Smacktalk recently caught up with Brendon Katz, the fighter known for his big heart, bigger ears and the biggest sense of humour in the sport. He spoke about his journey into MMA, his recent and only loss at EFC 03’s fight of the night and his goals in the cage. Katz is just 26, but [...]

Fan favourite Darren Daniel has promised to once again bring his trademark brand of destructive domination to the EFC Africa 04 main event on August 5. Since injury stole the spotlight from Norman Wessels and Bernardo Mikixi, it’s up to Daniel to prove that nice guys finish last when he takes on Dallas Jakobi. “Becoming [...]

Don’t be fooled by the name, Fight Force Overload is actually about two of SA’s top fighters slimming down. Last week Smacktalk gave you the low down on Martin van Staden, this week it’s time to bring out the big guns and let Bam Bamz fire away. On 15 July, Donavin ‘Bam Bamz’ Hawkey will [...]

The SSG Champions Gym in Bramley shook with K1, ultimate striking and MMA action on 12 June, treating a crowd that included boxing legends Chris van Heerden and Isaac Chilembe, to more than 20 nail-biting fights. It was a testament to SA’s growing martial arts fan base that people came out in support despite rugby [...]

Here is the official EFC press release. Bernardo “The Black Panther” Mikixi recovers with a broken hand The highly anticipated EFC AFRICA heavyweight title fight between Bernardo “The Black Panther” Mikixi and Norman “Chef” Wessels has been postponed due to injury. Mikixi injured his hand during his fight at EFC AFRICA 03, where he defeated [...]

He was once an undefeated multiple SA title holder, but this former kickboxer is only just starting to find his feet when it comes to MMA. So far, Leon ‘Iron Lion’ Mynhardt has a spectacularly average professional MMA record of 2 and 2, but high hopes of slaying SA’s MMA giants in the near future, [...]

Tired of not seeing the fights? Sick of missing out on the action? Well, we felt your pain and have come up with an awesome solution! We at Smacktalk are proud to present Fight Night!  We  have worked our backsides off to bring you guys the most comprehensive coverage of Mixed Martial Arts in South [...]

A title fight is an event on its own and this fight was to be no different.  Wade Henderson was coming into the fight as a possible dark horse due to his vast experience in Jiu-Jitsu.  Hawkey is a prolific striker and didn’t have the experience on the ground to counter a specialist grappler.  Or [...]

There are not enough superlatives in the English language to describe this fight.  Yes it was perhaps not the best representation of Purist MMA but it was fight like nothing we had ever seen.  Botha took the fight on 24 hours notice and came to do exactly that; fight.  This was our Fight of the [...]

Much hype surrounded this fight as it was the return of “The Original”.  Fans had not had the pleasure of watching him fight for 4 years due to a lack-of-competition imposed hiatus.  Even though we all expected the fight to be a one way affair, watching this video again you see that Donald held his [...]

This got fight of the night in the latest Fighter Only mag, and for good reason.  This was a battle of note.  It was filled with controversy, a shift in the fickle crowd (from Mvapi to Mynhardt), cheap shots on the part of Mvapi, sick stand up action and a well deserved win for Mynhardt. [...]

Johan Van Staden is a prodigious talent, we can say this based on the fact that the man trains when he can, due to work commitments, and has a record that is heavily weighted in the win department (at the time of the fight he had only lost one fight).  Brandon Fourie is a highly [...]

Paul Van Vuuren was a newcomer to the sport and took on a veteran fighter in Scheepers.  The action commenced with Van Vuuren being the aggressor.  Scheepers absorbed the attack well until he got caught in a rear choke.  Rumour has it that Scheepers actually broke some ribs in this fight – look at when [...]

Sinclair is one of South Africa’s brightest MMA prospects and his star seems to burn brighter every time he fights.  Marshall came into the fight very well built and looking incredibly menacing.  Sinclair welcomed Marshall to MMA with a perfectly timed head kick and some more bone crushing strikes to the face, which opened a [...]

ED note:  The pictures in this article are of a graphic nature.  If you are sensitive to images of a surgical nature please do not continue reading. When you’re at the top everyone wants to bring you down, a fact of life SA’s number 1 middleweight* Martin van Staden has to live with on a [...]

The SSG Champions Gym is a budding rags to riches tale, except that the riches are limited to the sporting and humanitarian kind for now. Although it has only been around for a year, the 800 square meter facility in Bramley, Johannesburg, promises to be a focal point for numerous combat sports in years to [...]

This weeks instalment of  EFC Champion Wentzel Nel Uncut Wentzel and Jackie Nel, at their Durban home, discussing the recent EFC Africa title victory and the life of MMA’s nicest couple. continued..

Jeremy ‘Pitbull’ Smith has never lost a professional MMA bout. That single, short sentence may seem simple enough, but look at it again now that you know Smith has faced the likes of Martin van Staden, Adam Speechly and respected international fighter Julio Gallegos. Those 10 words suddenly convey an incredible achievement, and we realise [...]

Ultimate Strike is hosting yet another event on Saturday 12th June.  The last time we went through we were completely impressed with the event and really enjoyed our afternoon.  It is development and amateur fighting at its absolute best.  There is a little bit of everything to satisfy everyone.  We also said that we would [...]

Sprawl and Smacktalk sat down and went through all the comments posted during the month of May.  There were so many good ones  we scratched our heads for what felt like hours.  Until one comment really jumped out at us. Action posted a comment about needing notification on upcoming amateur fights and the penny dropped.  [...]