Johannesburg, South Africa – It has just been revealed that the EFC welterweight Grand Prix Finals have been confirmed. Zimbabwe’s Themba Gorimbo will face South Africa’s Luke Michael for the vacant belt in the main event. Live from Carnival City, Johannesburg on Saturday 28 September.
The EFC welterweight Grand Prix was first announced in March this year where four of the organisation’s top contenders would face-off in a knockout style tournament over several events. The contenders were named: Themba Gorimbo, Jose Da Rocha, Luke Michael & Conrad Seabi.
Gorimbo first faced Da Rocha and Michael was scheduled to face Seabi.
Over three gruelling hard-fought rounds, Gorimbo emerged the victor in the very first fight of the tournament at EFC 79 to secure his spot in the finals.
“I told EFC, this ain’t a Grand Prix. We fought the hardest fight tonight, and it is a one man show now. All these guys want to fight for the belt, I want to win the belt! They will fight me, but they will lose!” Gorimbo shouted to the crowd in his post-fight interview that night.
Gorimbo aims to become Zimbabwe’s first ever EFC champion and is hot on that path to making it a reality.
Michael’s path to the finals has been less than smooth sailing for the young South African. Originally set to face Seabi at EFC 76, Michael withdrew a month out with a knee injury. They were rescheduled for EFC 78 in Cape Town, Seabi was not allowed to compete due to hitting his head in the sauna during his weight cut.
A third and final reschedule was made for the two, and again, it was not to be.
Seabi missed weight, the fight was to go on regardless, but then another issue arose. Michael’s brain scans came back and the EFC medical team did not clear him to fight due to an anomaly found.
“Safety is our number one concern, and when the medical team say it is not safe, we listen. We will always rather err on the side of caution when it comes to athletes’ health.” explains EFC President Cairo Howarth
Upon deeper inspection with his full medical history, Michael has been cleared by EFC medical officials. He is more motivated than ever to compete in the Hexagon after so many delays.
“Seabi needs to prove he can make welterweight before we can give him a title fight. We will be offering a new opponent soon,” explains Cartmell.
This makes Michael the unofficial winner of their bracket and earning his spot in the final against Gorimbo.
Michael is currently riding a two-fight win streak, with two first round submission wins. Only strengthening his 100% finish rate.
Meanwhile, Gorimbo has been campaigning to face Cape Town’s Shaun de Lange for the vacant title. However, there are already plans for De Lange to face Seabi in an official number one contender bout.
This fight takes place on the main card of EFC 82 at the top of an epic 11-bout fight card.
EFC 82 is presented by Restonic and takes place on Saturday 28 September live from Carnival City, Johannesburg.
However, all eyes now turn to EFC 81 presented by Restonic, which takes place on Saturday 10 August live from Time Square, Menlyn Maine, Pretoria. Tickets will be on sale soon at computicket.com. Full broadcast details available on efcworldwide.com.