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Madge’s coach believes 'special moments' lie ahead for the ‘Magic Man’

Cape Town - Richard Quan, coach of South African MMA star Don Madge, believes “many more” special moments lie ahead for the ‘Magic Man’.

Madge (8-3-1) sensationally knocked out fellow UFC debutant Te Edwards (6-2) on Saturday with a second round head kick at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, Canada.

The former EFC lightweight king earned a $50 000 performance bonus with his fifth straight finish, notably joining South African compatriots Garreth McLellan (13-6) and Trevor Prangley (34-11) in registering wins in the octagon.

Madge credited “every bit of this success” to Quan, who helped McLellan during his rise in the sport and also works with EFC bantamweight title holder JP Buys (6-2), ex-champions Martin van Staden (26-11) and Boyd Allen (16-3-1), and undefeated flyweight contender Bokang Masunyane (5-0) at Coach Quan University in Johannesburg.

Quan said on Instagram:“Since the beginning all I ever wanted was to create great athletes to compete in the biggest stage possible and show the skill set that my athletes have.

“No one sees the sacrifices and hours putting into creating these tremendous moments.

“I am so ecstatic for @donmadgemma for this life-changing event. This is [the] first of many to come!!!”

The UFC signed Madge soon after he reclaimed the EFC 70kg belt in April with a rear-naked choke of recently retired Alaskan Dave Mazany (17-6-1).

Meanwhile, JP Buys on Saturday also made his bow in Bahrain-based promotion Brave Combat Federation, winning by disqualification after absorbing illegal strikes to the back of the head from Russian Gamzat Magomedov.

Experienced English referee Marc Goddard halted the contest in the second round after a groggy looking Buys was assessed by a doctor at the Nishtar Park Sports Complex in Lahore, Pakistan.

Magomedov, undefeated in his previous three fights, was furious with the decision and a skirmish broke out between the respective camps in the cage, which was quickly contained.

Quan added: “Congratulations @wrestling_jp got the win. After dominating his opponent in the first round and then suffering multiple illegal strikes. Performance was great and got that 1%. @bravemmaf sort out those animals this is a professional sport.”

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