If you’re advocating the “Bring the EFC back Cape Town” campaign, then you will be even more fired-up now in your picketing and protests.
EFC’s new flyweight king, England’s Jake Hadley has asked the promotion to set up a title fight with Cape Town-based fighter, Fafa Dwama, while it is almost certain that fellow Mother City warrior and live-wire fighter, Faeez “The Troublemaker” Jacobs will fight for an interim bantamweight belt as he aims to get closer to champion, JP Buys.
Following a humdinger of an event at EFC80 on Saturday, Fafa (4-1) remains the only flyweight on a four-fight winning streak after getting a controversial win over Sylvester Chipfumbu when the latter landed an illegal blow to the head of a grounded Fafa.
The fight which took place at bantamweight – due to Fafa not being able to get a fight at flyweight – saw Sylvester dominate before being disqualified.
Shortly after the event, Jake encouraged the Extreme Fighting Championship on social media to make the fight with Fafa happen: “Might be a controversial win, but Fafa is the only flyweight on a 4-fight win streak in the EFC,” he said on Instagram.
He then responded on the Fighterz Inc (Fafa’s gym) Instagram post stating: “Fafa deserves a shot vs me and I’m open to the fight, you guys need to push the fight now and try to get Graeme Cartmell (EFC matchmaker) to match it.”
More than 60% of Jake’s fans who read the post agreed that Fafa deserves a shot.
Following his loss to Jake at EFC78, former and long-time flyweight champion, Nkazimulo “Zulu Boy” Zulu demanded a rematch, much to the satisfaction of the South African fans, but right now that rematch could be hanging in the balance. However, Nkazimulo (11-3) could find some reprieve in a new-division title fight.
It has been well-documented that there are unsettling issues between Nkazimulo and JP, with ongoing jibes and bad vibes between the two at press conferences.
With that said, following JP’s recent win over former interim bantamweight champion, Luthando Biko, Faeez called the bantamweight king out.
Faeez – one of the top bantamweight contenders (6-2) – is close to getting his title shot, however, when Independent Media questioned JP on his thoughts of fighting Faeez, he responded: “I think he is an exciting fighter, but stylistically I will be a bad match-up for Faeez.”
Regardless of what JP (7-2) feels, it is only a matter of time before he puts his belt on the line. A little birdie recently told me that he could be working his way into the UFC. That, along with JP recently marrying his long-time girlfriend and former EFC fighter, Cheyanne Vlismas (now Buys), plans to fight Faeez in the near future could be put on hold, which opens up the strong possibility that Faeez could take on Zulu Boy for an interim title.
EFC’s matchmaker, Graeme did reveal plans of possibly matching Nkazimulo up with JP in the future. Which all puzzles together nicely for everybody as Faeez and Nkazimulo could then battle it out for a shot at JP, should he still be available to the EFC.
Keep in mind that Cape Town’s PFA fighter, Saxon Delafield (6-3-1), too, has been making big waves in the lightweight division and surely should be lined up to take on the winner between Joe Cummins (6-1, current lightweight king) and Alain Ilunga (12-5 and number one contender). Adding to this thick layer of chocolate ice cream, Cape Town’s Shaun de Lange might be in line to fight for the welterweight title, too.
For Cape Town fans, this of course seems insanely incredible as there could potentially be four massive title fights in the Mother City this year still.
Sadly, the EFC cannot afford to fly down to Cape Town due to it costing “an arm and a leg” according to Graeme despite it being one of the most well-attended events.
This is not only a bad knock for MMA fans, but even worse for Cape-based fighters who make use of sponsors – in particular, local Cape Town sponsors to fund them and support their drive in prospering as professional athletes.
It was the EFC after all who stated that: “Athletes also value the earning potential that they can get from sponsors when they compete in the EFC. Often the sponsorship income athletes receive is more than what they receive in purses from EFC.”
After extensive attempts to get more clarity on the Cape Town event, the EFC has refused to comment, however they have made it publicly known that should any business be keen on sponsoring the Cape Town event, they can contact the organisation.
Follow @juliankiewietz for updates and more.