Dricus du Plessis sealed his spot as the undisputed EFC welterweight king at EFC 59 on Saturday, May 13.
Hosted at Carnival City’s Big Top Arena, champ du Plessis faced the wild-card Brazilian Jose Da Rocha in his first title defence.
It was a bold move accepting a challenger from the Pitbull Brothers Gym – one of the most notorious fight teams on the planet – with only two weeks’ notice, but it paid off.
Du Plessis engaged with his usual blistering style, fearlessly taking the BJJ black belt Da Rocha to the ground, and then nailing him to the canvas with brutal ground and pound.
Du Plessis has repeatedly called for middleweight champion Yannick Bahati next, in a bid to hold two EFC titles before the end of the year.
Preceding the main event was the big hype encounter between England’s Joe “Silk” Cummins and South Africa’s Shaun de Lange.
As often happens with fights trailing big fire in their buildup, the result came quickly.
Cummins took de Lange down almost immediately, then set about sapping his will with stifling top control, before finally sinking a rear-naked choke to end it in the first round.
Cummins has since thrown his hat into a bout with fast-talking Dino Bagattin, who could be seen hexagon side-baiting the Englishman.
South African Francois Groenewald versus France’s Phillipe Roche turned expectations on their head by delivering a riveting three-round war, a seamless blend of standing and ground fighting that had the crowd mesmerised.
Groenewald is renowned as a submission specialist, but was ultimately undone by the massive heart and slick ground game of the Frenchman, tapping to a triangle choke that dislocated Groenewald’s elbow.
Roche praised his opponent afterwards, calling the fight – which was later awarded Fight of the Night prize – “the toughest of [his] life”.
For Roche, it was an epic debut in the EFC organisation.
South Africa’s commonwealth wrestler Pierre Botha made good on his promise to pressure Welsh boxer Azi Thomas with powerful take-downs and top control.
To his dismay, however, Thomas responded with intelligent ground defence, keeping the wrestler in his guard, allowing an all-out war to develop over three rounds.
An illegal knee to the face of a grounded Thomas cost Botha a point in the second round, ultimately leading to a majority draw decision.
The scrap was hard and even, leaving the crowd satisfied with the result.
Alain Ilunga (DRC) signalled a return to the brutality of his early career with a series of thudding liver kicks to opponent Barend Nienaber (South Africa).
It was a spinning back kick to the throat that finished Nienaber, however, dropping him just before the buzzer at the end of the first.
Since his transition to the Fight Fit Militia, Ilunga has been building a trail of skillful victories, pushing him to the upper region of the lightweight ranks.
Performance bonuses were awarded to Rob Simbowe, Alain Ilunga and Ricky Misholas.
The official EFC 59 results are:
• Nerick Simoes defeated Trezegeut Kanyinda via submission (rear-naked Choke) 2:17 in round one.
• Nico Yamdjie defeated Mpatha Mikixi via submission (rear-naked choke) 3:11 in round one.
• Guy Mongambi defeated TC Khusu via split decision.
• Conrad Seabi defeated Kaleka Kabanda via split decision.
• Robert Simbowe defeated Anicet Kanyeba via knockout (punch) 1:57 in round one.
• Ricky Misholas defeated Thabani Mndebela via submission (North South choke) 4:26 in round three.
• Alain Ilunga defeated Barend Nienaber via KO (kick) 2:52 in round two.
• Azi Thomas and Pierre Botha ended in a majority draw.
• Phillipe Rouch defeated Francois Groenewald via submission (triangle choke) 2:46 in round three.
• Joe Cummins defeated Shaun de Lange via submission (rear-naked choke) 2:57 in round one.
• Dricus du Plessis defeated Jose Da Rocha via TKO (punches) 3:58 in round one.
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