Stephan de la Ray (right) attempts to drop Serge Kasanda during their welterweight bout at the Gauteng Fighting Championships, held at Hattingh Park, recently.
Gauteng Fighting Championships (GFC) 7 was held at Hattingh Park, recently.
“GFC started in 2013 and since it has been growing from strength to strength,” said event organiser Deidre le Roux.
“We have four events scheduled for this year and tonight’s event is the first for the year.
“GFC serves as the first platform for fighters to start building and developing for the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) like Extreme Fighting Championships (EFC).
“In order for fighters to appear in MMAs, they have to have a minimum of ten fights with a 70 percent win record before they can go pro-am.”
Deidre told GCN that children also had their own tournament earlier that day.
“We hosted the Juniors Submission Tournament and we had over 50 children battling it out,” she said.
“Because they are not allowed in the cage, the children did a bit of grappling and stand-up light contact.”
After 14 bouts, fight fans were treated to first-class MMA action.
Fighters from different parts of the country attended the event to showcase their skills.
Cassandra le Roux, deputy head girl at Hoërskool Vryburger High School, was among the fighters present.
Cassandra faced Nikita Peek in the hexagon.
It took just over a minute for Cassandra to win by an armbar submission in the first round.
“The fight was short, quicker than what I intended,” said Cassandra.
“We plan to have the next tournament on June 6, and hopefully it will be at the same venue,” said Deidre.
The full fightcard:
Peter Parlas vs MJ Wilemse. Parlas won with a rear naked choke.
Alon Breger vs Jarod Cook. Breger won by submission with an armbar.
Stephanie de Beer vs Chantel Bezuidenhout. Bezuidenhout won by a tap out.
Richard Fraser vs Michel Scheepers. Fraser won via Technical Knockout (TKO).
Dirk Swanepoel vs Stephan Beukes. Swanepoel won by unanimous decision.
Michael Bezuidenhout vs Ruan Erasmus. Erasmus won by a TKO.
JP Geldenhuys vs Dwain Merridith. Merridith won with a rear naked choke.
William Joyner vs Danny Batista. Batista won with a rear naked choke.
David Mendes vs Andrew Beneke. Mendes won by a TKO.
Cassandra le Roux vs Nikita Peek. Le Roux won by submission with an armbar.
Wiehan Putter vs James Tollmay. Putter won by TKO.
Stephan de la Ray vs Serge Kasanda. De la Ray won by disqualification of Serge.
Michealan Pillay vs Dean van Zyl. Pillay won by TKO.
Brilliant Nyube vs Sbongo Masongo. Nyube won by unanimous decision.
