CageSide EFC23 favourite bouts write up – Wessel Vosser **Opinions expressed in this article are my own** What was promising to be an awesome night of fights, turned out to be exactly just that. EFC23 was a night with a fight card, stacked with amazing match up’s and many possible upsets. The action that followed definitely did not disappoint. Below you will find my notes on some of my favourite fights of the night. Nyide vs Botha I was anticipating an all-out war, but was surprised to see Botha caught out on various occasions. Massive submission attempts and constant over powering was to be the order of the day…but it wasn’t, Botha found himself in tight spots on more than one occasion. I believe a few weaknesses were exposed and this might have been a bigger learning curb than anticipated. All though it was a win for Botha, it was still a great effort from Nyide who exposed weaknesses in the wrestlers game that will have to be attended to if he plans on moving forward in this weight division. Groenewald vs Ninow Groenewald was for the 1st time in his career the bigger man and in being so he went to work and showed some great ground tactics. By no means was he the dominant fighter the entire match and was caught out on a few occasions, but he played the patient game and got the victory as was expected by many. I will have to ad that his stand up needs urgent attention, it has been exposed on a few occasions and against Ninow it was no different. Once this has been brought up to par with his ground game, I have a feeling he could definitely be a serious contender in the BW division. Scheepers vs Groenewald This is a match I thought should never have been made, Groenewald 7-1 was the far better competitor. Scheepers rushed into the match with massive kicks that obviously winded him and gave the upper hand to Groenewald. Upon coming to the cage, I hear lots of talk of how good Scheepers looked and that he must be very powerful…I think Groenewald proved that it takes quite a bit more than brute strength to win an MMA match. That said, Scheepers is definitely one to be looked at towards the future. The talent is there… Groenewald, if all goes well might after another win or too make his name heard in the HW division. I look forward to that. Cheboub vs Akleker Wow!! I was so impressed, not only by the guy’s fitness (which Cheboub has lacked on several occasions) but also by the amount of submission attempts and escapes during this match. Akleker and Cheboub were both truly impressive in this match and to me there is no loser here. Strauss vs Mbuyi Being a massive Strauss fan I was hoping for a clinical approach to this match that might have worn out Mbuyi to give him the upper hand in the 2nd or 3 round…but then again these are too HW’s and they simply go all out. A killer KO from Mbuyi saw Strauss drop 12-6 that signalled the end of this match. Does Mbuyi though possess enough to be a real HW threat…I don’t think so, unless he lands a shot every single time, I don’t see him making much of an impact in this division. Van Staden vs Fadipe Not since the early days when Jeremy Smith dominated Van Staden in their match, did he get overpowered and beaten so comprehensively. Fadipe must have TNT in those gloves of his, not to mention the slick transition from guillotine to top control in no time. Don’t quote me on this…but I think we have seen a future WW Champion make his voice heard. Allen vs Hawkey “He’s never faced a proper opponent” And now? Allen was in a class of his own, plain and simple. Even the FFM haters could not deny just how good he actually is. The matter of him not wanting to face his team mate is reminiscent of Evans vs Jones. Evans took the high road and joined a diff camp… Allen decided that he will not be doing that and quite simply wants to fight. I believe his time will come. Sooner or later. Opperman vs Baggatin Blood, guts, determination…these are words that could characterise both of these amazing Warriors. The dreaded curse of the WW title has continued with Baggatin scoring a comprehensive victory. There were 2 very hair raising moments for Baggatin…the choke that were millimetres from being sunk into position properly and the devastating blow Opperman landed followed by a barrage of punches that the ref could have stopped. This being said, Baggatin was crisp and executed his game plan to perfection and deservedly shared the FOTN status. A truly remarkable performance. Van Zyl vs Grobbelaar Van Zyl can now officially be called the defending Champion as many believe a Champion can only be called one, once he has defended his title. And he did…in great fashion. Sors landed a few shots that visibly shook Van Zyl, but once he gained control all Sors could do is try to survive. A great performance that has set Van Zyl up to defend his title against the winner of Potts vs Misholas at EFC24 as confirmed by EFC Africa President Cairo Howarth. Massive thanks to EFC, Cairo and Graeme for hosting us, it was an awesome event.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 07:34:13 +0000
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