Brave CF 70’s headline attraction Erko Jun has tasted success many times in sports and showbiz, first as a multiple-time bodybuilding champion, then as a fitness model, and social media influencer. However, his true passion remains fighting. Next month, he will look to continue the climb towards the top in mixed martial arts as he gets ready for the biggest fight of his career – a main event spot at Brave CF 70, which takes place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on April 23.
As he takes the next step in his true passion and career, the adversity he faced growing up has also shaped him as a competitor, and shifted his drive for a better life into fifth gear.
Jun was born a fighter. From a young age, he faced conflict and pain. Only two years after his birth in 1990, his family fled war-torn Bosnia for a better life. After a year in a German refugee camp, the Jun family eventually settled in Belgium. At 16, Erko spiraled out of control, as he engaged in regular street brawls. Jun later took up taekwondo and Kickboxing, disciplines in which the natural fighter found solace and a release.
Jun loved the competitive side of martial arts, but just as he had begun to forge a fierce reputation on the fighting scene, an untimely leg break put any fighting ambitions on ice. During a six-month rehabilitation program, he was introduced to bodybuilding through legend and former Mr. Universe – Bill Richardson – who would eventually shape Jun’s champion mindset.
There, Jun received his much-needed dose of competition again. Soon big doors opened as he got scouted for a lucrative modeling opportunity after participating in a bodybuilding competition in Miami, Florida, in 2013. From that point on, the sky was the limit for Jun as his status as a bodybuilder stretched beyond the confines of Europe. He seized the moment, growing his social media presence by doing intriguing stunts, offering workout advice, and entering various reality television shows.
But deep down, Jun had not lost that instinctive fighting spirit, and despite being successful enough, he opted to return to what he loved the most and took up mixed martial arts in 2018 – this time, not on the streets, but inside the cage. Jun took to MMA like a fish to water, running rampant with three knockouts in three fights.
In his first fight, he won “KO of the Night” honors and has since amassed an impressive 5-2 record. In only his fourth fight, he faced one of the most renowned fighters in Europe, and “The World’s Strongest Man”, veteran Mariusz Pudzianowski who handed him his first loss, still, an incredible feat considering that Pudzianowski was 12-7 at the time.
Since the beginning of 2021, the UFD (University of Fighting in Düsseldorf) athlete has been on a two-fight win streak and has maintained his heavy-handed reputation, with all his wins coming via knockout. His last performance saw him display more of his artillery after finishing Poland’s Szymon Wrzesien via knees and punches in the third round.
In his very young combat sports career, Jun has been the main draw of two fight events thus far, and come April 23, it will be his third headline event when he makes his debut in the most-global MMA promotion against the Slovenian MMA legend Drmonjic.
Brave CF 70 will be the promotion’s second visit to Slovenia in three years after the successful Brave CF 34. It will be co-promoted with leading regional organization WFC, which returns to action.
