Polish fighter wins women’s EFC title in Pretoria
Spectators at Saturday's last EFC event of the year (EFC 76) at the Time Square Sun Arena in Pretoria got value for their money with plenty of action in the hexagon.
Karolina Wójcik from Poland edged Italy’s Chiara Penco (4-1) to take her EFC women’s strawweight title in a thrilling five round war when the final EFC event of the year took place at the Time Square Sun Arena in Pretoria on Saturday.
The night’s main event kicked off with a fascinating clash of styles, and an exhausting five round war between Penco and Wójcik.
The Italian sat behind her jab, making use of superior range while Wójcik showed great movement to get inside, tagging the champion, but could not match Penco’s power.
The judges awarded Wójcik the title by split decision, setting up an obvious and eventual rematch between the Pole and previous opponent Cheyanne Vlismas, who had to withdraw from this fight due to illness.
Two-time former EFC heavyweight champion, South Africa’s Ruan Potts, met the USA’s Jared Vanderaa in pursuit of the interim heavyweight title, in the co-main event of the evening.
Vanderaa came out controlled and tactical, striking from the outside and making use of position and dominance on the fence. In the second Vanderaa began to chip away at Potts’s stamina with an avalanche of knees to the body against the fence, and in the third his patient pressure paid off.
Vanderaa scored the takedown and unloaded with ground and pound, to which Potts struggled to his feet where he received more knees and punches from the American. Potts was swaying on his feet, and was saved by the referee.
Vanderaa takes the interim heavyweight title, and is now the man to beat in an increasingly competitive division.
In a night full of highlights, former EFC welterweight champion Dallas Jakobi returned to the Hexagon after a five-year layoff, to the delight of the Pretoria crowd.
Jakobi was dropped by opponent Mark Kamba almost immediately, and amazingly survived a deep rear naked choke, to set up a grappling clinic of a first round.
The second saw both coast-based fighters suffering the effects of altitude. It was a haphazard but brutal round with both men trading haymakers, which ultimately left Kamba on his stool unable to come out for the third.
Jakobi scores a victory, and sent a reminder to both the welter and middleweight divisions of the grit and power of the former champ.
Former welterweight title contender, Brazil’s José Da Rocha, opened the main card with a short notice bout against the dangerous Pretoria native, Conrad Seabi.
Seabi was running hot off a two-fight win streak, and had been dominating fight week build up with taunts to the Brazilian, but luck fell away from him just after the buzzer. Da Rocha landed a right hook dropping Seabi, and then followed with another felling punch that convinced referee Karagiannidis to call the fight in just 50 seconds.
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