Martial art brothers prepare for intense challenges

Amanzimtoti mixed martial art (MMA) brothers, Bradley and Dylan Swanepoel are nearing the end of an intense eight-week training camp to prepare for the fight of their careers. After both were signed up and contracted to EFC Worldwide earlier in the year, Bradley will make his debut at EFC in Times Square in Pretoria against an international opponent, Benjamin Ntambwe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday, 13 August.

Besides the fact Ntambwe won the Extreme Warrior Championships, not much else is known about him or his style of fighting. “That makes it very dangerous, especially to prepare against him,” said Bradley. “I’m feeling great and this has been the best training camp I have done to prepare for a fight.”

Bradley trains with Dylan and they are coached by their father, Morné, who runs the Combat Coaching Gym in Seadoone Mall. Morné has been a full-time martial arts and fitness coach since 1993 and practitioner since 1976, and is certified as one of the most qualified reality-based personal protection high performance MMA coaches in the world.

“I’m a little nervous about making my EFC debut, but it’s good nerves. I’m very confident of this fight and I’m going for the win.”

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A lot of focus has been on Bradley, as his fight is up first, but his training finished on Saturday and all the focus has now shifted onto his younger brother. Both boys weigh in at 66kg and they fight in the featherweight division.

Next week Bradley’s focus shifts to the more mental preparation for the challenge and weight cut. He will probably have to cut two to three kilograms off to make the 66kg limit. This is done in a number of ways, such as a strict diet, water loading, Epsom salt baths, saunas, fasting and, in the extreme, colon cleansing.

Dylan will have another crack at the SA amateur MMA title on Sunday, 1 September at Greyville Racecourse. He was contesting for the title in May last year when he tore a stomach muscle, which caused a hernia and the fight had to be stopped for him to undergo an emergency operation.

This time around he will touch gloves with Andrew Caruth, the longest standing SA champ, who has defended his title three times already. “I’ve never faced him in MMA, but I did beat him in a jiujitsu competition on 3 February, so I’m confident I can beat him for the title and I’m excited for the fight.

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Both of us are fit and conditioned from working in the gym every day, so now I just need to put all my focus on my training and visualisation, which includes my fight plan and the fight itself. We also prepare for worse case scenarios and how we will deal with it.”

If Dylan is successful he will then make his EFC debut and organisers are keen to punt a ‘brother’ billing on a fight night, possibly in December. “It’s now a different ball game for us,” said the brothers. “We take and prepare for each fight as a title fight since becoming professionals.”

You can catch Bradley’s fight on SuperSport or on the EFC Facebook page, while Dylan’s will be a delayed viewing on the DSTV KZN channel.

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