A local mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter has made it through to the finals of Searching for a Scrap.
This competition is organised by Fightstar Fighting Championships, the premier amateur MMA event in South Africa. In this edition, the best-ranked amateur lightweights face-off against each other in a tournament-style competition. The winner eventually walks away with a professional contract valued at R50 000 and sponsorships to the value of R200 000.
Francois ‘The Business’ Meyer who fights out of Coalition Grappling Academy (CGA) in Baillie Park is ready to face his final opponent. According to Roevan de Beer, Meyer’s head coach and also a professional MMA athlete, if Meyer is at his best on the night, it will be an easy fight for him.
Standing across the cage from Meyer will be Smit ‘Malboer’ Steyn.
‘He is strong and has a good camp but I think my experience and all-round game will be too much for him,’ says Meyer.
Meyer faced Shane Higgins from Port Elizabeth in the semifinals in Johannesburg on 30 June. It was a fight that went the distance. It could’ve gone either way but in the end, the judges felt Meyer had done enough to beat Higgins.
He is now looking forward to his final challenge at the John Barrable hall in Benoni on 21 July.
Another CGA athlete took gold during the Fightstar grappling competition on the same day. The first of the wins racked up by CGA in Johannesburg was Michael McIntyre, who was fresh off another gold medal performance during the Klerksdorp Fight Night grappling competition.
Fightstar draws many of the top MMA clubs from the country whose athletes compete in grappling and mixed martial arts.
