MMA – Croatia’s Andi ‘Highlight Machine’ Vrtacic electrified the hometown crowd by stopping French middleweight Sofian Bouafia in spectacular fashion in the main event of BRAVE CF 108, held Saturday night at the historic Pula Arena.
BRAVE Combat Federation (BRAVE CF) officially made its debut in Croatia, which became the 18th European nation and 39th country overall to host a BRAVE CF event, further extending the promotion’s international reach.
The nine-bout card brought several of its top fighters together for a night of action at the iconic venue.
Vrtacic took control of his fight from the opening bell, constantly moving in and out of range while mixing spinning kicks to the body with crisp left jab-right straight combinations to establish his offence in the first round.
True to his ‘Highlight Machine’ moniker, Vrtacic delivered the decisive moment in the second frame.
He dropped Bouafia with a sharp left hook to the chin before unleashing a barrage of heavy ground strikes, forcing the referee to step in and bring the contest to an end.
In the co-main event of the evening, Lasha Abramishvili registered the biggest victory of his career, defeating former BRAVE CF bantamweight world champion Stephen ‘The Sniper’ Loman.
The Georgian took time to adjust to Loman’s heavy striking, but gradually found his rhythm and took control of the contest.
Abramishvili displayed excellent shot selection and striking accuracy over the final two rounds to pull away and earn a unanimous decision victory over the Filipino star.
With the statement win, Abramishvili strengthened his case for a shot at the vacant BRAVE CF bantamweight world championship.
Italy’s Walter ‘The Snatch’ Cogliandro survived a gruelling battle with Austrian featherweight Mathias ‘Son of Mars’ Prehofer to walk away with a hard-fought unanimous decision.
Right off the bat, Prehofer tirelessly pressed the action against the Italian veteran, hammering hooks from both hands.
Cogliandro remained composed throughout, drawing on his experience to counter the Austrian’s aggression with well-timed strikes and persistent takedown attempts. After 15 minutes of back-and-forth action, the three judges ultimately favoured Cogliandro on the scorecards.
Slovenia’s Domen ‘The Armbar Hulk’ Drnovsek overcame a difficult opening stretch to defeat Croatian lightweight Erik Pletikos in a come-from-behind victory. Pletikos relied on his striking and takedown defence to control the first five minutes, but Drnovsek made the necessary adjustments, choosing to trade on the feet before shooting for a takedown and applying relentless top pressure.
The Slovenian eventually took Pletikos’ back and locked in a rear-naked choke, forcing the Trojan Free Fighters member to tap and sealing the submission win.
Bosnian rising star Amil Tutic delivered another performance to remember, scoring a highlight-reel knockout over Croatia’s Ivan ‘Carnage’ Kis. Both fighters came out firing from the opening bell, trading offence with relentless intent before Tutic found his opening and perfectly timed a charging Kis with a devastating knee, sending the Croatian crashing face-first onto the canvas for a resounding finish.
The women’s flyweight bout between Slovenia’s Maja Drnovsek and Polish debutante Aleksandra Sokołowska ended in unfortunate circumstances after Drnovsek landed an illegal but unintentional knee to her grounded opponent in the third round.
Sokołowska was ruled unable to continue, with the match ultimately going to the scorecards.
Drnovsek was awarded the technical decision after controlling the majority of the contest with her superior grappling, repeatedly taking Sokołowska down and dictating the action on the mat.
Elsewhere, Croatian middleweight Luka Vrtacic weathered an early storm from Germany’s Ali ‘The Gentleman’ Hodeib to win by technical knockout; Filip Vidak scored a statement victory over the most experienced opponent of his promising career, defeating fellow Croatian Patrick Pereša in a 73kg catchweight contest; and 2026 IMMAF European Champion Roni Pavlovic of Croatia showcased his potential with a submission win over Slovenia’s Nejc Rupreht in an amateur 77kg catchweight bout.
&uuid=(email))