Fighting to win
SUNNINGHILL - Paulshof's Martin van Staden and Douglasdale's Garreth 'Soldierboy' McLellan are both on the fight card for EFC Africa 33.
The EFC Africa 33 tournament will be held at the ICC in Durban on 30 August.
Van Staden and McLellan train at Fight Fit Militia gym in Sunninghill. Van Staden said his journey to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) started seven years ago with a fight outside a nightclub. “I was always a naughty kid and was always getting into fights,” he said. “One day I got into a fight outside a nightclub and the bouncer who intervened happened to be an MMA trainer and noticed some potential in me.”
Van Staden said since starting MMA he had not fought outside the ring.
McLellan explained that he had always been athletic, having had a rugby career before embracing his life-long passion for various martial arts forms. Both fighters train four to six hours a day, six days a week. “If you want to be successful you have to make the sport your life,” Van Staden said.
McLellan and Van Staden agreed that MMA was becoming increasingly popular in South Africa. “When MMA in South Africa first started I was fighting in a tent and now we fight in these huge venues,” McLellan said.
McLellan seemed confident about prevailing over Dricus Du Plessis at the EFC Africa 33 tournament, while Van Staden mentioned that he had a lot to prove with his fight. Van Staden’s fight against Jeremy ‘The Pitbull’ Smith will mark his return to the ring after undergoing knee surgery 11 months ago. It will also be the first time Van Staden is facing Smith since he first started MMA. “Smith gave me the first loss of my career and now five years later I’m facing him again, so I do have a point to prove,” Van Staden said.
Details: www.efcafrica.com
