EFC 88: THabani Mndebela VS Matunga Djikasa
Saturday, August 14 – EFC Performance Institute (Johannesburg)
- Thabani Mndebela – 8/10
- Matunga Djikasa – 1/1
- Juan Bezuidenhout – 11/10
- Ricky Misholas – 7/10
- Orlando Machava – 17/20
- Roevan de Beer – 17/20
Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) will be holding its latest event on Saturday in Johannesburg with a card that is headlined by a heavyweight bout between Thabani ‘The Doctor’ Mndebela (4-1) and Matunga ‘HHH Power’ Djikasa (4-). Other fights on the main card see the experienced Ricky Misholas (7-9) facing up and coming Juan Bezuidenhout (2-2), Roevan de Beer (3-4), and Orlando Machava (2-2) in a bantamweight class, and Cole Henning (3-1) facing off against unknown Brazilian Jailson Sousa (0-0).
This is a card filled with athletes with their best years ahead of them. The main event is the only one on the card that sees two fighters with winning records clash and the winner will move closer to the championship that is currently held by American Jared Vanderaa.
This should be an interesting contest if for no other reason than the fact that Covid-19 issues mean that the two fighters have combined for just one fight since 2019. The fight was in June of this year as Djikasa beat Misholas via punches in the first round, with the 198cm 35-year-old proving too classy in close quarters for his opponent.
Mndebela hasn’t fought since November 2018, so there has to be some level of worry that he will be rusty early on in the octagon. The only blemish on his record was in hos first fight at the hands of Misholas and the 196cm South African will be hoping to make it five wins on the bounce here. Wins via decision. guillotine choke and TKO in his last three fights show that ‘The Doctor’ has what it takes to win in a variety of different ways. I like him to win at home in South Africa at 8/10 with BetXchange providing that he can get through the early minutes of the first round with no serious mistakes as he feels his way back into the sport after such a long (enforced) break.
On the rest of the card the bout between De Beer and ‘Mean Machine’ Machava should be a fun one. The two are ranked as the No. 17 and No. 20 bantamweights in the South Africa region respectively by Tapology.com and De Beer will be hoping that home soil will be a factor in him leveling his record at the expense of the Mozambique national.
De Beer was originally preparing for Cameron Saaiman who had to withdraw through illness and Machava is definitely a capable replacement as his strength and aggressive approach to fights will test De Beer who has set his goal at a knockout win – using his fast hands and feet – within the first two rounds. The BetXchange odds can’t pick a winner here but I will give a slight lean to De Beer as he has been in preparation for this fight for longer than his opponent.
The other lean is on Ricky Misholas in the semi-main with the experienced fighter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo expected to prove to be too strong for Juan Bezuidenhout, a fighter he has already beaten back in 2018.
