EFC 111: Adrian Sanchez Produces Stellar Knockout Victory As MMA Action Returns to South Africa

• EFC 111 took centre stage at the Performance Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa
• Adrian Sanchez opened the main card with a devastating knockout win over Tapiwa Katikati
• The main card was headlined by Gift Walker vs Nkazimulo Zulu for the EFC Flyweight title

EFC 111 kicked off the MMA action in Africa in 2024 and didn’t disappoint.

The card featured action-packed bouts, with the Flyweight title fight headlining.

For those missing some proper MMA action in South Africa, they didn’t have to wait too long.

Adrian Sanchez vs Tapiwa Katikati

Adrian Sanchez took just over three minutes to finish his fight against Tapiwa Katikati.

The Capetonian knocked out Katikati in the first round of their Lightweight bout.

Katikati looked the more confident fighter during the early minutes of the fight as he threw more kicks and looked dangerous.

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But while Sanchez hung back at first, he was biding his time before he struck with a nasty right hook that dropped Katikati.

David Mambo vs Sibusiso Sovendle

Next up was the Bantamweight bought between David Mambo and Sibusiso Sovendle.

While the first fight was a hard-hitting affair, the second was more of a grappling exchange.

Sovendle had control on the ground for much of the first round and continued that in the second. In the second round, he started to throw more punches while in top control, punishing Mambo.

Mambo’s face showed the effects of the damage sustained as they headed into the third round. The damage in the early rounds took its toll as Mambo looked dead on his feet in the final round.

Sovendle piled on the pressure, landing shot after shot. While Mambo looked like he had nothing left in the tank, he wasn’t knocked out and took everything thrown at him. Unfortunately, he had nothing to offer going forward, and Sovendle won the fight by unanimous decision.

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Asiashu Tshitamba vs Martin de Beer

It didn’t take long for Asiashu Tshitamba and Martin de Beer to get the action started. De Beer tried to hook in a headlock but couldn’t get it under the chin deep.

Tshitamba managed to fight out of it, but de Beer tried to get another submission hold in.

The Diamond, as he is known, switched to an armbar, but Tshitamba fought that off as well. Neither fighter managed to get a clear advantage in the grappling as the first round ended.

The second round saw both men trade blows in the opening minutes as they swung for the fences to get a knockout.

Neither made devastating contact, but it seemed it was only a matter of time. With the time counting down in round two, Tshitamba executed a modified guillotine in the blink of an eye and forced de Beer to tap out.

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Nerik Simoes vs Jean-Jacques Lubaya

Jean-Jacques Lubaya made his debut at EFC 111, taking on Nerick Simoes.

The man from DR Congo lived up to the hype surrounding him as he showed off his skills against Simoes.

The Angolan wouldn’t be outdone, as he landed some good shots of his own. The first two rounds saw both men try to land various shots with varying degrees of success.

Lubaya looked to be the more confident fighter in the third round as he rocked Simoes with a nasty punch. He didn’t press his advantage and knock out his opponent, and the Angolan recovered a bit.

Simoes could not overpower Lubaya when he tried to grapple, and his shots had little effect in stopping Lubaya from hunting him down. The fight eventually went to the judges’ scorecards, and they scored it in favour of Lubaya by split decision.

All eyes were then on to the main event.

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Nkazimulo Zulu becomes double champion

TEam CIT's Nkazimulo Zulu is the new EFC Flyweight champion of the world.

King Shaka defeated Gift Walker in the main event of EFC 111 to claim the belt.

He is now a two-division champion in the organisation, Sports Brief reported.