Cape Town — Former Extreme Fighting Championship bantamweight king, Faeez Jacobs has received his second assignment in the UAE Warriors promotion.
South Africa’s Jacobs (8-4) will face Brazil’s Gabriel Alves Braga (7-0) at a 63.9 kilogram catchweight fight at UAE Warriors 30 on July 2 at the Etihad Arena.
Jacobs made a good start to his UAE Warrior campaign after finishing Jaures Dea Gomez (8-5) in round one via rear-naked choke at UAEW 27 in March this year.
The man who stepped into the Abu Dhabi cage that night looked like a completely different fighter to the one who suffered two losses in the EFC prior to stepping away from the South African-based promotion.
The performance was reminiscent of the old “Troublemaker” who set alight the EFC Hexagon all the way to the EFC bantamweight title when he beat Nkazimulo Zulu (13-5-1) at EFC 81 in 2019.
The following two fights clearly proved that something was amiss with the Troublemaker as he was a shell of the fighter everybody loved to watch.
Stagnant and more reactive than pushing the pace, Jacobs failed to find his way leading to losses against Sylvester Chipfumbu (8-4) and Sindile Manengela (8-7).
A shift in camp and coaches, along with some introspection gave Jacobs a new leash on his fighting career. Along with a fresh outlook, the Troublemaker also seemed to add more muscle and snap to his game, stepping into the UAE cage looking like a jacked boxer. That coupled with his flair and instinctive approach saw him make light work of Dea Gomez who just came off a win over current EFC bantamweight champion, Manengela.
On the same night, Ali Alqaisi (12-5) defends his featherweight title against Canada's Jesse Arnett (19-8) in the main event while Brazil's Vinicius de Oliveira (17-2) defends his bantamweight title against undefeated Swedish fighter ALi Taleb (6-0).
Jacobs will have his eye on the co-main event and a win for him against Braga could signal a title shot for him.
Braga is yet to be beaten on the pro circuit with his latest wins coming in the Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA).
IOL Sport