Bernardo Mikixi, also known as “The Black Panther”, walks into a crowded room: 110,5kg of rippling muscle.
The flashes from the cameras of excited photographers bounce off his dark skin.
He is one of the main attractions at the fifth Africa Extreme Fighting Championship.
Angolan-born Mikixi is here to defend his title as EFC Africa Heavyweight Champion against Norman Wessels and the way he confidently carries himself, he knows he’s going to give his fans a show they won’t forget.
Mikixi is known for his power and his ability to deliver a knockout punch that has taken out previous opponents.
But Wessels is the crowd favourite, with great speed and well-rounded technical skills.
Part of the scene
He left his career as a chef to become an MMA (mixed martial arts) trainer and has a background in Thai boxing, grappling and boxing — all part of the cage-fighting scene.
“I’m a nice guy and very friendly, but when I get into the cage, I change. I become a lion,” says Mikixi. He bows as he enters the ring, says a prayer and is instantly transformed into a predator.
Wessels enters with a cool exterior and a game plan. He knows that if he delays his opponent and doesn’t allow himself to get tagged, he can survive.
With one swift move, he grabs Mikixi’s legs and the giant crashes to the ground. The crowd is hysterical.
MMA requires a wide knowledge of martial arts skills that can include judo, boxing, kickboxing and karate. The rules allow striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground and fights takes place in an octagonal cage.
Integration
It’s obvious that the sport has grown in popularity in South Africa: the Coca-Cola Dome, which is hosting the EFC Championships, has sold 7 000 tickets for a single night. There is no shortage of black MMA fighters, but the audience which is predominantly white — tells a different story.
“MMA is an integrated sport with many people from different racial backgrounds participating. But in South Africa black audiences seem to veer towards boxing,” says Graeme Cartmell, EFC Africa matchmaker.
Cartmell believes that because EFC is an African organisation, it is important to draw in black followers.
He has witnessed growing interest in other African countries, such as Angola and Nigeria. But the extreme fighting subculture is American and black South African audiences have yet to warm to the sport.
MMA has its roots in the early 1900s with the development of the combat sport Vale Tudo — “anything goes” — in Europe, Brazil, Japan and the Pacific Rim.
Martial arts for real combat
It was introduced in the United States by the first Unlimited Fighting Championship in 1993, promoted as a competition intended to determine the most effective martial arts for real combat situations with minimal rules.
However, to enhance the safety of competitors and promote mainstream acceptance of the sport, the promoters adopted many additional rules.
Since 1995, when the name “mixed martial arts” was coined, it has started to rival boxing and wrestling in the US.
In South Africa contact sport is traditionally more boxing than wrestling and karate. From the 1980s until about 2002 boxing had a huge following, with local champions such as Baby Jake Matlala taking on well-known international fighters.
These days there are no crowd-pulling names and boxing seems to have taken a knock.
One of the biggest divides between boxing and MMA is the idea that the one is for the “have nots” and the other for the “haves”. Boxing has traditionally elevated talented youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Carnell describes MMA as “the golf of contact sport”, catering for young boys from more privileged backgrounds.
Fighting with glitz and glamour
Boxing is an integral part of MMA and many of its fighters have a strong boxing background. But MMA combines hard-core fighting with a glitz and glamour that attracts young people in a way that boxing does not and confers superstar status on its top competitors.
It embraces hip-hop, rock ‘n roll and gothic subcultures, as well as a taste for fast cars and motorbikes.
Boxers look down on it, as former professional boxer Vladamir Busek makes clear. Busek argues that MMA lacks the tenacity, character and skill boxing requires.
“A boxer has to fight it out for 12 rounds,” he says. “No matter how hard he’s battered, he has to get up and keep going. In cage fighting they make up for fighting power with glitz and glamour. Even the good ones don’t last longer than two rounds.
Sensational cage fighting
“Boxing caters for a more mature audience that likes to see a good fight; cage fighting appeals to teenagers because of its sensationalism.”
Back at the EFC, Wessels has Mikixi pinned to the ground in a rear naked choke, tapping into his ju-jitsu skills. Before the end of round one, the contest is over and Wessels holds up the EFC heavyweight championship belt to cheers from the crowd, with tears streaming down his face.
Frenzied media photographers storm the ring as hip-hop blasts out.
MMA players argue that boxers’ criticism of MMA is unfair, that they transcend the traditional fight by virtue of their wide knowledge of different fighting techniques.
In the crowd there is an unexpected fan, tripping on the buzz, who underscores the sport’s broad appeal and, perhaps, its black future.
Says Thembi Matjali from Tembisa on the East Rand, a 75-year-old granny who is here with her 12-year-old granddaughter: “This is cool, man. I can’t wait to come back and see it again in December. It was my first time at the EFC and it definitely won’t be my last.”