Tournament allows fighters to frow
“We love MMA and the fights, but we will not allow a fight to continue if the dangers are too high. We all know the sport is dangerous, but it does mean we can’t be safe while we fight,”
Despite a perception that Mixed Martial Arts cage fighting might be violent and dangerous, MMA Club Tiger/Crane members love the sport.
Their dedication was tested during the Africa Fight League (AFL) 22 event on October 31 in Ballito.
Some of the province’s best MMA and kickboxing fighters were participating, and South African Heavyweight boxing legend, Francois “The White Buffalo” Botha, entered his own White Buffalo Production members.
The tension was palpable during the first fights and one could feel the pressure mounting after a Durban participant shattered his shin during one of his bouts.
The first Newcastle representative to step into the cage, was Davy Chuang.
The Lightweight fighter was putted against the Heavyweight Darren Stone, who is coached by former EFC Lightweight Champion Wentzel “The Animal” Nel.
Davy was slightly over matched in this fight, and was given a Technical Knock-out (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,” believed Tiger/Crane teacher, Frik Willemse.
Newcastle kickboxer, Flippie Steyn was let down by his lack of stamina, and this led to his eventually TKO in the second round.
These issues will have to be tackled if Flippie wants to progress in the AFL world. He has the skills, but stamina is key to keeping yourself from being limited to the ‘one-hit wonder’ category.
The third Tiger/Crane member, Emile Janse van Rensburg, did not fight due to technical issues. The fight was cancelled as circumstances were deemed too dangerous.
“We love MMA and the fights, but we will not allow a fight to continue if the dangers are too high. We all know the sport is dangerous, but it does mean we can’t be safe while we fight,” said Mr Willemse.
The Tiger/Crane club is fairly new but is making waves in the AFL.
