In a second consecutive night of fights for the Brace promotion, Jordan Lucas, Gerhard Voigt (pictured left), JJ Van Aswegen and Steve Micallef (pictured right) all progressed to the final in their respective divisions tonight.
Brace 29 took place at the North Sydney Leagues Club in New South Wales and was streamed live via an online stream. The first part of the promotion’s semi-final bouts was held last night at the same venue.
We start off our recap in the main event where Regan Wilson had a big fan-base on hand when he came up against Steve Micallef. Thirty year-old Micallef though wasted no time in attempting to close the distance, landing an overhand right and moving in to take the fight to the ground. There the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt quickly took the back, where he was able to secure the tap at 1:12 of the opening stanza.
The Sinosic-Perosh fighter who returned back to action earlier this year after a long lay-off due to injury now moves on to face Corey Nelson for the 2014 Championship Title later this year in Canberra.
Jan Johannes Van Aswegen submitted veteran fighter Gokhan Turkyilmaz with a first-round triangle choke in their featherweight tournament bout. Van Aswegen wasted no time in getting the fight to the ground. There he remained active from the top position immediately turning his attention to locking up a triangle choke from the top. Turkyilmaz escaped the initial attempt, however Van Aswegen adjusted and this time got the stoppage.
Impressive performance from Van Aswegen who earlier in March scored a first-round TKO over former title challenger Luke Standing. He now moves on to face Jamie Mullarkey in the tournament final later in the year.
Twenty eight year-old Gerhard Voigt progressed in the middleweight tournament as he stopped William Namoa with punches in the opening round. Namoa rocked his opponent early, but Voigt did a good job of covering up and nearly securing the tap via a standing guillotine. Voigt then came back with strikes of his own. Namoa attemtpted a kick which was avoided by Voigt who took the fight to the ground. He immediately slid his knee through secure full-mount. Voigt unloaded with big punches that forced Namoa to turn. The punches continued which forced the referee to stop the contest 4:40 into the fight.
Voigt moves on to face undefeated Tasmanian fighter Rob Wilkinson in the final.
Twenty year-old Victorian prospect Jordan Lucas continued his strong run going with a first-round rear-naked choke submission over former Brace champion Edwin Arana. Lucas waited for his opportunity and timed a nice takedown to get the fight to the ground. Once there, Lucas took his time, ultimately getting the hooks in and sinking in the choke to get the tap at 2:40.
Lucas immediately jumped onto the cage, where he signalled that he wants the belt around his waste. He moves on to face Giancarlo Embradora in the tournament final later in the year.
Lange’s MMA fighter Nicky Bonini stopped Brazilian Jiu Jitsu specialist Chris Klimis early in the first-round of their contest. Bonini rocked him with a knee to the body that had Klimis hurt. Bonini immediately capitalised, pounding away on Klimis which forced the referee to halt the contest.
Natalie Gonzales-Hills dominated Lizza Gebilagin in a women’s strawweight MMA bout, coming out with punches in bunches, before getting the fight to the ground. Gonazales-Hills pounded away with some ground-and-pound before securing the hooks in to get the rear-naked choke. The tap came only 1:44 into the bout.
In the opening fight of the night, Josh Lagudah utilised his size advantage as he took home a unanimous decision over a very game Will Swann.
The tournament finals are slated to take place in Canberra, Australia’s Capital Territory on November 22.
Results:
- Steve Micallef def Regan Wilson via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:12 – Welterweight Semi-Final
- Jan Johannes Van Aswegen def Gokhan Turkyilmaz via Submission (Triangle Choke), Rd 1 – Featherweight Semi-Final
- Gerhard Voigt def William Namoa via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 4:40 – Middleweight Semi-Final
- Jordan Lucas def Edwin Arana via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 2:40 – Bantamweight Semi-Final
- Nicky Bonini def Chris Klimis via TKO (Punches), Rd 1
- Natalie Gonzales Hills def Lizza Gebilagin via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:44
- Josh Lagudah def Will Swann via Decision (Unanimous)
*Photo via twitter.com/AnthonyPerosh
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