Tiger Crane represents Newcastle at 18th African Fighting League
The AFL is the biggest and most prestigious mixed martial arts circuit in KZN. Four members of Tiger/Crane MMA Academy from Newcastle were scheduled to compete at the event
The African Fight League presented the AFL 18: Vengeance event on March 1 at Imbizo Hall in Empangeni. The AFL is the biggest and most prestigious mixed martial arts circuit in KZN.
Four members of Tiger/Crane MMA Academy from Newcastle were scheduled to compete at the event: Justin Jordaan, Emile Janse van Rensburg, Gerrit “Baksteen” Anderson and Davy Chuang.
The second fight of the evening saw Justin Jordaan, aged 17, making his debut and thus becoming the first junior fighter from Tiger/Crane to compete in the AFL, when he took on Justin Parsons, aged 21, from Balito Bulldogs in a welterweight showdown. Although Justin Jordaan lost his fight via Guillotine submission in the first round, he gained valuable experience by fighting a more experienced opponent.
The fourth fight of the evening was a middleweight contest between Emile Janse van Rensburg, who also made his AFL debut, and Sherwyn Desari from Durban Gracie, a club which specialises in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Although Emile is a stand-up specialist, he managed to beat his opponent in the first round, earning Tiger/Crane their first win of the evening.
Gerrit “Baksteen” Anderson fought against Hermè Visser from Wa Go Ken San in Pretoria in the heavyweight division. ‘Baksteen’ also made his cage debut, and after only 28 seconds in the second round, he was declared the winner by technical knock out.
Davy Chuang’s opponent withdrew 10 minutes before their match was scheduled to take place, giving Davy the win by default.
“I’m very happy with everybody’s performances and very proud of all four my guys, whether they won or lost,” said Frik Willemse. “I use a lot of old school traditional karate training methods in our MMA training and it works well for us”.
Tiger/Crane MMA Academy would like to thank Ryno Kern and Martin’s Funeral Services for providing contestants with transport, Elmar Loots for accommodation and all the family and friends who travelled to Empangeni to support the participants.
