McLellan soldiers on
EFC Africa middleweight champion Garreth “Soldierboy” McLellan made quick work of challenger JP “Tinkerbell” Kruger in their main event title bout as EFC 28 returned to the Coca-Cola Dome on Thursday, March 27.
The champion’s successful title defence also means that Kruger’s then perfect fight record (5-0) has ended.
After surviving a combination of strikes from Kruger at the onset, McLellan patiently worked the challenger to the ground and took his back, before sinking in a rear-naked choke to take the victory 3.05 minutes into round one.
This was a clash which otherwise failed to live up to its hype.
Kruger produced tense moments where he looked close to applying his deadly armbar, which snapped Tumelo Maphutha’s collarbone at EFC 22, but the champion remained resolute.
The night’s main card opened with the highly anticipated debut of Cape Town-born, Muay Thai “world” and Chinese MMA champion Irshaad Sayed taking on Leo Gloss.
Initially offering Gloss stiff competition in a punch-exchange, Sayed’s all-round game soon after came to the fore. Following a reset from a precautionary pause in the bout, Sayed applied a rear-naked choke to secure the win 4.01 into the first round.
Another undefeated streak was brought to an end as Brendon Groenewald beat Vandam Mbuyi via tapout due to strikes in their rematch. Groenewald was always on the backfoot with the raw power of Mbuyi putting him on the ascendency early on.
But the Captonian maintained his composure before taking the hexagon-shaking clash to the ground, his area of expertise. After managing to take the big DRC national’s back, Groenewald delivered damaging blows which forced Mbuyi to tapout.
The match didn’t unfold without controversy however, as Mbuyi suffered a brief scare following an illegal knee to Groenewald’s head, a similar incident which got him disqualified in the two’s reverse encounter.
Elsewhere, Christophe “Bomaye” Walravens beat Bernardo Mikixi via a verbal submission, with the DRC heavyweight paying tribute to Ruan “Fangzz” Potts in his post-match interview.
“To Ruan Potts, good luck with your first fight at UFC, you’re the best, and you’re the greatest,” said Walravens.
Potts will make his debut at the US-based fighting championship early next month.
An intensely focused Norman “Chef” Wessels returned to the hexagon after an absence of nearly two years against Cape Town’s Chris “Danger” du Pont.
Chef entered the bout as the overwhelming odds favourite and proved the prediction with a clinical display of MMA.
Du Pont engaged early before Wessels pushed him up against the fence and landed a strong elbow to the face, before taking him down and submitting him by rear-naked choke; earning him a title fight against reigning light heavyweight champion, Gideon Drotschie.
After the bout, Drotschie, dressed in a black suit, and title over his shoulder, entered the hexagon to face-off with the new challenger. Wessels was unable to control himself and engaged the champion, forcing EFC Africa officials to separate the two. Afterward Drotschie was brief in his response.
The final prelim bout of the evening between Jason Culverwell and Wade Henderson delivered both the fight and knockout of the night awards.
The submission of the night award went to Soldierboy for his rear-naked choke victory, while Hanru Botha, Christophe Walravens and Bernardo Mikixi all took home performance bonuses.
EFC 29, presented by www.BetXchange.com, returns to Carnival City on Thursday, May 1.
