It was thunderbolts and lightning from the ringing of the first bell at the second Klerksdorp Fight Night (KFN 02)
The event was again held at the Klerksdorp wrestling hall on Saterday night (4 June). Although every fight on the card was worth the admission, there were a few that stood out. The Fight of the night as selected by the organisers went to Wesley “Knock you cold” Victor and Hugo Gutsche.
It was an absolute war of attrition between Victor (Klerksdorp) and Gutsche (Potchefstroom) neither fighter giving an inch in the fight. Numerous fans from Potch traveled the 50km into mining country to lend their voices of support to try and drown out the old foes’ cheers.
It was clear from the moment that both fighters entered the cage that the crowd was about to be treated to something special. Gutsche was in a good position a few times during the fight, as the Potch fans cheered for him to finish his opponent but Victor found a way out of trouble every time. During the final moments of the last round Victor started getting the upper-hand over Gutsche. After the fight both fighters collapsed from pure exhaustion. These two warriors left it all out in the cage. Victor took the victory on the judges scorecard because in the end he had more gas in the tank than Gutsche. I would wager that, this journalist, is not the only person that would want to see a re-match between these two passionate fighters. Another Potchefstroom Fighter, Ruben Kruidenier won on his debut outing into the cage. Head trainer at Close Combat solutions, Kobus Fourie, had a reason to hold his head up high after the performances of both his fighters.
But it was the home town MMA club, Olympus’ star that shone brightest on the evening. All of their fighters won their fights. The most impressive being Heinie Lamprecht whose fluid head movement had his opponent Mduduzi Moyo hitting air more often than not.
Louis “The Badger” Van Zyl, was again dominant to gain his third successive victory, this time over David Moketo. Van Zyl lived up to his nickname when he didn’t give Moketo time to breathe as he kept shooting for the take down. Many analysts believe that this single minded approach is something that fighters should try and avoid but Van Zyl is slowly proving many pundits wrong. By smothering his opponent and asserting his dominance early on, he drags the fight to the ground where Van Zyl is like a shark in the ocean. It would be interesting to see what Van Zyl does against a more well rounded opponent.
Two EFC titleholders also joined the crowd at KFN 02 in the form of heavyweight champion Danie “Pitbull” Van Heerden and the lightweight champion Leon “The Iron Lion” Mynhardt. They were available to sign shirts and meet their fans.
With clubs from all over the country sending fighters to the event KFN is rapidly becoming the home of amateur MMA in the region.
Apart from aforementioned fighters it would be a great injustice if the stand out performance of Lecture Gumbi, from Top Box Gym, is not mentioned. Gumbi was dishing out a masterclass in boxing to his opponent Jayson Davis although Gumbi should have ended the fight earlier, he still walked away with the victory.
Everyone seems to be excited about the next KFN, which has promised a few title fights.
