Brazil has two candidates to challenge champion Eldar Eldarov in BRAVE

Eldarov waiting for the next challenger. Photo: Disclosure

BRAVE's first event in Russia will be headlined by the return of super lightweight champion Eldar Eldarov, who will make his first title defense in the main event against an opponent to be confirmed. But the promotion, with four possible challengers, including two Brazilians, has already started.

BRAVE adopted an intermediate division between lightweight (up to 70.3 kg.) and welterweight (up to 77.1 kg.), increasing opportunities for athletes who have been in limbo between the two categories and who, often, took risks with exhausting weight cuts.

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After struggling to make it to lightweight in his last few fights, former lightweight champion Luan Miau had his first experience at super lightweight at BRAVE 29, in November last year. His impeccable performance against Gadzhimusa Gaziev encouraged him to move up the division permanently.

Luan is now one of the main options to fill the title challenger spot against Eldar Eldarov, as he has the track record as a champion in BRAVE CF and the experience necessary for the challenge of heading the organization's first card in Russia.

Another athlete who has done very well since moving up to super-lightweight is the young Frenchman Benoit St. Dennis. With seven fights in his professional career, the former member of the French army's special forces had a meteoric and visible rise in 2020.

St. Denis started the year with his first BRAVE victory, with a kneebar over Ivica Truscek. He then knocked out veteran Mario Saeed, placing himself as one of the main contenders for the number one contender position.

Alongside them, former TUF Brasil Leonardo Macarrão is also in the conversation, having won his debut fight at super lightweight in August last year, with a dominant performance against Dutchman Djamil Chan.

An MMA veteran, Macarrão drew attention to the importance of BRAVE CF's move to solidify an intermediate division, which was a perfect fit for his body type. Macaroni always felt too big for lightweight, but too small for welterweight. The Brazilian has already challenged Eldarov directly on several occasions and his name has been raised when the organization announced the first half of the BRAVE 46 main fight.

Finally, Belgian Issa Isakov has also appeared among the contenders for the super lightweight title. After his devastating start at BRAVE CF, with a victory over Rami Hamed, Isakov continued his good form by beating Djamil Chan.

BRAVE CF 46 takes place in the city of Sochi, Russia, on January 16th, in partnership with the organization Krepost Selection. In addition to Eldar Eldarov, other important names in Russian MMA were confirmed, such as Roman Bagatov, Konstantin Erokhin and Ali Bagautinov.

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