A heavyweight battle between Brace veteran Andrew Machin and Brisbane based knockout specialist Chris Lokteff has been booked for Brace 20.
The matchup was revealed to fightnewsaustralia.com today by the promotion, and will feature as the main event for the May 25th show in Brisbane.
Chris Lokteff (pictured) made a successful return to form last Saturday night at Roshambo 1 where he made short work of Peter Kennedy, in what was his heavyweight debut. It took “Igor” just 1:20 to stop the West Australian fighter with punches and subsequently rebound from a loss to Sam Kei at Nitro 7. Before the loss to Kei, Lokteff was enjoying an impressive undefeated eight-fight run with all victories coming by KO or TKO.
This will be his second Brace appearance after stopping Josh Webb at Brace 11. A win this time around could be a big step towards a future title shot at “The Fob-Father” Felise Leniu.
For Machin, this fight will serve as his sixth appearance inside the Brace cage. The Canberrian will be looking to bounce back into title contention after losing in his last promotional appearance to Leniu in an interim title fight at Brace 18 this past December. It was a disappointing outcome for the Storm MMA product, who was forced to retire from the fight after sustaining a bad cut.
Speaking with fightnewsaustralia.com, Machin remains respectful ahead of his next challenge against the hard hitting Integrated MMA Gym fighter.
“I know Chris is from a very strong gym with fantastic coaches and I know he has a formidable record and has stopped a lot of his opponents in his victories. I look forward to the challenge and it’s an honor to fight such a highly ranked fighter”.
Machin last fought in the inaugural Storm Damage one-night heavyweight tournament where after stopping Mathew Wade in the first stage in just 49 seconds, lost a split points decision to Brandon Sosoli in the final.
Brace 20 will take place at the Broncos Leagues Club on May 25. Ticket sales and information can be found at bracemma.com.
