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Jakobi, Pena Take 170-, 145-Pound Titles at EFC Africa 10

Dallas Jakobi became EFC Africa's welterweight champion and earned revenge on titleholder Adam Speechly in the headliner of EFC Africa 10 Thursday at Carnival City Casino and Entertainment World in Brakpan, South Africa.

Speechly choked out Jakobi with a triangle in the first round of their December 2009 meeting in Durban. Their second fight did not start in Jakobi's favor either, as the challenger was floored by a left hand from Speechly. However, by the end of the period, the Durban native was in full mount landing big blows to Speechly's face.

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Round two was a mirror image of the first period in reverse, as it was Jakobi hitting the big strike early, a right high kick that rattled his foe, but by the end Speechly had established top position.

The seesaw battle continued in the following rounds with more ground-and-pound from Jakobi who utilized elbow strikes to their fullest extent punishing Speechly to the ribs as well as the head. Speechly, however, was an arm's twist away from securing a triangle at the end of round three that otherwise was locked in quite deep.

Speechly turned it up in the final minutes with two takedowns, but it was too little too late, as Jakobi took scores of 48-45, 48-46 and 48-47, and the EFC Africa crown.

"A lot of submissions were on but I managed to pull through." commented the relieved new champion. "A hell of a fight, I've enjoyed it."

Angola's finest MMA moment since the heyday of Joao Roque came courtesy of 22-year old Demarte Pena who took a unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-45) over Leo Gloss to became EFC Africa's inaugural featherweight champion.

The fight itself was much closer than the scores would indicate. The story of the bout was Pena managing to get takedowns despite a rapidly emptying gas tank and Gloss failing to defend the shots or pull the trigger standing.

Pena was exhausted after 10 minutes, and began the championship rounds literally with his hands on his hips. However, thanks to Gloss's passive approach, he kept securing takedowns. Gloss was also docked a point in round four, when he kicked Pena in the face while he was on the floor.

The 36-year old South African had one last gasp in the fifth with strikes that had the young Angolan reeling. However, he couldn't capitalize, and wound up dropping the unanimous verdict.

Johannesburg's Nolan Swanepoel wisely decided to take down dangerous striker Leon Mynhardt at every opportunity. The second time was the charm as after catching Mynhardt's kick,Swanepoel got back mount and locked up the fight-ending rear-naked choke, ending the bout at 2:34 of the first frame.

In one of the few fights to see the second round, Martin vas Staden dominated Francois Kabulu for almost 10 full minutes. Once van Staden swept Kabulu from the bottom in the second round, the fight belonged to the South African as he brutalized Kabulu with accurate elbow strikes and finally landed enough of them to halt the welterweight contest with 18 ticks left in round two.

After seeing his brother Jacques win earlier on the card, light heavyweight J.P. Joubert blitzed Jeremy Scheepers in the clinch. With the fighters up close, a series of hockey-esque right uppercuts sealed the deal for Joubert at the 2:51 mark.

Following a prefight exchange of words, middleweights Tyron Rightford and Paul Terblanche let their fists fly from the start. Rightford closed the distance and rocked his foe with a jumping knee and a right uppercut that doubled him over, prompting referee Wikus Swart to halt the bout just 44 seconds into it.

One-time Pride veteran Jadyson Costa picked up his maiden win on African soil, submitting Wade Henderson. The aggressive Brazilian almost snatched up an armbar but eventually the winning hold turned out to be a kimura at 3:15 of the first round.

Cape Town's Mawande Vapi came out aggresive against Jacques Joubert and shockingly knocked him down with a one-two combination. However, Joubert composed himself, and the hard-luck Vapi gave up his back and was subsequently tapped out by a rear-naked choke in under two minutes for the fourth time in five months at 1:50 of the first round.

Though Armand de Bruyn tripped on a camera wire when walking to the cage, he had better luck in the actual fight tipping Keith Theologo over during a leg kick, snatching back control and sinking the rear-naked choke at 2:51 in the opening period.

25-year old Wesley Hawkey picked up his first win in the promotion after sneaking in a guillotine on Jean-Luc Kazadi in 1:58 of the first round.

Pretoria's Michiel Opperman added a fifth win to his streak submitting Daniel Sinclair with a triangle at 3:14 of their middleweight contest.

The opening fight of the night saw featherweight Abdul Hassan take a unanimous decision over Francois Groenewald.
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