JP aims to bring belt to Springs

Kruger will now face Brit Yannick ‘The Black Mamba’ Bahati who hails from Birmingham, training out of the UTC gym.

Their fight, which is a main card bout, will see one of them walking away with the world middleweight championship belt.

In February, it was announced that EFC middleweight champion, and South African, Liam Cleland was retiring and relinquishing the championship belt, leaving the title up for grabs.

It was then announced that Haratyk and Kruger would meet in the MMA hexagon to vie for the world title.

However, it was recently announced that Haratyk would no longer fight saying, in a press release issued by EFC Worldwide, “Freak accidents happen and I was unlucky to have an orbital fracture stopping me from reaching for EFC middleweight title.”

While Kruger said, at the time, that he was sorry to hear about the injury and wished Haratyk a speedy recovery, he says he is ready to face the Englishman and remains confident of bringing the belt back to Springs.

“My strategy remains the same as always, I’m coming out to box,” Kruger says.

Asked how long the fight will last, JP says: “I’m coming in to finish. I’m not coming in to fight five rounds.

He says that although he wants to trade punches, he is an all-round fighter, training in all aspects of MMA so he’ll be ready for whatever Bahati brings to the hexagon.

“I’m a complete athlete so we are going to push the pace.”

JP believes the key to winning the belt will be speed, timing and precision saying it’s down to who has more speed and timing and who will hit the target.

In the EFC press release announcing Bahati’s entry into the fray, he commented: “JP is a well-rounded fighter, but everything he does I do better and I will stop him inside the first round.

“I see him hitting the canvas, he is sloppy on the feet and I will KO (knock out) him.

“If he survives that, I will pass his guard and submit him.

“He moves like a white belt on the mat to me.”

Responding to this, Krugar says: “We’ll find a place to expose him and that’s what we need to do.

“He’s a big guy, but you know muscles have never scared me off and at the end of the day we are to come in to take the belt.

“I do think he is a bully, I think he has a bully mentality but on the evening I’ll be bully-proof.”

Kruger believes that Bahati’s strategy is to get into his head but says that the Brit is misinformed if he thinks this will have any effect on his fighting or his determination to be the victor.

What I have to say to him is that I hope the Lord will bless his camp and protect him

“Come fight night I’ll use the cage as my pulpit, praise and worship my Jesus and play MMA.”

As always, Kruger is grateful for the support and help of his team including “all my family and friends (I don’t have fans, I only have friends) from not just the East Rand, people from Africa and other countries in the world have been backing me.

“A big thank you to my coaches Chris Bright, Johann Hayward and Huntley Smith, Isak Lombard, the XKT Pro League and James Read who is the best manager.

“I also have to give a huge thank you to my beautiful wife, Tracey, for putting up with me closer to the fight.

“It takes a special woman to be a fighter’s wife.”

While the fight is personal for these two fighters, South African MMA fans are just as eager to see Kruger win, ensuring that the belt stays in South Africa.

“I don’t care about keeping the belt in South Africa, all I want is to bring it home to Springs.

“There’s a difference between needing and wanting and I need to have the belt in Springs.

He and his manager James Read, of XKT Pro League, agree that it will come down to skill.

“And we already know who that will be because this is his time,” says James.