Lithuanian heavyweight machine Pavel Dailidko will now face Polish knockout artist Patryk Dubiela for the inaugural BRAVE CF heavyweight title after Azamat Nuftillaev, who was originally scheduled to fight Dailidko, was forced to withdraw from the co-main spot.
Dubiela steps into the fight following his impressive performance at BRAVE CF 81 earlier this year. At the event, he stopped Kasim Aras in under a minute, announcing his entry into the BRAVE CF heavyweight division. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, Dubiela trains with former BRAVE CF super welterweight champion Marcin Bandel and will be planning to take another BRAVE CF title belt to Poland.
Pavel Dailidko, on the other hand, enters the fight on a four-fight finishing streak in BRAVE Combat Federation. His most recent victory was at BRAVE CF 81, where he stopped the experienced Valdrin Istrefi in the second round. Prior to this, in 2023, Pavel made history by becoming the first BRAVE CF fighter to achieve three first-round knockout victories in a single calendar year. Now, Pavel aims to become the first-ever heavyweight champion in BRAVE CF.
Despite the change in fighters, the co-main event at BRAVE CF 88 remains as one of the biggest fights in BRAVE CF history as the Heavyweight division is the only weight class which has not hosted a title fight.
Valdrin Istrefi, who was initially supposed to face Dubiela, will stay on as the alternate in case one of the co-main event fights falls through. Another change made to the fight card comes in the amateur Welterweight division, as Kirill Negru will now face Italy’s Ilia Sinani.
Alongside the heavyweight title bout, the event will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between European superstar Erko Jun and German regional champion Alexander Wesner. The fight card also features top MMA athletes from around the world, as well as Slovenia’s biggest MMA stars.
BRAVE CF 88, held in partnership with WFC, is scheduled to happen on September 28 and will be BRAVE Combat Federation’s second event in Slovenia this year, following the success of BRAVE CF 81.
BRAVE CF 88: Official fight card:
- Erko Jun vs. Alexander Wesner – for vacant light heavyweight title
- Pavel Dailidko vs. Patryk Dubiela – for vacant heavyweight title
- Monika Kucinic vs. Fabiola Pidroni – strawweight
- Luka Podkrajsek vs. Michele Mirabella – heavyweight
- Miha Frlic vs. Samuele Di Guardo – heavyweight
- Domen Drnovsek vs. Kristjan Toniste – super-lightweight
- Marina Spasic vs Maristela Alves – strawweight
- Kirill Negru vs. Ilia Sinani – amateur welterweight
