Heavyweight Embarrassement!

To say that the EFC 122 feature bout was an embarrassment for African MMA, the EFC and MMASA is an understatement!

My initial reaction to the fact that Elvis Moyo was returning after almost 7yrs away from the cage – no warm-up fight and no win since his loss to Jared Vanderaa at EFC 73 – was one of desperation….

• The EFC is desperate to keep the heavyweight division alive – a notoriously shallow division often requiring the signing of international fighters such as Asker, Vanderaa and Houlton – who fly in, fight and are often never seen again.
• The EFC is desperate to have a active heavyweight champion – with Andrew van Zyl being the most active in the division’s history, fighting twice in six months back in 2017.
• The EFC are desperate to see their heavyweight champ defend his title – this has not been the case since Andrew van Zyl defended the strap back at EFC 66. In fact, Van Zyl is one of only two EFC heavyweight champions to successfully defend his title, with Ruan Potts being the other.

The fight itself started off like any other, with both heavies looking to end it early. And it was this aggressive initial pace that seemed to take it out of the Morel, who seemed to have it wrapped up late in the first round. The third round saw Morel struggle with his conditioning, staying on the canvas and shaking his head as the round edged towards the inevitable chmpionship rounds.

As the fourth round was about to commence, Morel refused to get up off his stool, forcing the referee to intervene. Morel then waived the fight off and approached Moyo, conceding the fight. To everyone’s amazement refreree Ferdi Bason then started the 4^th round with Morel again approaching Moyo to call the fight off. In the end, Moyo was crowned the new EFC heavyweight champ with fans left grappling with the bizarre spectacle of what had just transpired.

Taking nothing away from Elvis Moyo, who weathered a few hectic barrages from Morel, but so many questions need answering;

1. Is this the state of our African MMA heavyweights?
2. Does our administrative body not have the ability to read the room or better yet, understand when a fighter calls it quits? Remember, referee Ferdi Basson is also the President of MMASA. 
3. Why are the cage-side judges coaching fighters in the cage? See below video….

To make matters worse, the EFC then announce that Moyo’s first defense will be against former champ, Matunga Djikasa, who will return to the EFC after vacating the title shortly after winning it back in 2022. A classic case of old wine in new bottles.

What should have been the main event took place in the co-main event where Faeez Jacobs showed the entire EFC roster what building a personal fighter brand should be about. He is the epitome of what “walking the talk” is all about.

With is very first “strike in anger”, Jacobs landed a glancing head-kick that had his opponent, Sibusiso Sovendle, reeling, requiring only a few final blows before the referee tumbled to the mat in his efforts to end the battering. We should appreciate Jacobs while we still have him.

As for the rest of the main card;

• Siya Nomvemve tapped Mzwandile Hlongwa to get back to winning ways.
• Asiashu Tshitamba outlasted Vince Bembe, bringing back memories of his 2018-2019 performances.
• Ceileigh Niedermayr rallied back to a decision win over Rebecca Amongi. The only stain on this bout was the fact that one of the judges scored the bout as 30-26 when most would agree that Amongi won the first round.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Having watched countless EFC events over the years, EFC 122 has to rank as one of the poorest production performances EVER!

From Ugandan Rebecca Amongi being introduced as being from the DRC, the laughable officiating, the lack of sound on both microphones for the Nomvemve post-fight interview and then, what takes the cake for this writer, is the utter destruction of an almost comprehensive American presentation with referee Ferdi Basson giving final instructions to the main event fighters in a thick South African accent! We need more tariffs…LOL.

Not sure what to make of the upcoming EFC 123 main card as, with less than a month to go, we still only have one bout announced. Worrying times indeed.