing Team Nemesis in Melbourne, 20 year-old Jordan Lucas is sitting pretty with an undefeated 5-0 pro record. Lucas made his promotional debut at Brace 27 where he outpointed Ritchie Ivory and will now meet former Brace featherweight champion Edwin Arana for a spot in the bantamweight tournament final. Arana made an impressive return to form in May when he submitted Mark Baskin in just 22 seconds with a Guillotine Choke.
In the sole lightweight semi-final of the 2014 season, SPMA trained Abel Brites and Newcastle’s Adam Bourke will meet for the chance to face lightweight champion Oriol Gaset in Canberra. Previously based in Sydney, Spanish veteran Gaset is currently training overseas but is expected to make the trip to Canberra and face the lightweight winner from Saturday night.
UPDATE (6/8): Adam Bourke has been ruled out with injury. The fight has been rescheduled for September 20 in Newcastle.
Brace 29 Fight Card:
- Steve Micallef vs Regan Wilson – Welterweight Semi-Final
- JJ Van Aswegen vs Gokhan Turkyilmaz – Featherweight Semi-Final
- Gerhard Voigt vs William Namoa – Middleweight Semi-Final
- Edwin Arana vs Jordan Lucas – Bantamweight Semi-Final
- Chris Klimis vs Nicky Bonini
- Lizza Gebilagin vs Natalie Gonzales Hills
- Will Swann vs Josh Lagudah
{module Comment on this Article}
