EFC AFRICA 16 NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Johannesburg (South Africa) – Battles were fought, blood was shed and new champions were born at EFC AFRICA 16 at Carnival City’s Big Top Arena on 19 October. At 22:30, e.tv and Fight NOW! TV picked up the evening’s main card bouts for broadcast to millions of viewers.

Michiel Opperman shocked pundits when he beat Jadyson Costa claiming the welterweight title. Opperman immediately went for the kill and took Costa to the ground, sinking in a rear naked choke. A new reign in the welterweight division has dawned on EFC AFRICA.

The featherweight title bout between Demarte Pena and Terrence Griessel went the full five rounds to the judge’s scorecards, pushing the athletes to their limits. Both showed perseverance and skill but after the twenty five minutes, Pena was dominant and successfully defended his title by winning via unanimous decision. Griessel, a late replacement for the injured Wentzel Nel, had four weeks to prepare for the bout and proved he was a worthy contender.

The main event of the night was indeed a spectacular display of heavyweight action. Mikixi came crashing into the fight, rattling Potts with his trademark “hammer”, and there was doubt if Potts would recover from the first round assault. The champ dug deep turned the fight around, stamping his authority on Mikixi and raining down with heavy elbows, claiming a TKO victory in the second round.

Fight of the Night went to welterweights JC Lamprecht and Daniel Sinclair, a highly entertaining bout filled with hard-hitting action. Sinclair was continually landing crisp strikes, forcing the TKO victory in the second round.

Michiel Opperman was awarded Submission of the Night when he surprised the black belt Jiu-Jitsu expert and former welterweight champion, Jadyson Costa, by displaying that he has submission skills of his own. The dark horse challenger came out blazing with aggression, and clinched the title with a rear naked choke in the first round.

Knockout of the Night was raked in by featherweight Gareth Buirski in his bout against Markus Taljaard. Buirski’s massive overhand right knocked Taljaard out cold in the second round, sending Taljaard crashing to the canvas.

EFC AFRICA 16 full results: Brendon Groenewald defeated Sors Grobbelaar via submission (guillotine choke) in round 1

Wade Groth defeated Khalil Akleker via unanimous decision after all 3 rounds

Ricky Misholas defeated Wilhelm Strauss via KO in round 1

Francois Groenewald defeated Jean-Luc Kazadi via submission (triangle choke) in round 2

Danie van Heerden defeated Dain Neveling via verbal submission due to strikes in round 1

Daniel Sinclair defeated JC Lamprecht via TKO in round 2

Andrew van Zyl defeated Ian Visser via TKO in round 1 Francois Kabulu defeated Nicholas Radley via majority decision after all 3 rounds

Gareth Buirski defeated Markus Taljaard via KO in round 2 Wade Henderson defeated Tumelo Maphutha via split decision after all 3 rounds

Michiel Opperman defeated Jadyson Costa via submission (rear naked choke) in round 1

Demarte Pena defeated Terrence Griessel via unanimous decision after all 5 rounds

Ruan Potts defeated Bernardo Mikixi via TKO in round 2

EFC AFRICA 16 was presented by MusclePharm, BetXchange, RDG, Nemiroff Vodka, TapouT, Fighters Only magazine and Carnival City Casino.

EFC AFRICA returns to Carnival City on 23 November for EFC AFRICA 17. Tickets on sale at Computicket www.computicket.com and tickets for the live broadcast to Nu Metro Cinemas available soon at www.numetro.co.za The three main card bouts will be broadcast live across Africa on e.tv, starting at 22h30 CAT.

About EFC AFRICA™ – The Extreme Fighting Championship™ Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, EFC AFRICA™ now produces 8 live Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events annually, all hosted on the African continent. With over 100 athletes exclusively signed to the promotion from across the continent (from Angola, DRC, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa and more), EFC AFRICA is the biggest MMA promotion and showcases the toughest athletes on the continent.

EFC AFRICA™ events are broadcast live in 49 countries on e.tv, Africa's largest English TV channel, to millions of viewers across the continent. The events are also broadcast live to millions of homes in the USA, Canada and the Caribbean on FIGHT NOW TV, America's only 24-hour combat sports and entertainment channel. Furthermore, EFC AFRICA™ programming is broadcast across the African continent on FX, part of the Fox International Channels network as well as throughout Europe on EUROSPORT. The live internet broadcast on EFCAFRICA.com is watched by viewers around the world, and the events are also broadcast live to all NU METRO cinemas across South Africa giving thousands of additional MMA fans a larger than life event experience.

EFC AFRICA™ also boasts a powerful international presence with bouts and promo videos from the latest events being covered heavily by local and international MMA and mainstream sports, entertainment and news media. EFCAFRICA.com, the official website, receives unprecedented unique visitor numbers for an African sports organisation and EFC AFRICA also has a massive and rapidly growing Twitter and Facebook following, proving once again that EFC AFRICA™ is the fastest growing sports brand in Africa.