Smack Talk took a drive through to the east rand to have a look at the much talked about, new and exciting mma gymWorld of Warriors. Here’s the Scoop World Of Warriors (WOW) was originally a Muay Thai gym founded by Shaun Simpson. Shaun has been studying and teaching Kickboxing and Muay Thai for almost [...]

  Smack Talk Managed to track Martin down in Canada, where he is keeping company with some of the worlds biggest MMA stars. We hit him with a few of your questions.   What made you move to JHB and do you still support the SHARKS?   the reason i moved to Fight Fit Militia [...]

Johan van Staden has made the big move to JHB, Smack Talk caught up to him to get to know the rising star a bit better.   How old are you and where are you from? I am 26years old, from Durban; now up in JHB living in Fourways. What weight do you fight at? [...]

  How old are you and where are you from? I’m 23 years old and I’m from Pretoria What weight do you fight at? I currently fight at light weight. I walk around at 74kg’s but cut easily to make the cut off at LW.im planning on making the drop to feather weight in the [...]

How old are you and where are you from? 26 – Originally from Cape town, but currently based in Pretoria. What weight do you fight at? For now at middle but very soon at Welter How did you get into MMA I went to the local Spar, ha ha ha, no seriously, I went to [...]

 “Great guy, amazing grappler” is normally a common sentiment shared by people who have trained with Wiekus Swart. He is somewhat of a walking contradiction. For a sweet guy, he can fold you like a lawn chair in seconds (on occasion I have been that lawn chair). Currently SA’s sole heavyweight BJJ black belt, Swart [...]

1. How old are you and where are you from? I’m 72 but use a good moisturiser so I’m actually 26. 2. What weight do you fight at? 84kg and walk around at 92kg. I start dieting very strictly about three weeks out and always amaze myself at how quickly I’m able to drop weight. 3. [...]

Personal training is essential in our industry; we took some time to catch up with one of Jozi’s own hardcore elites… Richard Lazarus!   So Rich, outside of the hard exterior and street cred, tell us how this all began???   I began my personal training and life coach training in 1993 after being certified [...]

There’s been much hype around this young Shido Warrior, here’s what he has to say ! 1) How old are you and where are you from: I’m 18 years old and I live in Centurion 2) What weight do you fight at: Welterweight (70,45kg – 77,27kg) 3) How did you get into MMA: I played rugby [...]

On a recent trip to the “spruit” Smack Talk was able to catch up with Bertus Coetzee. Here’s what he had to say How old are you and where are you from? Nelspruit 28 What weight do you fight at? 84 Kg How did you get into MMA – Got Suckered into it – don’t [...]

How old are you and where are you from? -24 years old and I’m from Alberton, Jhb What weight do you fight at?  I walk around @ 76kgs and then drop to fight at Lightweight (70.5kg) How did you get into MMA A close mate of mine (Paul de Vos-EFC Africa LW fighter) quite his [...]

Smacktalk was fortunate to snag an interview with Stephen Quadros, one of the greatest MMA commentators of all time. 1) How did you acquire the nickname “Fight Professor”? SQ: The nickname “Fight Professor” was given to me during my first commentating job, K-1 Kings in April 1998 by 4-time world kickboxing champion Earnest Hart Jr. [...]

Smacktalk explores the relevance of the gi in MMA, and chats to prominent South African fighters for their opinions.

It’ll be a warm reception for rising local star Paul “The Ice-Man” Cunningham on March 3rd, when he faces American opponent, Shaun Brown. Cunningham is no newcomer to the cage; his only loss out of four fights is to Dallas Jakobi, who has since taken two wins in the EFC hexagon. It was a well-timed [...]

“King Leo”, a formidable name in South African MMA. Having competed in every EFC to date he remains a crowd favourite. Fan or not, Leo is here to stay. We meet this mild mannered fighter at his Edenvale gym to find out a bit more about the man who has everyone talking. Introduce us to [...]

Smacktalk recently caught up with Mark Strydom, co-founder of Fight Force and one of the main reasons MMA is steadily gaining ground as a household acronym in SA. According to Strydom, a large part of the Fight Force formula involves understanding and staying true to the essence of MMA, and it is this recipe for [...]

Birds of a feather flock together and the Hawkey’s are a family that fights together.  Wesley is the youngest and most aggressive of the fight famous brethren to emerge from the Hawkey hatchery.  We watched as Wesley made his Professional debut against Tyson Chelin, also a Professional MMA debutant, at Fight Force Redemption.  The fight [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]