Losing streaks bring extra pressure over the shoulders of a MMA fighter, and Elves Brener doesn’t want his mother to go through another heartbreak this weekend when he faces Esteban Ribovics.
When the exciting lightweights collide in the main card of UFC Vegas 108 on Aug. 2 looking to get back on track, Brener’s motivation to win after a pair of defeats to Myktybek Orolbai and Joel Alvarez in 2024 will be his mother’s happiness.
“Many people end up losing hunger and willpower after some losses, they
say their heads are messed up,” Brener told MMA Fighting. “I’ll tell you what, I’m still happy the same way had I won — even if my mom cries. I made her a promise this time. My mother cried twice in a row, and now she won’t cry. My mother won’t cry a third time in a row, it’s the other mother that will cry.”
The Chute Boxe talent won three straight in 2023, his first year competing under the UFC banner, with a pair of bonuses for knockouts over Guram Kutateladze and Kaynan Kruschewsky. Despite the current skid, he still sees a bright future ahead in the lightweight division.
“I work with what I love,” Brener said. “I train every day to be in the UFC and have this experience. I’m top-15 material, top-10 material, and one day top-5 material, you know? My head remains the same, and I can clearly see the future ahead. [Those losses] were just a moment.”
Brener was briefly linked to a fight with Daniel Zellhuber in Mexico City in March, but said he was never officially offered until only three weeks prior to the date, so he was forced to decline. Now booked against Ribovics with a proper six-week training camp in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he sees it as a more favorable match-up.
“I have a harder time fighting taller opponents but to tell you the truth, I see Ribovics being easier than Zellhuber,” Brener said. “Zellhuber had longer reach, good arm-triangle chokes, long legs. Fighting Ribovics is more simple even though he’s aggressive, strong, tough and explosive, and has great cardio. But we’ll brawl in there, brother [laughs].”
Ribovics has never been finished before in MMA, and Brener said that’s because “he was never punched by a hand like mine.”
“He’ll come in alert because when my hand connects people are shut off, they fall stiff,” Brener said. “It’s going to be a great fight. I want to fight MMA with him. I’m ready to fight three rounds. If he has good cardio, I have more. If he has good boxing, I’m even better. If he has good kicks, I’m even better. I’m excited because he’s dangerous, and I love fighting people that make me feel alert. Brother, we’ll kill each other in there. We’ll brawl and put on a show for the fans. I’m going there to work, and I love my job.”
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