Erko Jun claimed the biggest win of his MMA career at Brave CF 81 in Slovenia as he stunned light heavyweight contender Mohammed Said Maalem in the first round to earn himself a shot at the Brave CF light heavyweight title.
Former bodybuilder and fitness influencer Jun has made a successful transition to mixed martial arts over the last six years, fighting for notable promotions including KSW and EMC. Now one of the top names on the Brave CF roster, he has established himself as a serious threat to the very best at 205 pounds.
In two appearances under the Brave CF banner, Jun has delivered a pair of stunning first-round knockouts. His promotional debut at Brave CF 70 saw him stop 21-fight veteran Marko Drmonjic, then, after a 57-second KO victory outside of the promotion, Jun returned in Ljubljana and demolished Said Maalem to punch his ticket to a title fight later this year.
The finish came courtesy of a perfectly-timed counter right hand from Jun, which caught the onrushing Said Maalem on the temple and sent him down to the canvas. Jun then moved in and completed the finish with follow-up ground strikes to take his career record to 8-2, with all eight of those wins coming via KO or TKO.
The co-main event saw local hero David Forster in action, but he came up against an in-form Christian Mach, who held the upper hand throughout their three-round super lightweight contest to take a clear unanimous decision victory, with scores of 30-27 across the board.
Also on the main card, Lithuanian heavyweight Pavel Dailikdo added another stoppage win to his impressive list of finishes with a second-round TKO of Valdrin Istrefi, then called for a shot at the Brave CF heavyweight title.
Dailidko has finished all eight of his opponents via KO or TKO in his career and, following his loss to Shamil Gaziev on his Brave CF debut back in 2022, “The Experiment” has looked unstoppable inside the Brave CF cage. Four fights, four wins, and four finishes have propelled the 32-year-old to within striking distance of a title shot. With the championship currently vacant, the big question for Brave’s matchmakers is who will they find to face him for the belt?
The main card kicked off with Slovenia’s own Monika Kucinic, who marked the occasion of her Brave CF debut with a crowd-pleasing third-round submission victory over Sofiia Bagishvili.
Kucinic, who has made no secret of her desire to take on former IMMAF world amateur champion Sabrina De Sousa, finished Bagishvili with an armbar midway through the final round of their strawweight matchup to improve her career record to 4-2.
The preliminary card served up a feast of finishes, with all four matchups ending inside the opening round.
Slovenian heavyweight Haris Aksalic moved to 2-0 with his TKO of Turkey’s Baki Sahin, while in the same weight class, Patryk Dubiela needed just 48 seconds to finish his Turkish opponent, Kasim Aras.
Slovanian super-welterweight Domen Drnovsek made a winning start to his professional career with a first-round armbar finish of Italy’s Andrian Murug, while Irish flyweight Gerard Burns made it two wins, and two first-round TKOs, from his two Brave CF appearances so far, courtesy of his late first-round stoppage of Serbia’s Danijel Spoljaric.
Brave CF 81: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Erko Jun def. Mohammed Said Maalem via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 3:06
- Christian Mach def. David Forster via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Pavel Dailidko def. Valdrin Istrefi via TKO (elbow and punches) – Round 2, 1:37
- Monika Kucinic def. Sofiia Bagishvili via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 1:58
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Haris Aksalic def. Baki Sahin via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:27
- Patryk Dubiela def. Kasim Aras via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:48
- Domen Drnovsek def. Andrian Murug via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:14
- Gerard Burns def. Danijel Spoljaric via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:56
