Joilton “Peregrino” Lutterbach has been untouchable since signing with BRAVE Combat Federation last year, swooping in before making quick work of his opponents. In his BRAVE CF debut, he was a late replacement for Belarus’ Vadim Kutsyi to face then-favorite Germany’s Marcel Grabinski, who was set to fight for the 165-pound title in case he won their bout. But Lutterbach had other plans, finishing his foe with a first-round knockout in Bonn, Germany, in the BRAVE CF 61 main event.
Lutterbach then quickly climbed the rankings to face Moldova’s top contender, Mihail Cotruta, at BRAVE CF 68 in a 165-pound interim title fight that would decide who’s next in line for undisputed super lightweight king Eldar Eldarov. At BRAVE CF 68, Lutterbach would face self-inflicted adversity as the Brazilian failed to make the 165-pound weight limit, marking him ineligible for the title. True to form, the man – once again – made light work of his dangerous Moldovan competitor, walking away unscathed with another first-round knockout, now recording a 2-0 run in BRAVE Combat Federation.
This month, at BRAVE CF 70, while he awaits his shot at Eldarov, Lutterbach has again asked for a short-notice bout, and BRAVE CF has agreed to give him a fight in a new weight class, following the cancellation of the co-main event and potential No. 1 contender bantamweight bout between Jose Torres and Nkosi Ndebele after Ndebele withdrew due to undisclosed reasons.
Lutterbach (37-10) will now go up to super welterweight (175 pounds) to face Sweden’s Andreas Gustafsson Berg (8-1) in the new BRAVE CF 70 co-main event in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on April 23. With 37 wins (27 knockouts) and 10 losses, the six-promotion multi-division MMA champion is no stranger to fighting above super lightweight, with more than 11 fights at welterweight and middleweight, including two successful welterweight championship fights.
“Peregrino” now aims to break down the BRAVE CF super welterweight stable door with a win over Gustafsson Berg, who earned the 2020 BRAVE CF “Fight of the Year” award after his devastating victory over Serbia’s Miro Jurkovic at BRAVE CF 39. A win against the Swede would not only draw the attention of BRAVE CF super welterweight champion Marcin Bandel, but it could also open big doors for Lutterbach as “Peregrino” will now have options as to where he chooses to focus his energy with BRAVE Combat Federation being the only global promotion with 165- and 175-pound stables.
BRAVE CF 70 will again be co-promoted with leading regional organization WFC when BRAVE CF returns to Slovenia for the second time in three years following the success of BRAVE CF 34 in January 2020.
The latest BRAVE CF 70 lineup includes:
- Erko Jun vs. Marko Drmonjic
- Joilton Lutterbach vs. Andreas Gustafsson Berg
- Luka Podkrajsek vs. Pavel Dailidko
- Izzedine Al-Derbani vs. Eduardo Mora
- Edilceu Alves vs. Dansheel Moodley
- Miha Frlic vs. Danylo Kartavyi
- Mohammed Farhad vs. Ruel Panales
- David Forster vs. Nemanja Nikolic
