The official EFC 91 weigh-in took place on Friday at the EFC Performance Institute – and it was complete and utter chaos! Photo: EFC Worldwide

Fighter STABBED ahead of bout as EFC 91 weigh-in turns into a farce

The official EFC 91 weigh-in took place on Friday at the EFC Performance Institute – and it was complete and utter chaos!

by Garrin Lambley

04-12-2021 11:50

in Sport

The official EFC 91 weigh-in took place on Friday at the EFC Performance Institute – and it was complete and utter chaos! Photo: EFC Worldwide

The official EFC 91 weigh-in took place on Friday at the EFC Performance Institute ahead of Saturday’s event.

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It was a rollercoaster ride for a number of athletes and administrational staff with issues relating to weigh-cuts, out of training injuries, as well as Covid-19 complications.

The following fights were forced to be cancelled:

Plaatjies v Souza – cancelled due to a Covid-19 complications
Ntene v Walker – cancelled due to a Covid-19 complications
Sethwape v D. Swanepoel – cancelled due to a Covid-19 complications
Gcinumkhondo v Jhazbhay – cancelled due to a failed medical check

Martin Gcinumkhondo, who was set to face Lukhmaan Jhazbhay in a bantamweight bout, arrived at the weigh-ins with the injury sustained to his hand two days ago after he was stabbed and mugged.

Despite wanting to continue with the fight, after an assessment by the EFC medical team he was not cleared to compete.

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After hearing the news of his fight being cancelled, Jhazbhay’s agreed to face Gift Walker who was also left without an opponent.

Their fight has been added to the EFC 91 card and will take place at bantamweight.

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Meanwhile, the headline bout between Nkazimulo Zulu and Luthando Biko was extremely close to being called off due to medical concerns and Zulu not making weight at the time of the official weigh-in.

Zulu was unable to carry himself behind the scenes and was seen to seemingly collapse on multiple occasions.

However, the former champ eventually made it to the scale just in time and just on the weight limit. The result on Saturday night will be official and a new EFC flyweight champion will be crowned.

***Nkazimulo Zulu*** **Photo: EFC Worldwide**

Finally, in more farcical circumstances, the co-main event between defending champion Reinaldo Ekson and challenger August Kayambala was forced to be changed to a none-title bout as Kayambala, who also missed his appearance on stage during weigh-in, was unable to make the championship bout weigh requirements.

This brings the final fight card of the year to a total of 13 bouts.

EFC 91 MAIN CARD BOUTS | STARTING AT 18:00

FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT
Nkazimulo Zulu 124.8 lbs (RSA) vs (RSA) Luthando Biko 124.6 lbs

FEATHERWEIGHT CO-MAIN EVENT
Reinaldo Ekson 145 lbs (BRA) vs (DRC) August Kayambala 148.2 lbs – Kayambala did not make
weight; fight is no longer for the championship and is now a three-round fight

LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT
Cole Henning 153.1 lbs (RSA) vs (RSA) Tumisang Madiba 152.8 lbs

CATCHWEIGHT BOUT
Jose Da Rocha 174.4 lbs (BRA) vs (DRC) Kaleka Kabanda 173.8 lbs

HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT
Nico Yamdjie 264.9 lbs (CAM) vs (DRC) Matunga Djikasa 241.1 lbs