Bad to the bone
Martin de Beer will be going fist to fist with SA’s best mixed martial arts fighters.
One of Ballito’s own bad boys, Martin de Beer will be going fist to fist with SA’s best mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters at EFC 66 in Pretoria this weekend.
This will be the first EFC event at this venue and final MMA event of the year.
“I started kickboxing and doing Mauy Thai when I was 13 turning 14, then moved on to MMA when I was 21,” de Beer told the Courier.
Starting his training with Dudley “Tiny Tyson” Du Plessis, de Beer’s dad eventually started coaching him out of their garage after du Plessis passed away.
Having only recently moved to Ballito, he is now coached by Rodney van der Vlugt from KO Fighting Fitness alongside Dallas Jakobi (a former EFC champion). De Beer said he started fighting in MMA for fitness reasons.
“I wanted to get in shape for rugby, but then I started competing and that’s when I got hooked.”
This weekend will be de Beer’s ninth fight for the EFC, he has previously won five and lost three bouts.
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He said he did feel some apprehension leading up to this weekend’s fighting.
“I always get butterflies before an event, but I guess you could say it is a good nervous. I just get very excited and I’m especially looking forward to this weekend.”
The gutsy fighter said it had been an amazing journey so far.
“All of my fights have been against worthy opponents and have been tough but think Abdul Hassan was the toughest. He is strong and very good at jujitsu, which at the time was my weak point. But I have focused on that part of my game and believe I am a different fighter since then.”
So, what is it that he enjoys most about MMA?
“That rush to fight and to see if my skills are better then my opponent.”
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