Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Former UFC fighter Garreth ‘Soldier Boy’ McLellan will make his return to the cage in an EFC interim middleweight title bout with Brendan Lesar.
McLellan (13-6) and Lesar (2-0) will scrap on May 4 after serving as rival coaches on Season 2 of the reality TV show, The Fighter, which will feature 10 female flyweights from around the world.
Filming of the 10 episodes starts in January, with the winner set to earn a six-figure EFC contract and a crack at double-division queen Amanda Lino (4-1).
McLellan (13-6) is only one of a handful of South Africans to have graced the octagon, and holds the record for the most appearances.
The 36-year-old had five fights in a three-year UFC tenure, winning once with a late knockout of Bubba Bush (8-3) in October 2015.
‘Soldier boy’, who caught the UFC’s attention as a dominant EFC middleweight champ, was released by the Las Vegas-based organisation after losing to Brazilian contender Paulo Costa (12-0) in May 2017.
TF 1 winner Lesar owns decision victories over Jean-Marie Kabeya (0-1) and Ibrahima Mane (7-1) in his previous trips to the hexagon.
EFC welterweight and middleweight king Dricus Du Plessis (12-2), whose sole defeat on home soil came to McLellan, is currently focused on setting up a superfight with EFC light heavyweight and heavyweight counterpart Dalcha Lungiambula (9-1).
“They need to earn the fight against me. Right now I am focused on Dalcha. When I am done with him, they can come get a beating too,” Du Plessis said.
‘Stillknocks’ recently surrendered the 77kg strap in Poland-based promotion KSW with a knockout loss to Roberto Soldic in a rematch in London on October 6.
