Springsite Stefan ‘Mr Kick’ Pretorius (22), from the Rio Grappling Club in Springs, fought in his second professional fight against Wade ‘The Sadist’ Sage.
Stefan beat his opponent two minutes and 30 seconds into the first round by a technical knockout (TKO).
“I can’t even begin to describe how I feel,” says an elated Stefan.
He says he was very stressed before the fight, even though his weight cut was 100%.
“All the statistics put Wade’s chance to win at 75%, but I was focused on the fight and what I had to do to win,” Stefan proudly says.
The fight started quickly with both men getting kicks and punches in, and Stefan immediately putting pressure on his opponent.
“I worked hard on the combinations I used on Wade and they worked, but Wade didn’t hold back,” he says.
Wade hit Stefan with a good body shot and low kick, but that did not put Stefan down, and he went for the take-down soon after.
The take-down worked as only two minutes and 30 seconds into the round, Stefan won by TKO.
“Since I lost the first fight, I retraced my steps and started focusing on my mistakes, trying to perfect them,” says Stefan.
He explains he followed a much stricter diet, moved up in the weight class and had a harder and more intense training programme.
“I know I could never do this alone, I have the best team behind me who invest just as much into my dreams as I do.”
Stefan says he has the best coach, Jurgen Putter, and training partners, JD du Plessis, Bradley Collins and Scott Kenee.