EFC 39 Results And Review

Firstly, a major apology for the delay. All technical issues have been resolved :)

EFC39... Where do I begin?

The Grand Arena kinda had it's roof raised as EFC delivered, yet once again, a smashing fight card!! The fighters clearly had a rule of the day, not to leave their fate in the hands of the judges... KO after KO, every single fighter got in the hex, on a mission to be great!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The official results are as follows:

Bout 1: Quaid Openshaw defeated Didier Nyembwe via TKO in R1
Bout 2: Mamoudou Toure defeated Sizwe Mnikathi via disqualification in R2.
Bout 3: Kaleka Kabanda defeated Mark Moleke via TKO in R1.
Bout 4: Cameron Pritchard defeated Pupanga Tresor via KO in R1.   
Bout 5: Joe Cummins defeated Marcel Teniers via TKO in R1.
Bout 6: Mark Hulme defeated Shaun de Lange via unanimous decision. 
Bout 7: Sibusiso Mdoko defeated Luke Michael via TKO in R3.
Bout 8: Irshaad Sayed defeated Oumpie Sebeko via unanimous decision.
Bout 9: Champion Dalcha defeated Yannick Bahati via unanimous decision. 
Bout 10: Don Madge defeated Regis Muyambo via KO in R1.
Bout 11: Gideon Drotschie defeated Tumelo Maphutha via majority decision.
Bout 12: Andrew van Zyl defeated Brendon Groenewald via KO in R1.

As always, there are fights that make the night one to remember, but on Thursday, we even went the distance of having fights that made us want to forget it ever happened. None the less, here are the reviews:

Bout 3: Kaleka Kabanda vs. Mark Moleke

If you're a Cape Town MMA addict then this wasn't a first for you, but if you're not, Kabanda made it his mission to prove that first impressions last. Moleke came out hard, determined to show Cape Town that he came to fight, but Kabanda was very technical in his striking. At the end of R1, I had declared this, a WAR!! Kabanda attempted to sink in a guillotine on more than one occasion, however, Moleke put his strength to test and refused to tap. By the start of R3, Kabanda had taken things to the ground, where Moleke had given up his back. Kabanda took full advantage with GnP until the ref called it.

Bout 4: Cameron Pritchard vs. Pupanga Tresor

There wasn't really much to say about this fight... I mean, one punch and it was all over. Though I can say that there was more to it than a "lucky" punch. At least from my angle, there was some pretty decent technique pushing through with the power behind that clean right from Pritchard. Oh, and #23seconds got trending on twitter :)

Bout 7: Sibusiso Mdoko vs.Luke Michael

This was quite the fight I'd say. I had expected it to be much of a "stand and trade" kind of fight, however, things don't always go according to plan and we understand that. Michael opened R1 with hard, solid and quick strikes, but the minute Mdoko dropped those punches, Michael was startled. Mdoko, very technically, landing every strike with such precision, used every situation to his advantage; throwing elbows from in guard and timing his shots. Luke managed to get in some GnP in R1, but not enough to put an end to it. Somewhere in R2, Michael stumbles and becomes sloppy, looking almost gassed. Mdoko took full advantage, unloading combinations but Michael refuses to give up- heart like that wins me over every time!! By R3, Mdoko still has enough in his tank to finish the round, but Michaels is so far gone, if not for movement and sloppy countering, the fight would have been long over. Don't misunderstand, Mdoko not fresh enough for another 10 rounds, evident in him moving across the hex, as if to give Michael some recovery time, cute. Mdoko gets back in and finishes up before the end of R3.

Bout 8: Irshaad Sayed vs. Oumpie Sebeko

Both Sayed and Sebeko waste no time getting into this. If you're a social junkie, you'll be fully aware that a lot of smack talk went into this fight... Oh, of course, how could we forget, and an actual smack from Sebeko to Sayed at weigh in as well, but Sayed seemed to settle the score nicely on the night. Sebeko attempted a guillotine early in the fight when Sayed gave up his back, but Sayed resisted, with a reversal and quickly gained control. When Sayed and Sebeko stood to trade, Sebeko delivered solid leg kicks, with Sayed creating a distraction before going for the TD. Sayed quickly gaining control again, and dropping technical knees to Sebeko's ribs. Sayed ends R2 with some GnP, but there isn't enough time to end it all. Well, in all honesty, Sayed most likely just wanted to return Sebeko's weigh in slap... and that he did, going all the way and taking the W by unanimous decision!!

Bout 11: Gideon Drotschie vs. Tumelo Maphutha

To be completely honest, I was deeply saddened by this fight. When asked at the post press conference what had gone wrong, Drotschie said that he had waited for Maputha to engage... and what if Maputha was waiting for Drotschie to engage? Well... I don't know okay, I was honestly really excited to see much more work being done by both fighters. I wasn't expecting a BloodFest, but I definitely wasn't keen on the SnoreFest either :(

Bout 12: Andrew van Zyl vs. Brendon Groenewald

The second quickest KO of the night, in only 32seconds, van Zyl dropped Groenewald and delivered on having "one gear" which was clearly shifted in before this fight. van Zyl reclaimed the HW title and Cape Town loses another champion.

Images courtesy of: RazzWorks Digital Photography

EFC 39 Preview

EFC has made their way to Cape Town and with medical exams done and dusted, and the weigh in not only raising the roof at the Market Hall in Grand West, but also being a total success, we caught up with some of the fighters and found out what they had to say ahead of their EFC 39 bouts.

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 :)

Facebook: Boxing Barbie ZA
Twitter: @BoxingBarbieZA

Get In The Ring 2 Results And Review

I always struggle to find a single word to describe a fight night, this time around is no different. Get in the Ring 2 was nothing short of explosive. So many action packed fights, unexpected outcomes and such an organised, well run event. Well done to Nicholas Radley and his team at Thaiholics!!

Bout 1: Larry Fawcuz (Venters) defeated Christopher Briggs (PFC)by unanimous decision
Bout 2: Stefan Gelderboom (Tricore) defeated Adriaan Matthew (Young Guns) by TKO in R1
Bout 3: Kyle Juries (Tricore) defeated Jean Claude Dixon (PFC) by TKO in R2
Bout 4: Sylvester Chipfumbu (Panther) defeated Keeran Geduld (Rad Dragon MT) by KO in R2
Bout 5: Hermie Drotschie (REPS) defeated Julian Cormille (CTFC) by TKO in R2
Bout 6: Jasper Basson (Tricore) defeated Saint Dumas (Venters) by split decision
Bout 7: Joshua Ignjatovic (Panther) defeated Chester Kruge(Tricore) by unanimous decision
Bout 8: Emile Brits (Tricore) defeated Josh Light (Takedown) by TKO in R4
Bout 9: Antonio Fabing (Thaiholics) defeated by Shaun West (Sparta) by split decision
Bout 10: Carlo Schippers (Tricore) defeated Hishaam Kamish (PFA) by split decision
Bout 11: Rafel Wozniak (Thaiholics) defeated Dyllan Dutton (Young Guns MMA) by KO in R3
Bout 12: Lucky Mokate (Young Guns) defeated Steven Peters (Young Guns) by unanimous decision
Bout 13: Christiano Ndombassy (Insane Boxing) defeated Ashley Robinson (Tricore) by KO in R1
Bout 14: Adrian van Wyk (Tricore) defeated Remo Ralph (Andrew Thomson) by KO in R3

It would be so much easier if we could review every single fight at every single fight night... but unfortunately that’s not possible, so these will have to do :)

Bout 2: Stefan Gelderboom (Tricore) vs. Adriaan Matthew (Young Guns)

There won’t be much to say about this fight, because it ended rather quickly, but this is one of those “it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey” kind of situations. In R1 Stefan had made his intentions clear that he was there to do a job. He wasted no time in taking control and dominating his opponent. Stefan left no room for his opponent to counter, causing an injury with the ref calling the fight in the break between R1 and R2.

Bout 4: Sylvester Chipfumbu (Panther) vs. Keeran Geduld (Rad Dragon MT)

This was a rather interesting fight to watch, even more so from ring side... Sylvester opened R1 with a clean, jab landing full on in Keeran’s face. An exchange of very technical punches saw Keeran hitting the canvas, getting an 8 count, but maintaining his heart and getting back in there. Shortly after, Sylvester delivers a knee to Keeran’s face, Keeran hits the canvas but gets right back into it. This is followed by a flurry of punches from Sylvester, still maintaining his technique, slightly more passive than Keeran, and ending R1 with another knee to Keeran’s face. Something that really grabbed me from this fight, was every time Keeran got knocked down, regardless of how bad it hurt (and we all know, I know exactly how bad that hurts), he got back up, showed little to no sign of being hurt or losing heart. Sylvester delivers a combo of punches in R2 followed by a powerful front kick, ending the fight in a KO.

Bout 8: Emile Brits (Tricore) vs. Josh Light (Takedown)

 So doing what we do, we happen to know certain fighters and their game... it’s great when they surprise us, catch us off guard and fry our brains sometimes. Something about this fight had me excited from the word go, maybe it was that Adrian “Sparks” van Wyk mentioned in his pre fight interview, that Emile Brits is his training and sparring partner. That must make him a tough cookie. R1 opens with Josh dropping heavy leg kicks, but Emile returns the favour. Josh delivers a combo, sending Emile to the ground. Emile gets back in, Josh continues delivering combos’s, cautiously controlling his moves, being slightly technical, while Emile continues to counter his combo’s. Josh delivers a knee to Emile’s solar plexus, and another combo to end R1. Josh going hard in R2, while Emile maintains composure, through a solid head kick delivered by Josh. Both guys exchanging combo’s, and some body kicks to end R2. Josh feeling Emile out in R3, allowing Emile to take advantage and close in on him. Emile unloads a flurry of punches just before Josh gets sent to his corner to have his nose cleaned up... Blood everywhere... Emile drops a knee to Josh’s face and follows up with a strong head kick just before Josh gets sent back to his corner for another clean up ending R3. Emile opens R4 with leg kicks, Josh returning with the jab but leaves a gap for Emile to land a clean straight right causing even more damage and the ref calls the fight, too much of an uncontrollable blood fest.

Bout 14: Adrian van Wyk (Tricore) vs. Remo Ralph (Andrew Thomson)

This was one of those “if you blinked, you might as well have been asleep” kind of fights. Great match up, both athletes having had some major experience behind their names and bith very well rounded stand up athletes. Remo opened R1 with a combo, clean, technical punches, while Adrian dropped leg kicks that even we felt! Remo returns with a head kick, putting his slight height advantage to good use. Adrian delivers a spinning head kick, remo not fazed, returning knees to the chest of Adrian. Remo dropping some strong body kicks to end R1. R2 sees Remo delivering head kicks with intent! Remo displaying very clinical, technical striking... Adrian attempts to distract Remo with short jabs to Remo’s face, while Remo unloads body shots to Adrian. Remo lands a head kick, Adrian returns with a leg kick, a combo and a knee to Remo’s face. Adrian delivers a technical knee, sending Remo to the canvas with an 8 count. Remo recovers and R2 ends. R3 gets underway with both Remo and Adrian unloading strong, solid punches, followed by a knee to Remo’s face giving him an 8 count that he recovers from and finds himself back in... Adrian delivers a flurry of punches, Remo hits the canvas, gets an 8 count and doesn’t recover in time... the ref calls it and Adrian “Sparks” van Wyk is the Get in the Ring champion. Not only did a lot of hard work and strength go into this fight, but evidently, tremendous amounts of heart from both athletes!!

All images by: RazzWorksDigital

Boxing Barbie would like to congratulate all athletes who competed.
P.S you either win, or you learn :)

Get In The Ring Preview

Weigh in, check!
Medical examination, check!

Next up, Fight Night!!

But just before we get to that, we have a little pre fight night post, just for you, the fans :)
Before we get into that, this will officially be our very first event that we will be covering all on our own, with live twitter updates @BoxingBarbieZA !!

We asked each fighter in the 5 main fights to introduce themselves, tell us how they felt about their upcoming fight and a little something extra. Here's what they had to say:

Hishaam Kamish (PFA) vs. Carlo Scheepers (Tricore)

Kamish was unavailable at the time of publication.

Carlo Schippers (29) holds an amateur record of 8-1 and a pro- am record of 5-1. Schippers agrees to being nervous as with every fight, to put on a great performance for the fans. Schippers says he has a lot of respect for Kamish and seems to know him on a personal level. After GITR, Schippers will be working towards his professional K1 debut but sees his upcoming fight as a means of improving the current level that he is on. Schippers concludes, "I would like to thank God first and foremost for blessing me with this opportunity, Ruhan Louw for always making sure I am prepared for all my fights. It is a blessing to have Louw as a Sensei and a coach. I'd also like to thank all my team mates for helping me prepare and always motivating me and everyone who has supported me"

Rafel Wozniak (Thaiholics) vs. Dyllan Dutton (Young Guns MMA)

Rafel Wozniak (23), holding a record of 6-2 says that he is always excited for upcoming fights and feels no differently about this one. Wozniak will be representing Western Province at the SA champs shortly after GITR, but for now, he has his eye on the W at GITR. With Wozniak's track record of being an entertainer, when asked what we can expect to see tomorrow night, he responded saying "I wont tell you what to expect in this fight, as every fight is different, be surprised instead" Wozniak mentions that his fight camp has been fun, tough and rewarding, but improvement never lacks. Wozniak concluded "I would like to thank my Coach, Nicholas Radley, for always being positive and taking that extra step to help me and many others improve in various ways. Thank you to all my friends and family for their continuous support. God I left you for last, because finding the words to thank you is impossible, I'm grateful for the chance to Live to fight another day"

Dyllan Dutton, with a fight record of +- 25 fights informs that his last fight was 2years ago at Cape Fight League, against Zeeke Norris. Dutton says it was a very hard fight  against Norris, and since this is his comeback fight after 2 years, he'd like to shake the ring rust with his positivity and confidence. Dutton would like to persue a professional K1 career in the near future


Steven Peters (Young Guns) vs. Lucky van der Mokate (Young Guns)

Steven Peters (35) has had a total of just over 18 fights and is coming back from taking a break from competing. After Peters' last fight, he had been fighting independently, but now fights out of Young Guns MMA. Peters would like to thank the Almighty for his blessings, Nicholas Radley for the opportunity to compete, Young Guns as well as Bootleggers. Special thanks to Young Guns, Mitchells Plain, Ronan and Jeremy.

Lucky “The Surgeon” Mokate (30) holds a record of 27-4 and explains his emotion towards his upcoming fight is nothing but exciert as he hasn’t competed over the last 12months. Mokate admits that he will be testing his fitness as he has a lack of training partners and almost no one to spar with where he currently resides in the Northern Cape. Despite these constraints, Mokate considers himself a “Hungry Lion” and says he will still “eat” his opponent and nothing will stand in his way of a W. Mokate concludes thanking his team at Young Guns, Nicholas Radley and all his sponsors.

Christiano Ndombassy (Insane Boxing) vs. Ashley Robinson (Tricore)

Christiano was unavailable at the time of publication .

Ashley Robinson (24) holds a record 13-2 and will be making his pro debut with his upcoming fight. Robinson sees a bright future for himself, with only bigger and better opportunities to come. Robinson not only trains to be the best, but also likes to keep his crowd entertained so we never know what to expect. Robinson is thankful for his teammates, who not only train beside him everyday, but also motivate him when necessary. Robinson concludes thanking his sponsors: USN, HS trailers investments, R and R massage therapy, dryk holdings, fight evolution and apocalypse. Robinson considers them "golden stars and pure hearts" and admits that he would not be where he currently is, without their support. "Saving the best for last, I would like to thank God for opening up doors to opportunities and blessings".

Remo Ralph (Andrew Thomson) vs. Adrian van Wyk (Tricore)

Remo "The Destroyer" Ralph (25), with a record of 7-0, fights out of East London and says that he sees himself fighting abroad in the near future. Ralph has also had the experience of competing in the Extreme Fighting Championships Worldwide (EFC). Ralph says "I've been competing in K1 because I am naturally a stand up fighter and that's what my fans like seeing me do". Ralph concluded by thanking his Coach, Andrew Thomson, his friends and family in East London, as well as the rest of the country for all their support.

Adrian "Sparks" van Wyk (26) holds an amateur and pro-am record of 22-2, a professional record of 1-0 and a pro boxing record of 1-0. van Wyk stated that he feels confident and ready, saying "the harder I train, the more confident I feel" but admitted that "cutting weight is the hard part". When asked what his plans are after Get in the ring, van Wyk said that the first place he'd be heading to, would be the gym, because 2 weeks after GITR, he will be competing in "SA vs. Canada" and just 3 weeks thereafter, he will be competing in "Rumble" in Japan. We asked van Wyk if he had an opinion on his opponent having competed in EFC, van Wyk responded saying "I don't focus on who I'm going to fight, but only on my own training." he also added that he enjoys competing against opponents on a high level to improve himself, all that matters is how well he is prepared. van Wyk concluded with a thank you to his sponsors, his team at Tricore for all their love and support, with special thanks to Emile Brits, his main training partner.

Boxing Barbie would like to thank Nicholas Radley and his team for making the event possible and all the fighters who took the time out to be interviewed. We wish all the athletes competing, everything of the best and may the event be a success!!

See below for the full fight card :)

Barbie Temporarily Out Of Action