It’s semi-finals time in the 2014 Brace Championship Tournament with the promotion set to invade Sydney this week with a doubleheader on Friday and Saturday nights. Both events are scheduled for the North Sydney Leagues Club in Cammeray.
The semi-finals will play out ahead of the 2014 grand final show set to take place on Saturday, November 22, at the AIS Arena in Canberra.
Friday night’s Brace 28 will see Wimp 2 Warrior Season 1 Winner, and ex NSW Waratah, Francis Cullimore (pictured), take on Tasmania’s Connor Murphy for a spot in the light heavyweight final. Murphy welcomes Cullimore to the tournament following his decision win over Chris Lofts at Brace 26. Cullimore made a dominant start to his MMA campaign with a two minute and seven second TKO of Harry Grech at Brace 21. The winner of this one will square off with South Australia’s Mike Turner, who through injury related withdrawals, gets fast tracked to the light heavyweight final. Turner has looked impressive in recent outings with wins over Morris Molesi, Scott Walker and Nitro champion Sam Kei.
A featherweight tilt between 19 year-old Central Coast fighter Jamie Mullarkey (July interview) and Sydney based Kiwi Byron Cowell will fill the co-main event slot. Mullarkey earned his spot in the semis when he put away 10th Planet’s Joshua Pecastaing with strikes at Brace 26. The SPMA trained Cowell on the other hand, will no doubt be eager to get back on track when he makes his promotional debut on the night.
Sydney’s Giancarlo Embradora will vie for a bantamweight tournament final birth when he takes on Tom Cruz. Previously, Embradora defeated Darwin Sagurit at Brace 26, while Cruz enters the tournament on the back of a win over Mark Brady at Valor 4.
Kicking off the semi-finals on Friday night will be a middleweight bout between undefeated Tasmanian Rob Wilkinson and Central Coast veteran Rick Alchin. Wilkinson will look to continue his winning run and build on a quick fire submission victory over Kitt Campbell at Brace 27. Alchin makes his middleweight semi-finals entry on the hunt for back to back wins following his Eternal MMA 5 clash where he submitted David Butt.
Fight News Australia will preview Saturday night’s tournament matchups in the coming days.
Brace 28 Fight Card:
- Francis Cullimore vs Connor Murphy – Light Heavyweight Semi-Final
- Jamie Mullarkey vs Byron Cowell – Featherweight Semi-Final
- Giancarlo Embradora vs Tom Cruz – Bantamweight Semi-Final
- Rob Wilkinson vs Rick Alchin – Middleweight Semi-Final
- Andrew Mills vs Jia Xu
- Ali Cevik vs Aydin Mrouki
- Jeff Bowers vs Nick Roche
* Image via the Francis Cullimore Facebook Page
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