During a night that included brilliant knockouts and sublime submissions, the show left the boisterous Durban ICC crowd in raptures.
Featherweight champion Boyd Allen continued his winning ways and further cemented his grasp on the division.
The bout started tentatively, with the challenger, Wesley ”Young Assassin” Hawkey not wanting to initiate exchanges.
Meanwhile, Allen found his distance rapidly and caught Hawkey with an accurate head kick.
Allen continued to slip the advances of the frustrated challenger and ended the bout with a rear naked choke, after a series of strikes had rocked Hawkey.
The penultimate fight of the evening saw Martin ”The Punisher” van Staden take on Irishman Ayo Daly.
Coming off a knockout victory in his last outing, van Staden continued his refined brawler ways with pinpoint accuracy, consistently finding his mark on Daly’s chin, until he finally dropped and the referee called the victory.
The result has earned van Staden a shot at the cursed welterweight belt, against David Buirski.
The third bout of the main card ended quickly, with a TKO stoppage.
Wrestling phenomenon Igeu Kabesa landed a devastating left hand to the jaw of Durban’s Saxon ”One Minute Monster” Delafield.
Kabesa followed through to win via TKO in the first round.
He remains undefeated in four bouts in EFC, but will have to bide his time in the division, as his teammate, Themba Gorimbo, is next in line for a shot at the lightweight title.
Hanru Botha displayed an excellent combination of wrestling and power punching to dominate his Durban opponent, Tyson Chelin, over three rounds, consistently forcing him onto the back foot with bull rushes of punches and takedowns.
Chelin had no answer to the Polokwane native and Botha was awarded the victory, via unanimous decision.
In the opening bout on the main card, Poland’s Rafal ”The Polish Tank” Haratyk faced Durban local Keron ”Skinner” Davies.
Haratyk forced the tempo from the get-go, in his aggressive grinding style.
Davies seemed shell-shocked and was forced to tap to a well-worked rear naked choke in the first round.
On the preliminary card, fans witnessed the second women’s bout in EFC, featuring Ireland’s Stephanie Quaile taking on South Africa’s Amanda ”Maddog” Lino.
Lino came out very aggressively, landing big shot after big shot and stunning her opponent.
The hometown girl stepped it up a gear and finished quickly, with a TKO stoppage, after tagging Quaile with a great right hook. – @SabeloBoksburg
