Tiger/Crane fighters battle in Ballito

The Ballito Exhibition Centre was the venue for the Africa Fight League 22 event which took place on October 31 in Ballito, KZN.

The event was hosted by Africa Fight League and White Buffalo Productions and showcased some of the best MMA and Kickboxing fighters in KZN.

The night started off with action packed MMA bouts followed by high octane K1 Kickboxing bouts. In one of the earlier MMA bouts a fighter from Durban was seriously injured when he broke his shin bone while attempting a low kick on his opponent.

“The cause of a serious injury like that could be one of two reasons. Either the fighter did not condition his shins enough or he didn’t allow for enough rest between conditioning sessions and prior to his fight. Over training is as dangerous as under training.”

The first Tiger/Crane student to enter the cage was Davy Chuang.

He faced Darren Stone from Animal MMA in a Light Heavyweight MMA bout. Stone is coached by former EFC Lightweight champion, Wentzel “The Animal” Nel and normally fights as a Heavyweight. Davy lost the bout by means of TKO in the first round.

“Although Davy lost his fight he gained a lot of experience. It was only his second amateur fight, his first having been more than a year ago. As his coach I also learned a lot. We both now know where his weaknesses are and we can now work on improving them and be better prepared for the next event.”

The second Tiger/Crane student to enter the ring was Flippie Steyn.

Flippie competed in a K1 Kickboxing bout against an opponent from Muay Thai MMA Boys, based in Durban. Flippie did extremely well in the first round but in the second round he ran out of steam and lost the bout due to a TKO decision.

“Flippie has excellent kickboxing skills but he lacked stamina. We will have to improve on his fitness before he fights again.”

The third Tiger/Crane student, Emile Janse van Rensburg, was also scheduled to compete in a K1 Kickboxing bout but his opponent failed to produce a valid HIV certificate during the pre-fight medical examination.

“We were given the option of accepting the fight at our own risk, but as a coach my first priority is always the safety of my students. I had to make a tough decision by withdrawing Emile from the bout but in the end I feel it was the correct decision. I can’t believe that some coaches and fighters who have been involved in the sport for so many years still pitch up at an event without proper preparation”.

One of the highlights of the event for the local boys was when they got the opportunity to meet South African Heavyweight boxing legend Francois “The White Buffalo” Botha in person. Botha fought the likes of Mike Tyson and Sonny Bill Williams during his career as a Heavyweight boxer. Botha also competed in K1 tournaments in Japan and is the owner of White Buffalo Productions which now promotes K1 Kickboxing in conjunction with Africa Fight League.

Anyone interested in MMA or K1 Kickboxing can contact Frik Willemse at 079 585 1181.

For more photos of AFL action click here.