CAPE TOWN – Faeez Jacobs may have to give up his dream of fighting for a title in front of his Cape Town family and friends.
In a recent interview, Graeme Cartmell stated that the financial constraints attached to travelling to Cape Town are just not doable.
Right now, it is highly-likely that the top Bantamweight contender - Jacobs (6-2) - will take on former Flyweight king, Nkazimulo ‘Zulu Boy’ Zulu for the interim Bantamweight title in Johannesburg or Pretoria while title-holder, JP Buys concludes his personal business which allegedly also includes trying to get into the UFC.
Buys, who recently married his long-time girlfriend and former EFC fighter, Cheyanne Vlismas, stated before while Jacobs is an exciting fighter, “stylistically it would be a bad match-up for him”.
However, it is only a matter of time before Buys would have to defend his belt again.
After losing his Flyweight belt to England’s Jake Hadley, Zulu demanded a rematch, but, that could be put on hold after EFC matchmaker Cartmell hinted at a match-up between the former Flyweight champ and the current Bantamweight champ.
This plays out perfectly for Jacobs as Zulu would then have to come through him to get to Buys.
Fighterz Inc.'s Troublemaker Faeez Jacobs secures his place as the offical bantam weight title contender after he KO'd Billy at EFC 79 Saturday past in round 1. #fighterzinc #troublemakerfaeezjacobs #efc #ufc #bellator #onefc pic.twitter.com/h3NJiskEUz
— Fighterz Inc Academy (@FighterzIncMMA) May 6, 2019
Fafa Dwama could also miss out on fighting in front of his Cape Town fans after he was “called out” by the Flyweight champion, Hadley following the DRC fighter’s controversial win over Sylvester Chipfumbu.
“It might be a controversial win, but Fafa is the only flyweight on a 4-fight win streak in the EFC,” said Hadley after Dwama won due to Chipfumbu being disqualified due to an illegal kick to the head.
“Fafa deserves a shot at me and I’m open to the fight, you guys need to push the fight now and try to get Cartmell to match it.”
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 the No 1 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.
At the end of the day, the fighters and fans are suffering the most as fighters are missing out on sponsorship deals while fans would have to pay an arm and a leg to get to Jozi and Pretoria (where the EFC is based) if they want to support their fighters.
“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,” said the EFC.
Until the EFC finds a sponsor, Cape Town could potentially be missing out on four title fights within the next year.