Irshaad Sayed vs. Oumpie Sebeko
Sayed stated from the word go (or maybe even before then) that his goal was to become the champion. Sayed was scheduled to fight Demarte Pena for the Bantamweight title in June, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the scheduled date was moved to July, which falls in the month of Ramadaan. Sayed stated "As a practicing Muslim I politely then declined the fight and EFC was very accomodating and understanding about my situation". In a pre fight interview with Graeme Cartmell, Sayed said that he hoped Pena wins his fight so that he can be the first to beat him, when asked what that meant about his fight against Sebeko, Sayed said "It means I have to beat Oumpie to keep my number one contender spot"
In an interview with EFC, Sebeko said "I am coming to Cape Town to win. Then I will be the number one contender and will fight for the title and become champion". With Sebeko and Sayed evidently on the same mission, both hungry for the BW title, we asked Sebeko if Sayed's past achievements and titles meant anything to him. Sebeko kept it short and to the point saying "I have titles too, it doesn't bother me". When asked how he felt about his upcoming fight at EFC 39 with Sayed, Sebeko said "Sayed is just another opponent and person in my way to gold".
Champion Dalcha vs. Yannick Bahati
Unfortunately both Dalcha and Bahati were unavailable at the time of publication.
Don Madge vs. Regis Muyambo
Madge was unavailable at the time of publication
Muyambo, a young but experienced 20, when asked what his thoughts on fighting Madge are, said that opportunities like this don't come often, "I grabbed it with both hands. Don is one hell of a competitor and I am looking forward to fighting him this Thursday". With Madge being an obvious favourite (No opinion of my own mentioned here), When asked what this fight meant to him, Muyambo said "Nobody trains to lose we all have goals and we all want to achieve them. I'm very hungry and getting the W will do wonders for my career."
Tumelo Maputha vs. Gideon Drotschie
Unfortunately both Maputha and Drotschie were unavailable at the time of publication.
Brendon Groenewald vs. Andrew van Zyl
Before getting into what both Groenewald and van Zyl had to say, I just have to mention how surprised I was at their responses... Not only were they the quickest to respond, but they also both responded with warm and welcoming gestures- I think it was just unexpected because they're both very big and I have seen them both inside the hexagon :)
Groenewald, feeling good and ready as he ever will be for his first title defence, said "I am not concerned about titles, I am just competing to be the best that I can be". Defending his title against the once former HW champion, we asked Groenewald if that mattered to him the slightest. Groenewald said "I am not concerned about is, was, or could be... I am interested in the now and being the best that I can be... oh, and of course, good pizza" haha, at least I have one thing in common with the champ :)
With van Zyl having had the experience of achieving the very title he fights for tomorrow night, we asked how he felt about that. van Zyl admitted that experience is golden, but it doesn't mean that you will win, also stating that he is ready and excited. With van Zyl being Groenewald's first title defence, we asked van Zyl if it played a role in his game plan. "No, not really... Prepped as I would for any fight-super hard. I think BG has a good mental attitude, he won't be too phased." responded van Zyl, concluding with a simple "Let's see how it pans out".
Boxing Barbie would like to thank all the fighters who took the time out of their busy schedules to be interviewed and would like to wish all athletes the best of luck for their upcoming fights tomorrow night!!
Be sure to Follow us on social media as we will be doing live updates of the event, on twitter tomorrow evening :)
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