EFC 55 was held at GrandWest Arena last Friday, with two fighters with Deep South links making statements in Africa’s premier mixed martial arts promotion.

Francois Groenewald – fighting out of Steve Bazzea’s Straight Blast Gym Cape Town in Fish Hoek – staked a claim for a title shot against bantamweight kingpin Demarte Pena by swiftly submitting Baldwin Mdlalose for a third straight win at 61kg.  ‘Franaconda’, who also works with St. James-based strength and conditioning coach Ross Church, improved his record to 11-6 and seeks vengeance against Pena having lost to the undefeated Angolan in October 2014.
Meanwhile, Muizenberg’s Gary ‘Relentless’ Joshua announced his arrival in the same division with an impressive first-round TKO of veteran campaigner Lourens Botes.  The Tricore MMA standout, an ex-Cape Fight League bantamweight champion, also trained under SBG’s Bazzea in preparation for his professional debut.
Joshua went 8-1 as an amateur, while he recently won U-63kg gold at the Western Province Kickboxing Championships. (story by Stephen Kihn)