EFC returned to the Big Top Arena at Carnival City on the night of Thursday, October 2, for EFC Africa 34.
On a night where only one of 12 fights went to the judges, the packed crowd was treated to a showcase of world class MMA action.
Two colossal title fights, both of which managed to live up to the pre-fight anticipation inside the arena, rounded off a great night for the fans.
Pretoria native Leon “Iron Lion” Mynhardt headlined the evening’s fight card with his lightweight title defence against Cape Town’s Sibusiso “The Monster” Mdoko.
Mynhardt showed exactly why he is one of the most destructive athletes in the organisation, with a non-stop onslaught on his opponent, maintaining a consistently fast paced, striking strategy in the opening rounds.
Mdoko initially tried to stand and trade with the champ, but had to rethink his game plan when he found himself on the receiving end of some vicious combinations.
The status quo remained when the fight went to ground, and Mynhardt deservedly retained his belt when he sank a rear naked choke for the victory.
Demarte Pena stepped up to defend his bantamweight title for the first time, facing who many believed to be his toughest challenge yet in submission master and local fighter Francois “Franaconda” Groenewald.
Groenewald, on a four-fight tear in the bantamweight division, had promised to defeat Pena, who he regarded as a “boring” champion.
The pre-fight talk from the challenger clearly had an effect on Pena, who brought a far more aggressive and enterprising game to the hexagon.
His game plan did make him vulnerable to submissions on the ground, but the strength and resilience of the Angolan ensured he foiled any of Groenewald’s attempts.
Pena eventually managed to finish the challenger after he landed a right cross in the fourth round, forcing the referee to stop the fight and award the TKO victory.
The Herald caught up with Groenewald after the fight.
Speaking about the defeat by Pena he commented: “I had a good game plan going into the fight and I went into it feeling extremely confident.
“I felt really good in the first two rounds and went really hard at Pena.
“I was close to finishing him on a few occasions, but he surprised me with his strength and was definitely the better fighter on the night.”
Franaconda added that although he came close to submitting his opponent with a triangle choke, he made an error that saw Pena use all of his strength to escape the chokehold.
“Mistakes are there to be learned from and I will use this loss as a learning curve,” he said.
“I have always had the belief that I fight for the fun of it, without needing to prove anything.
“It is all about moving on and going forward now.”
Groenewald’s stand-up coach and the president of Brakpan-based Xtreme Kickboxing Technologies (XKT) Pro League, Raymond Phillips said that it is back to the drawing board for his fighter.
“Francois showed a lot of heart and did not give up,”he added.
“He made some mistakes which cost him the fight, but there are no excuses.
“He will need to work harder on his fitness if he is to win the title in future.”
Full results from EFC Africa 34 are:
- Lyle Karam defeated Tyron Bester via submission (guillotine choke) 1:20 into round one.
- Heinrich Potgieter defeated Sydney Mokgolo via submission (triangle choke) 1:32 into round two.
- Mthobisi Buthelezi defeated Sindile Manengela via TKO in 1:40 in round three.
- Warren Allison defeated Cameron Meintjies via submission (Kimura) 3:26 into round three.
- Marino Cutendana defeated Sibulele Swekile via KO in 0:33 into round one.
- Oumpie Sebeko defeated Lourens Botes via split decision.
- Hanru Botha defeated Nelson Feiteira via KO 1:14 into round one.
- Tumisang Madiba defeated Pierre Botha via submission (guillotine choke) 1:33 into round one.
- Champion Dalcha defeated Pete Motaung via submission (armbar) 3:51 into round one.
- Andrew van Zyl defeated Vandam Mbuyi via tapout due to strikes 3:10 into round two.
- Demarte Pena defeated Francois Groenewald via TKO 4:34 into round four.
- Leon Mynhardt defeated Sibusiso Mdoko via submission (rear naked choke) 1:37 into round three.
