SIX athletes from Bushido MMA Gym will be representing KZN in the SA national championship held at the Dunnottar Military Base in Gauteng from July 21 to 24.

The two female and four male KZN Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes from Bushido MMA Gym in Athlone Park are training hard everyday, putting in the work and are ready to take on their opponents.

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The females are Demi-Shaye Thomas in the featherweight division and Erin Fourie in lightweight. The males are Kyle Clarke and Brendan van Zyl in the featherweight division, Johnathan Rourke in light heavyweight and Brandon Wight in super heavyweight.

It is a round robin event, each fight is three rounds and three minutes. The events format means that not everyone will make it to the finals on Sunday, July 24.

“It’s a hard competition, because you could fight every day. So, it’s important that fighters don’t get hurt, which is obviously hard to do given the sport,” said coach, Greg Thomas.

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He said that is why fitness and strategy are so important. Thomas also has two men from the featherweight division, meaning there is a possibility that they could be in a bout with each other at some stage of the competition.

At the finals, Mixed Martial Arts South Africa (MMASA) will select athletes who will go on to represent the South African side going to United Arab Emirates next year.

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