Photo Credit: EFC Worldwide
EFC 97: Walker vs Sahraoui Preview
With the official weigh-in ceremony complete, EFC 97 is upon us and has quite a bit in store for African fight fans.
The only fight that has experienced a change is the featherweight bout between Guide ‘Rubberman’ Moyo and Tumisang ‘The President’ Madiba. The latter of the two was replaced by Shannon van Tonder and, with the late replacement, the bout was moved up to a catchweight of 150lbs.
This event is quite an interesting one for the EFC in that it’s only the second of the year to have a non-title headliner, with the first being EFC Fight Night 2 back in May. Whilst all 11 fights featured on the card will be high stakes and could see some major divisional shifts, the main and co-main events of the evening could have direct impact upon the championship scenes within those divisions.
In the co-main event of the evening, South Africa’s standout sensation Dayne van Wyk will welcome Alice Ngom to the Hex, who hails from Cameroon. Ngom and van Wyk both began their careers in 2021 and, although only sharing five fights between the both of them, have undeniable talent and immense power when they get into the cage. The winner of this bout could possibly go on to challenge for EFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Amanda Lino for the gold and that certainly serves as extra motivation to get the win.
The main event is in the flyweight division and will also witness a fellow prodigy taking on an international opponent who makes his promotional debut. Gift ‘The Day’ Walker will take on France’s Boualem Sahraoui in a non-title headliner bout. With the bout being a headliner, the fight has the full five 5-minute rounds to reach it’s conclusion. Walker, who is well-known in the African MMA scene, has been calling for an international opponent and he gets one in the form of a Frenchman who looks to bounce back from his most recent loss and forge a path of his own within the promotion. Walker’s gyms, House of Tinkerbell, is affiliated with Team PESFA – which happens to be home to the current EFC Flyweight Champion, Luthando Biko. With that said, Walker has already made it clear that, should he win this fight, he will not challenge for Biko’s gold. So long as Biko holds the 125lb gold, Walker will continue to fight and build his record whilst evading the championship scene. Sahraoui is on the other end of the spectrum on that. Sahraoui looks to make an impact in the division and quickly ascend the rankings, in hopes to attain gold and further push the nation of France in MMA landscape.
This certainly makes for an intriguing main and co-main event. It will be interesting to see how these fighters choose to prove themselves at this event as, on the night that EFC 97 takes place, EFC 100 will be exactly 12 weeks away.
EFC 97 Full Card
Gift Walker vs. Boualem Sahraoui [Flyweight Non-Title Fight]
Dayne van Wyk vs. Alice Ngom [Women’s Bantamweight Fight]
Eduardo Barros vs. Bheki Ngcobo [Bantamweight Fight]
Johan van Staden vs. Peace Nguphane [Welterweight Fight]
Emmanuel Sita vs. Prince Lolia [Featherweight Fight]
Tom Theocharis vs. Pietie Coxen [Middleweight Fight]
Guide Moyo vs. Shannon van Tonder [Catchweight Fight – 150lbs]
Guelor Sondi vs. Kaleka Kabanda [Lightweight Fight]
Orlando Machava vs. Martin Gcinumkhondo [Bantamweight Fight]
Kgaugelo Moitšhela vs. Christian Mulamba [Flyweight Fight]
Godknows Ndlovu vs. Terence Balelo [Flyweight Fight]
EFC 97 takes place on Thursday, September 8th. The prelims are set to start at 3pm CAT/9am ET, whilst the main card will go live at 7pm CAT/1pm ET.
Do be sure to follow along as MyMMANews provides the latest news, results and updates on this event and many more!
