EFC marks return to Cape Town with entertaining Knox Legacy Series debut

The Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) returned to the Mother City for the first time since 2019 in front of a sold out GrandWest Grand Arena on Thursday.

Local fight fans were treated to an unforgettable night of hard-hitting action, as well as a guest appearance by former UFC champion Dricus du Plessis.

The evening kicked off with a win for the Cape’s Terrence ‘The Black Panther’ Balelo, who was greeted by a thunderous ovation during his entrance.

The 25-year-old beat Brazil’s Kleberson Sousa by unanimous decision to open the card in bout that went the distance.

There was no shortage of entertainment for the packed house in the Mother City as Tumelo Manyamala squared off against Ntando Zondi in the first of three title fights.

The division’s top contenders collided for the coveted EFC Flyweight championship.

Manyamala got the better of his opponent via split decision with the fight going full five rounds to get his hands on EFC gold.

Adrian Sanchez was the next local favourite to get his hand raised after taking on Jeferson Pereira of Brazil for the Interim Lightweight strap. This one also went to the judge’s scorecards after five rounds with Sanchez winning via Unanimous Decision.

The co-main event, dubbed as the ‘people’s main event’, saw Faeez ‘The Trouble Maker’ Jacobs defending his EFC Bantamweight strap against Australia’s Trent Girdham. The Aussie started strong and was intent on silencing the Cape Town crowd from the onset.

Jacobs recovered from a shaky start to find his rhythm in round two with both competitors trading blows. The crowd erupted in round three when ‘The Trouble Maker’ forced a stoppage via TKO to successfully defend his title in his hometown.

In the main event, Luke Michael put his Middleweight belt on the line against Diego Bandu, who had Du Plessis in his corner.

The challenger dominated from opening round, feeding off the incredible atmosphere to put on a clinical display.

Bandu produced a calculated, yet emphatic display to be crowned as the new EFC Middleweight king.