A night of bone crunching action made EFC Africa 19 one of the best EFC Africa events to date. A few new contenders emerged and some rivalries were settled. In the main event, Demarte Pena trumped Wentzel Nel and removed any doubt that he is the undisputed featherweight champion. Here’s how it all went down…
Donnovan Wilken vs. Nkazimulu Zulu (bantamweight) – [Winner: Wilken via unanimous decision]
Zulu came out with aggressive kicking and punching, but Wilken wanted no part of the stand-up and took Zulu down. He did not do any damage to Zulu but controlled him well. In the second round Zulu was taken down, but he was successful in getting up, and worked a strong clinch, landing a few good knees and even some good close quarter leg kicks. The fight went to the ground in the third round as well. Zulu was able to land a few good elbows from inside of Wilken’s closed guard. A very close fight ended in a decision win for Wilken.
Frederich Naumann vs. David Van Schalkwyk (lightweight) – [Winner: Naumann via modified Americana]
After some solid exchanges by both men to open the fight, Naumann took the fight to the ground and quickly locked in a modified Americana to extort a tap from Van Schalkwyk.
Sean Robinson vs. Paul Terblanche (middleweight) – [Winner: Robinson via TKO]
Robinson proved to have an iron chin and ate a few big punches from Terblanche early in the fight. In round one , Robinson clinched with Terreblance and threw sporadic knees. In the beginning of round two, Robinson clinched once more and landed a fight ending knee to the body of Terblanche to take the win.
Wilhelm Strauss vs. Sors Grobbelaar (heavyweight) – [Winner: Grobbelaar via KO]
Grobbelaaar gonged and dashed throwing a series of massive straight punches and uppercuts which soon put Strauss to sleep very quickly in the opening of the fight. Impressive display from Grobbelaar.
Boyd Allen vs. Kanyeba Anicet (featherweight) – [Winner: Allen via rear naked choke]
Allen proved to be very elusive on the feet and was quick to get in and out with strikes. He took Anicet down easily and transitioned between back and full mount a few times, dropping hard ground and pound and attempting chokes. Anicet showed good submission defense, but eventually succumbed to a rear naked choke towards the end of the first round.
Markus Taljaard vs. Peter Nyide (featherweight) – [Winner: Taljaard via unanimous decision]
During the first round there were some frantic exchanges. Both men got in some good strikes and worked a bit from the clinch. In round two, the fight hit the deck and Taljaard controlled Nyide for the better part of the round with Nyide having to fight out of some bad positions. In round three Taljaard ate a barrage of punches which forced him to shoot in out of desperation. He belly flopped on the shot and Nyide released a brutal ground and pound assault which forced Taljaard to hang on for his dear life. Unfortunately for Nyide, Taljaard was saved by the bell, snagging a decision win.
Tumelo Maphutha vs. Henry Fadipe (middleweight) – [split draw]
In the first round there were a few wild exchanges with the most significant blow being landed by Maphutha who dropped Fadipe with a big right. In the second round after some standing aggression from Maphutha, Fadipe took his opponent down and worked to ground and pound from inside the guard as well as looked for the rear naked choke when he had Maphutha’s back. In the final stanza, Maphuta landed some hard blows including a right that rocked Fadipe. However, Fadipe also landed some strikes of his own and came forward. It was a fairly close fight that resulted in a split draw.
Leon Mynhardt vs. Johan Van Staden (lightweight) – [Winner: Mynhardt via unanimous decision]
After about two minutes of feeling out from Mynhardt, it was one way traffic for him. He picked Van Staden apart with solid kicks and punches. Van Staden did not have an answer for the Iron Lion’s Thai boxing attack. Whenever Van Staden shot in, he was reversed and succumbed to ground and pound. Mynhardt picked him apart for three rounds en-route to a unanimous decision. Credit goes to Van Staden for withstanding the onslaught and going the distance.
Wesley Hawkey vs. Alain Ilunga (featherweight) – [Winner: Illunga via guillotine choke]
It should be noted that Ilunga entered this bout as a heavy underdog. Hawkey started out cautiously and after eating some hard kicks, he jumped guard. He then swept Ilunga but then Ilunga locked in a tight guillotine forcing Hawkey to submit.
Francois Kabulu vs. Wade Henderson (welterweight) – [Winner: Kabulu via split decision]
The first round was fought mostly in the clinch, where Henderson foot stomped and Kabulu looked for a guillotine. Round two was fought in the clinch once more with Kabulu getting a take down and Henderson sweeping. In the final exchange, Kabulu dropped Henderson with a overhand, but Henderson bounced back quickly. He took Kabulu down and landed some ground and pound and then took his back at the end of the round.
Dino Baggatin vs. Tyron Tightford (welterweight) – [Winner: Baggatin via TKO]
This fight was for all the marbles, as a rivalry between the East and the South was to be settled between two feared strikers. In the first round there was some furious exchanges. Baggatin had his moments, but Rightford landed cleaner shots. In round two, Baggatin cut Rightford above the eye which started to bleed a lot. Regardless, Rightford still continued to push the action. Towards the end of the second round, Baggatin dropped Rightford with a stinging right hand, prompting a referee stoppage.
Martin Van Staden vs. Adam Speechly (welterweight) – [Winner: Speechly via unanimous decision]
In the first stanza, Van Staden rocked Speechly and the fight hit the deck. He dropped hard ground and pound, but Speechly reversed and dropped his own ground and pound. In round two, there were some intense exchanges by both combatants. Speechly got a takedown and worked his ground and pound. The final round saw Van Staden unloading with some hard kicks and even getting a takedown. Speechly then swept Van Staden and chipped away from top position.
EFC Africa Featherweight Championship
Demarte Pena vs. Wentzel Nel – [Winner: Nel via unanimous decision]
Pena showed a tremendous chin in his five round war with the former lightweight champion. In the opening round Nel dropped Pena with punishing strikes and battered him across the cage. Pena literally had to run away to reset. In fact, he was dropped a few times during the fight, but was able to recover every time and scored damage by unloading a barrage of versatile kicks as well as taking Nel down on numerous occasions and dropping heavy ground and pound. This was Pena’s most impressive performance to date and he proved why he is the undisputed EFC Africa featherweight champion.
Gallery:
Photos supplied by Justin Lee/EFC Africa
