Allen dominates in Durban

Durban - EFC returned to Durban in spectacular fashion with its second event of 2015. In a night that included brilliant knockouts and sublime submissions, EFC 38 left the boisterous Durban ICC crowd in raptures.

Featherweight champion Boyd Allen continued his winnings ways and further cemented his grasp on the division. The bout started off tentatively with the challenger Wesley ‘Young Assassin’ Hawkey not wanting to initiate exchanges. Allen found his distance rapidly and caught Hawkey with an accurate head kick. Allen continued to slip the advances of the frustrated challenger and ended the bout with a rear naked choke after a series of strikes had rocked Hawkey.

The penultimate fight of the evening saw Martin ‘The Punisher’ van Staden take on Irishman Ayo Daly. Coming off a knockout victory in his last outing, van Staden continued his refined brawler ways with pinpoint accuracy, consistently finding his mark on Daly’s chin until he finally dropped and the referee called the victory. The result has earned van Staden a shot at the cursed welterweight belt against David Buirski.

The third bout of the main card ended quickly with a TKO stoppage. Wrestling phenom Igeu Kabesa landed a devastating left hand to the jaw of Durban’s Saxon ‘One Minute Monster’ Delafield. Kabesa followed through to win via TKO in the first round. He remains undefeated in four bouts in EFC, but will have to bide his time in the division as his team-mate Themba Gorimbo is next in line for a shot at the lightweight title.

Hanru Botha displayed an excellent combination of wrestling and power punching to dominate his Durban opponent Tyson Chelin over three rounds. Consistently forcing his opponent onto the back foot with bull rushes of punches and takedowns, Chelin had no answer for the Polokwane native. Botha was awarded the victory via unanimous decision.

In the opening bout on the main card, Poland’s Rafal ‘The Polish Tank’ Haratyk faced Durban local Keron ‘Skinner’ Davies. Haratyk forced the tempo from the get-go in his aggressive grinding style. Davies seemed shell-shocked and was forced to tap to a well-worked rear naked choke in the first round.

On the preliminary card, fans witnessed the second women’s bout in EFC featuring Ireland’s Stephanie Quaile take on South Africa’s Amanda ‘Maddog’ Lino. Lino came out very aggressively, landing big shot after big shot and stunning her opponent. The hometown girl stepped it up a gear and finished quickly with a TKO stoppage after tagging Quaile with a great right hook.

Fight of the Night was awarded to featherweights Sizwe Mnikathi and Ashley Calvert. Knockout of the Night went to Amanda Lino for her K.O of Stephanie Quaile. Submission of the Night went to Cameron Meintjes for his submission of Georgie Gorgiev. Performance bonuses were handed out to Peter Nyide and Nelson Feiteira for their explosive bout.

The full EFC 38 results are:

Martin de Beer defeated Bill Thusi via rear naked choke 2:34 in round 1.
Baldwin Mdlalose defeated Jasen van der Merwe via rear naked choke 2:54 in round 1.
Cameron Meintjes defeated Georgie Georgiev via TKO 2:38 in round 2.
Sizwe Mnikathi defeated Ashley Calvert via TKO 2:47 in round 2. 
Peter Nyide defeated Nelson Feiteira via unanimous decision.
Amanda Lino defeated Stephanie Quaile via TKO 1:02 in round 1.
Craig Ninow defeated Francois Groenewald via split decision.
Rafal Haratyk defeated Keron Davies via rear naked choke 2:36 in round 1.
Hanru Botha defeated Tyson Chelin via unanimous decision. 
Igeu Kabesa defeated Saxon Delafield via TKO 2:26 in round 1.
Martin van Staden defeated Ayo Daly via KO 2:28 in round 1.
Boyd Allen defeated Wesley Hawkey via rear naked choke 4:22 in round 1.

EFC 39: Groenewald v van Zyl is presented by BetXchange.com, and takes place at GrandWest, Cape Town, on Thursday, May 7, 2015. Tickets on sale at www.computicket.com