EFC Africa 29 Fight Review

EFC Africa 29 produced on of the best fight nights we’ve ever seen and had MMA fans screaming the roof off carnival City’s Big Top Arena. The 11 bout fight card was set for a night of intense Mixed Martial Arts fights from its announcement and it did not disappoint. Check out our fight review to see what happened on the night that can only be expressed as pure, raw awesomeness. EFC29 – One for the history books!

Fight 1: Lightweight – Tyson Chelin vs Mbulelo Swekile

Winner: Tyson Chelin
This fight went the distance and was in the hands of the calm debutant Chelin who controlled the fight from the start. On the ground Chelin was on top mount and landing elbows and punches. Swekile defended well and fought back throughout the fight but it was not enough to match Chelin’s fight. The fight went to the judged seeing Chelin take the win by unanimous decision.

Fight 2: Lightweight – Saxon Delafield vs Pietie Coxen

Winner: Saxon Delafield
Delafield came in aggressive landing strikes before the fight went to the ground. Coxen was on top mount but Delafield quickly turned it getting Coxen in an Armbar and forcing him to tap out just 31 seconds into the fight.

Fight 3: Welterweight – Gordon Roodman vs Pupanga Tresor

Winner: Gordon Roodman
A slow start to this fight before an intense stand and trade. The fight went to the ground with Roodman on top mount and landing strikes. Tresor was defending well and landing strikes of his own from the bottom.
In round 2 Tresor went in with a kick but Roodman caught it and took the fight to the ground. With Roodman again on top, Tresor tried to get out but Roodman locked in the Armbar and forced Tresor to tap out.

Fight 4: Heavyweight – Ricky Misholas vs Dewald Botes

Winner: Ricky Misholas
A slow fight with not much action. The fighters circled each other with little to no engagement. Botes was warned in round 2 for disengagement. Misholas came alive with a straight right to the head of Botes dropping him which saw the ref call the fight and Misholas take the win by TKO.

Fight 5: Welterweight – Morne Prinsloo vs Mark Hulme

Winner: Morne Prinsloo
This fight was shaping up to be a great fight with a huge exchange of strikes in the beginning. Hulme then picked Prinsloo up and took him to the ground. Hulme got Prinsloo’s back and landed heavy elbows to Prinsloo’s spine seeing the ref call the fight and disqualifying Hulme for illegal blows.

Fight 6: Featherweight – Leo Gloss vs Francois Groenewald

Winner: Francois Groenewald
Groenewald took the fight to the ground, got Gloss’ back and then got into top mount. He then rained down with Ground and Pound. Gloss was fighting back but the ref called the fight due to too many unanswered strikes. Gloss was unhappy with the decision but rather too early than too late. Groenewald iso n a four fight win streak now.

Fight 7: Featherweight – Gareth Buirski vs Peter Nyide

Winner: Gareth Buirski
A few exchanges were made before the fight went to the ground with Nyide in top mount. Buirski was impressively brilliant from the bottom, clinched onto Nyide and landed some heavy elbows. The Ref called the fight seeing Burski take the win by TKO.

Fight 8: Lightweight – Wade Groth vs Alex Cheboub

Winner: Wade Groth
One of the most exciting fight of the night with nonstop action. Knees, Punches, Elbows, Kicks, Punch Combos, you name it and it was thrown in this intense stand up battle. The fight had Carnival City on their feet screaming for more as the trade for trade onslaught continued. In round 2 Groth caught Cheboub with a big right and scored the win by Knock Out.

Fight 9: Middleweight – Michiel Opperman vs Jeremy Smith

Winner: Micheil Opperman
Fight of the night. A 3 round war that saw probably one of the biggest upsets in EFC Africa history as Opperman made his way up to the Middleweight division to take on one of the most ruthless fighters in the EFC. Opperman looked better than ever and held his own against Smith. Opperman cut Smith’s left eye in round 1 seeing Smith deal with the pouring blood for the remainder of the fight.
In round 2 Smith fought back and landed some hard smashing body shots. Both fighters were on par and fighting an incredible war.
The onslaught continued in round 3 with trade for trade action. Opperman caught Smith with a big knee and dropped him, almost seeing the ref call the fight but it carried on. Smith recovered and fought back landing some big strikes to the end of the fight.
The fight went to the judges who scored it 29-28 Opperman, 28-29 Smith and 29-28 Opperman. Oppeman took the win by split decision.

Fight 10: Featherweight – Barend Nienaber vs Brendon Katz

Winner: Barend Nienaber
Another fight that went the distance and was controlled by an on form Nienaber. In each round Nienaber got the takedowns, got himself into top mount and worked the fight. Katz defended well from the bottom but it was not enough to beat the clinical performance of Nienaber. After going to the judges, Nienaber took the fight by unanimous decision. Nienaber will now face Boyd Allen for the title.

Fight 11: Welterweight Title Fight – Henry Fadipe vs Dino Bagattin

Winner: Henry Fadipe
This fight had a hug build up to it and now it was finally in the hexagon with fans on their feet. What looked to be shaping out to be an incredible fight with stand up trading was stopped by Fadipe 3 minutes into round 1 when he Knocked Bagattin out with a straight right.
Fadipe is the new EFC Africa Welterweight champion.