CAPE TOWN – Wade Kerspuy could easily have a Netflix series based on his life.
Physiotherapist by day, fighter by night. I think we might be on to something if it comes to fruition, be sure to pay me some royalties, Wade.
He shares a Claremont-based Kerspuy Physiotherapy practice with his wife, Cara-Ann, and you can tell he is passionate about what he does. Should you need the service, be sure to check it out sometime.
"Work took me to Joburg but I am a Cape Town boy,” says Wade.
“I walked past a gym one day and thought ... ‘Mmm, let me give this jiu-jitsu a try.’ It just snowballed from there. I returned to Cape Town in 2017 and opened a practice here, but I still really wanted to do MMA and then I found SBG and then MADFIT MMA.”
Now, at 31 he has his family, his love, his fighting and his passion here where life started for him.
“Yeah man, I started fighting at the age of 26-years-old, so I am a baby in the sport. It is an advantage starting from young because things are imprinted in your muscle memory and brain, but I am still fresh.
I haven’t taken any beatings from the age of 15. I haven’t taken any damage in my amateur fights, I got one little knockout in Sun City (EFC73 against Asiashu Tshitamba), but I was cleared, it was just a little flash, I was fine immediately after,” says Wade (1-2).
“So I definitely still have a lot of fight left in me, I am still young and still fresh and very, very motivated.
“Fighting is my passion, if I get in there and fight, I get to do what I love in front of home crowds and on the biggest stage.”
It is clear that “El Torito” (the little bull) - as he is affectionately known - is highly motivated ahead of his fight with Josemar Octavio in a flyweight match at EFC78 this weekend.
“Josemar has fought some good names, he got more fights than me, he’s got that hex (hexagon) experience. I think I am his fifth fight,” says Wade.
The 25-year-old Angolan opponent is a tough customer with two wins and equal losses.
He loves the stand-up and fights at range, but is just as hot in the clinch.
“Yeah, he has good striking, ground and good submission, but I feel that I have ticked all the boxes, and I will play out my game plan and not worry about his strengths,” says Wade.
'El Torito' Wade Kerspuy in action. Photo: @EFCworldwide on twitter
Wade brings his own danger to the canvas with a high-paced game and great movement. And since moving to his new camp, things have gone even better for him.
“Basically I moved because of logistics, too, being closer to work etc. but I also feel like MADFIT MMA is home for me,” he says after moving from SBG to MADFIT.
“I must give thanks to Gary Joshua and coach Steve Bazzea. They are awesome coaches, teachers and mentors. They moulded me into the fighter I am today.
Coach Bazzea still checks in on me. I learnt my Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) with Wiekus Swart (EFC referee too) and he has SBG lineage, and so when I moved from Tapout in Joburg to Cape Town, it was comfortable to join coach Bazzea.
“I am really looking forward to walking out there and repping MADFIT,” adds El Torito.
Franna (Francois Groenewald) is the Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach at MADFIT, to Wade, along with Storm Bristow, Don Madge and coach Matthew Leisching.