It was a sad day for SA MMA yesterday when it was announced that Dino Bagattin had suffered an injury and would be unable to compete at EFC AFRICA 10, but EFC AFRICA has made the best of an unfortunate situation by finding a suitable replacement at short notice. Cape Town’s Francois Kabulu will step in to face Martin van Staden at welterweight on 1 September.

“Francois trains all year round and has been keeping up his fitness so we are quite confident he can win this fight,” said Kabulu’s manager, Anthony Kettle. “We’ve seen Martin’s fights so we have a good idea of what we’re up against, and we are sure that this is going to be an explosive fight that will keep the crowd happy.”

Martin van Staden has taken the change of opponent in stride, looking forward to the bout even though it presents new challenges.

“Like Dino, Francois is predominantly a stand-up striker,” said van Staden. “Although he’s probably tougher, he’s not as technical as Dino, so it is a different fight. In Francois’ last fight it took Leon Mynhardt three rounds to finish him so I know he doesn’t go down easily, but I’m still confident I can do it within a round.”

“As for Dino’s injury, I’m gutted. It would have been a great fight against a high-profile athlete, but injuries happen and I definitely don’t think he’s afraid to fight me. I still want to fight Dino, it has to happen at some stage, but my main priority after Francois is to become number one contender for the title. It would be nice to have a rematch with Leon for that honour, that’s what I want next, but with so many good welterweights in the mix who knows what will happen.”

EFC AFRICA 10 takes place at the Carnival City Big Top Arena on 1 September. Tickets for the live event are on sale now at Computicket www.computicket.com and tickets for the live broadcast to Nu Metro Cinemas are on sale at www.numetro.co.za.