Johannesburg (South Africa) – EFC AFRICA middleweight champion Jeremy ‘Pitbull’ Smith has withdrawn from EFC AFRICA 15 due to illness. Six weeks before he was scheduled to face title challenger Garreth ‘Soldierboy’ McLellan, Smith contracted bronchitis and for the last two weeks has been unable to prepare for the bout.

Instead of waiting it out and hoping to face Smith when he recovers, McLellan has accepted a bout with rising force Armand De Bruyn. De Bruyn has racked up three wins in a row at EFC AFRICA, and is respected as an all-round threat and dangerous prospect. The winner of McLellan vs De Bruyn will move a step closer to challenging for the middleweight title in future.

“I’m so excited about this fight!” says De Bruyn. “I’ve been waiting forever for a chance like this! When I was offered the fight I had to think about it briefly. Garreth is a totally different opponent to Tumelo, who I was going to face at EFC 15, but I realised that this is an opportunity that I can’t let slip through my fingers. Besides, Garreth owes me one; I fought him in my first amateur fight, his last, and he beat me on points. As the ex-champ he’s well-rounded and a big challenge but I’m capable of taking this. Training has already intensified and I look forward to Garreth bringing out my full potential in this fight.”

According to McLellan, De Bruyn is going to have to deal with all the punishment that was going to be inflicted on Smith.
“I’m very, very disappointed and upset by the change of opponent,” says McLellan. “I worked extremely hard to be ready to take my belt back, and now that the opportunity has been taken away it’s tough to deal with. However, I’m a professional and I’m just going to suck it up, move on and focus on Armand. I’ve known him for many years and when we competed he was very tough and able to slug it out with me for three rounds. Although he hasn’t been in EFC AFRICA for that long, he has good skills and poses a serious threat because he has everything to gain. I’m going to beat Armand because I am a seasoned professional, I’ve worked very hard and I am very angry. I promised a full scale war at EFC 15 and I’m not going to break that promise. I’m going to get rid of Armand quickly to show just how serious I am about getting my title back.”

EFC AFRICA 15, presented by MusclePharm, takes place at the Carnival City Big Top Arena on 27 July. Tickets on sale at Computicket www.computicket.com and tickets for the live broadcast to Nu Metro Cinemas available at www.numetro.co.za. The three main card bouts will be broadcast live across Africa on e.tv, starting at 22h30 CAT. Full event streamed live online.