EFC AFRICA Light Heavyweight Championship
NORMAN WESSELS vs. JP JOUBERT
Plus
GARRETH MCLELLAN vs. ARMAND DE BRUYN
RAYMOND AHANA vs. JASON CULVERWELL
TYRON RIGHTFORD vs. DARREN DANIEL
LEON MYNHARDT vs. ALEX CHEBOUB
DINO BAGATTIN vs. MARTIN VAN STADEN
ANDREW VAN ZYL vs. MOHMED KARIM
CHETT MEYER vs. DONAVIN HAWKEY
LIAM CLELAND vs. TUMELO MAPHUTHA
FRANCOIS KABULU vs. DAVID BUIRSKI
BOYD ALLEN vs. ALAIN ILUNGA
HECTOR BRITTS vs. JC LAMPRECHT
LANCE CERONIO vs. MAHMOUD SALAMA
Johannesburg (South Africa) – Glares turned to all-out hostility at EFC AFRICA 15 weigh-in at Carnival City on 26 July, just one day ahead of Africa’s biggest mixed martial arts event. 26 top MMA athletes from around Africa locked stares, and more than a few shoves, insults and aggressive hand gestures were exchanged. Judging by weigh-in reactions, by the time the first bout commences at 17.40 on 27 July, intensity will be at boiling point!
In the middleweight division, former champion Garreth McLellan attempted to steamroll his opponent, Armand De Bruyn, after both made weight. McLellan butted heads with his opponent and kept moving forward, forcing officials to pull McLellan and De Bruyn apart.
Light heavyweight title contender JP Joubert weighed in 400 grams overweight, but had 2 hours to cut to 93kg, which he did successfully. “I’m on top of my game and fit as a fiddle,” said Joubert.
Opposing title contender, Norman Wessels, made weight and simply stated “I just wanna f**king kick his ass man!”
Welterweight stand-outs Dino Bagattin and Martin van Staden seemed close to blows during their face-off. Bagattin shoved van Staden, who was keen to respond just before officials stepped in. They promised to settle their differences in the EFC AFRICA hexagon on 27 July.
At middleweight, fierce rivals Tyron Rightford and Darren Daniel kept their composure but did exchange words, promising grievous bodily harm. Pressure is on for both to back up the insults that were traded over Twitter in the weeks leading up to the event.
Weigh-in results
Bout 1:
Lance Ceronio 93kg
Mahmoud Salama 89.9kg
Bout 2:
Hector Britts 74kg
JC Lamprecht 76.07kg
Bout 3:
Boyd Allen 65.65kg
Alain Ilunga 66.15kg
Bout 4:
Francois Kabulu 76.5kg
David Buirski 76.85kg
Bout 5:
Tumelo Maphutha 84kg
Liam Cleland 83.2kg
Bout 6:
Donavin Hawkey 83.6kg
Chett Meyer 84kg
Bout 7:
Mohmed Karim 104.5kg
Andrew van Zyl 118.5kg
Bout 8:
Dino Bagattin 77.2kg
Martin van Staden 76.65kg
Bout 9:
Alex Cheboub 70.9kg (For failing to make weight, Alex Cheboub was fined by EFC AFRICA)
Leon Mynhardt 70kg
Bout 10:
Darren Daniel 83.7kg
Tyron Rightford 83.4kg
Bout 11:
Raymond Ahana 89.2kg
Jason Culverwell 89.4kg
Bout 12:
Armand De Bruyn 83.45kg
Garreth McLellan 83.55kg
Bout 13 – Light Heavyweight championship bout:
JP Joubert 93.4kg (400g over, had 2 hours to cut the weight)
Norman Wessels 92.4kg
To find out how these thrilling match-ups conclude, watch EFC AFRICA 15, presented by MusclePharm, 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 22h40 CAT.