Despite a Pair of Highlight Reel Finishes, Elves Brener Remains an Underdiscussed Lightweight Standout Ahead of His Clash with Joel Álvarez at UFC Abu Dhabi.
While UFC Abu Dhabi is packed from top to bottom with established stars and promising up-and-comers, there’s one budding contender flying under the radar: Elves Brener.
The Chute Boxe Diego Lima product has done nothing but entertain crowds since his debut in February of last year when he earned a hard-fought victory over veteran Zubaira Tukhugov to open UFC 284 in Perth.
Five months later, Brener returned to action at the UFC APEX against Guram Kutateladze. The Georgian closed as a -675 favorite over Brener, who entered the fight as a +500 underdog.
After a competitive first round, Kutateladze landed an elbow flush across Brener’s hairline less than 40 seconds into the second, opening up a gnarly cut. To make matters worse in the eyes of the judges, Brener’s glimmering white hair, symbolic of the fighters and coaches at his gym, quickly turned red as blood continued to pour.
Despite being in a dominant position on the ground, Kutateladze backed off and called for Brener to join him in the middle of the Octagon. But as soon as Brener got back to his feet, it was as if his entire demeanor changed, and he began stepping on the gas, putting Kutateladze on the back foot with no worry of the shots coming back his way. Brener started realizing a lot of success of his own until Kutateladze took him back down to the mat to close out the final 45 seconds of the round.
After a momentary scare when the Octagon-side physician spoke to referee Chris Tognoni regarding the severity of the cut, action resumed, and Brener got back to work. Entering the final round still as a massive underdog on the live odds, Brener slugged it out until a left hook found the mark, knocking down Kutateladze. Brener jumped on him to land a few ground-and-pound strikes to close the show. His thrilling performance earned Brener his first Fight of the Night bonus, but it would not be the last time Brener walked away with an extra $50k in his pocket.
Four months after his war with Kutateladze, Brener hopped right back into the Octagon to face Kaynan Kruschewsky at a catchweight of 165 pounds. Only four minutes into the opening round, Brener landed a perfect left hook, shutting Kruschewsky’s lights out for the walk-off knockout victory.
In his most recent outing, Brener suffered his first loss inside the Octagon in an extremely competitive bout against Myktybek Orolbai, who’s lost just one of his 15 fights as a professional. Sharing 15 minutes inside the Octagon after a pair of finishes is still valuable experience for Brener as he heads into his next challenge at UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Nurmagomedov in Abu Dhabi.
This Saturday, Brener will open the main card against Joel Álvarez, a submission artist with 13 first-round finishes to his name. Both fighters are in a similar position where a win would take them one huge step closer to a fight against a Top 15 ranked opponent in the stacked 155-pound division.
Brener is currently must-see TV, and Álvarez is the perfect dance partner to help kick off an electric main card live on ABC, ESPN & ESPN+ at a special time of 3pm ET/12pm PT.
Don’t miss a moment of UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Nurmagomedov, live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on August 3, 2024. Prelims start at 12pm ET/9am PT, while the main card kicks off live on ABC, ESPN & ESPN+ at 3pm ET/12pm PT.