Springs will have three fighters in the hexagon at EFC41 this weekend including Cedric “The Dominator” Doyle, who will be fighting for a world title.
Joining him, from Springs, at Carnival City on Saturday are Tumisang “The President” Madiba (27) and Pieter “The Wolfman” de Klerk (25).
Doyle will be taking on the undefeated champion, Demarte “The Wolf” Pena (25) in attempt to take his bantamweight belt off him.
This is Doyle’s 10th fight, of which he has won seven of the past nine fights.
Pena, on the other hand, has won all of his 10 professional fights and seems confident of his ability to hang onto the belt when the two meet in the hexagon.
In an interview with the Addie, Doyle believes he is fighting fit and ready to take on the role of challenger.
“I am coming out of the best training camp I have ever had.
“I am the best “Dominator” anyone has ever seen and I’m definitely taking the belt,” he says.
He says this fight has been “four years in the making that I have been busy with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) so I am super excited to take his belt.”
He says his plan is to hit Pena as hard as he can, for as long as he can.
Doyle comments this is a fight EFC fans from Springs, Boksburg and Brakpan cannot afford to miss.
“It is going to be the greatest upset victory in EFC history when the underdog takes the undefeated champion’s belt off him,” he says.
He thanks XKT Pro League, his management and Rio Grappling for their support and helping him prepare for this fight.
Also on the main card is Madiba who will face off against Wesley “Young Assasin” Hawkey (28) in his fifth professional fight.
Hawkey has 12 fights to his name with wins recorded in eight of those.
Madiba says Hawkey recently failed to secure the featherweight title in Durban, making this “a great match on the part of EFC as they have an ex-title contender and a future champion going at it on the night.”
He says his preparations have gone very well.
Hawkey is a south paw (a fighter who stands with his right hand in front) and Madiba has therefore trained with a number of south paws to get ready for the fight.
He also had sparring partner JP “Tinkerbell” Kruger standing south paw for him and says: “he has massive reach and great kicks and I survived him in training so I should be ready to take on Hawkey on the night.
“We have two of Springs’ finest fighters on the main card and a great newcomer opening the preliminary rounds so it is going to be a great night for Springs.
“We are going to bring home the title and the wins.”
In his first professional fight, de Klerk will face Lourens Botes (35) in his third fight.
Botes has won both of his previous fights by submission.
De Klerk has been involved in kickboxing for the past 15 years and MMA for four.
He believes he has a good stand up game and plans to use this to his advantage, although he is not afraid to take the fight to the floor if needs be.
“I am hoping to keep standing and finish him off as quickly as I can, but will use ground-and-pound to submit him if necessary,” de Klerk says.
“I think it is going to be a great show and I am very excited for my first pro fight.”
Fans who are unable to attend the event at the Big Top in Carnival City can tune in on satellite TV to watch all the excitement.
You can also follow these three fighters on Twitter and instagram @thedominatordoyle, @tumisangmadiba and @pieterthewolf to find out more about them and their fights on the night.
You can also keep up with their progress by following their management on Twitter @xktproleague
