Following a 26-month hiatus, West Australian promotion Bragging Rights makes its return this weekend at the newly opened State Netball Centre in the Perth suburb of Jolimont.
Bragging Rights 7: Resurrection takes place on Sunday and according to the promotion, the event will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between AKA Thailand based Finnish fighter Glenn Sparv and Japan’s Kazuma Maruyama.
Also slated for the card, widely regarded as Australia’s top bantamweight, Gustavo Falciroli returns to competition following a 16 month stint on the sidelines to compete for the promotion’s bantamweight title.
We last saw the 32 year-old multiple champion in action at Australian Fighting Championship’s first caged event, AFC 9, where he put to rest a heated rivalry with Kai Kara-France by submitting the talented Kiwi in the first round. The fight followed the pair’s first encounter five months earlier which was ruled a no-contest with Kara-France unable to continue after falling through the ropes and reportedly colliding with an object on a ringside table (video).
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with over 21 professional MMA fights to his name, Falciroli has expressed his frustration at the lack of opponents willing to face him in recent times. This Sunday, the Melbourne based fighter will square off with Filipino Jun Paderna. An experienced former pro boxer turned mixed martial arts fighter, Paderna comes into the bout on the back of a TKO win over Rendel Camensi last month on the Philippines based promotion, The Proving Grounds.
Update: Reportedly due to problems with his passport, Jun Paderna has been forced to withdraw from the event with Malaysian fighter Mohd Fouzein (7-8) taking his place to face Falciroli.
The previously mentioned Kai Kara-France is also scheduled to compete at the event, with the 22 year-old set to meet local fighter Shantaram Maharaj for the flyweight title.
Originally from Auckland and now fighting out of the Tiger Muay Thai gym in Thailand, Kara-France has looked impressive as of late, picking up a pair of quick fire KO victories in Asia. Maharaj has had mixed results in recent times, however in his last outing the 26 year-old picked up a win on a local show in WA.
Among other matchups slated for the night, Perth local David Vergers makes his return to MMA when he comes up against Valor welterweight champion Callan Potter.
Matchups will be contested in a boxing ring with the fenced safety enclosure currently banned in WA.
Fight Card:
- Kazuma Maruyama vs Glenn Sparv – Welterweight Title Fight
- Gustavo Falciroli vs Mohd Fouzein – Bantamweight Title Fight
- Kai Kara-France vs Shantaram Maharaj – Flyweight Title Fight
- Callan Potter vs David Vergers
- Genah Fabian vs Jo Jo Obolevics
- Jamie Van Der Kuiji vs Aldin Bates
- Samuel Petit vs Haidyn Eli-Hanford
- Bry Chown vs Torren Honda
- Darren Palmer vs Axel Bonal
* Fight card provided by promotion
