South Africa’s Elbert Steyn this week spoke about the challenges that come with fighting.
He stated that the only real pressure he feels in the lead-up to a fight is around the weight cut — notoriously known as the “fight before the fight”.
“The one thing that we as fighters battle with — or most of us, at least — is the weight cut. That is where you question yourself,” said Steyn during the PFL Africa Media Day at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, ahead of the first round of PFL Africa’s Featherweight and Welterweight Championship tournament, taking place at the Big Top Arena, Carnival City in Brakpan on Friday.
Sadly, this time around, both Steyn (3-0) and his opponent, Morocco’s Abderahman Errachidy (4-1), lost the first battle as they failed to make the featherweight limit ahead of their quarter-final fight.
Stepping onto the scales, both Steyn and Errachidy came in three pounds over the 145lb (65.8kg) mark, weighing in at 148lb (67kg).
The fight will still go ahead, now as a catchweight bout; however, both athletes have been withdrawn from the Featherweight tournament and will no longer have the chance to be crowned the first PFL Africa Featherweight Champion at the finals set to take place in Benin later this year.
This development has opened the door for Burkina Faso-born star Abdoul Razac Sankara and DRC-born athlete Shadrack Yemba to enter the fray and compete in the Featherweight tournament, after their fight was initially set as an alternate bout.
Steyn and Errachidy — whose clash will now become a showcase event — were the only athletes to miss weight, as the rest of the competitors on the 10-fight card stepped up healthy and focused for their gladiatorial clashes in Johannesburg tomorrow night.
In the main event, featherweight stars Patrick “Starboi” Ocheme (6-1) of Nigeria takes on Mohamed “Lamo Mohamed” Camara (5-2-1) of Guinea. Ocheme weighed in at 144.6lb, while Camara came in at 145.6lb for their first-round contest.
Welterweight contenders face off in the co-main event, with Angola’s Shido Boris “Machine” Esperanca (9-1) going up against Ibrahima “Freezer” Mané (14-5) of Gambia. Both fighters weighed in at 170.6lb.
The action kicks off at 6pm on Saturday.
