Cage war at its best

Rio Grappling Club Springs boasts three knock outs between its eight fighters.

Jurgen Putter, owner of the club and organiser of the event, says it is the first cage war event he organised this year.

There were 1 200 spectators moving in and out of the indoor centre during the evening, which Putter says he believes is not bad for Springs.

There were 22 fights on the card for the evening which saw some blood shed as the opponents took on each other.

The crowd roared with anticipation and excitement to spur on the fighters.

“Cage war is a very competitive sport and the smallest mistake can cost you the fight,” Putter says.

Putter explains that in the case of a technical knockout (TKO) the fight is immediately stopped by the referee.

Braam Booysen, a heavy weight fighter, was one of the Springs fighters who won his fight with a TKO against Anthony Harmse.

Mashaba Orlando won his feather weight fight against Tyler Ormandy with a rear naked choke.

Jan-Hendrik Boysen, a light weight fighter from Springs, says a fight can go either way.

Booysen says his opponent, Hennie Langley, was wild during the first round of the fight.

This didn’t stop Booysen from knocking out Langley a minute into the second round.

Booysen says he felt relieved when the fight was over and is proud of his performance.

His win was rewarded as the knockout of the night, which makes him proud.

The award of the fight of the night belongs to the light weight division fighter Francois Meyer, also from Springs.

He says it was a quick fight and he knocked out his opponent, Dirk Smith, in the second round.

“There is no pretence in the cage,” he says.

Springsite Shaun Joubert lost his fight with a triangle choke and Jonny Smith lost lost his fight due to a rear naked choke.

The results of the rest of the fighters from Springs are:

•  Cole Henning won with a rear naked choke against Nico Boshoff.
•  Francois Strydom won with a referee stoppage against Adriaan Brink.
• Bantam weight fighter Timothy Lottering’s fight was cancelled due to his opponent pulling out before the event.