Cage Fighting Comes to Africa
Jake Rossen Nov 12, 2009
Africa is rarely portrayed in media as anything other than a
politically tumultuous continent with lions prepared to eat
tourists right off the runway. (This is amusing, but untrue: it’s
actually cheetahs.) African citizens enjoy their distractions the
same as any other segment of the world, and MMA is rapidly
becoming one of them.
Thursday, EFC Africa will host 12 bouts in Northgate, Johannesburg: one of two competing Americans is Gabe Casillas, who reportedly trains out of Wanderlei Silva’s Las Vegas gym. The venue, the Coca-Cola Dome, has previously been host to Elton John, 50 Cent, and the WWE. (You guess which one of these things doesn’t belong.) There’s even the requisite gaudy afterparty at Platinum. VIPs get in free.
The news follows word that Dubai could soon host events, the UFC’s journey into Germany, and increasing sanctioned violence in China and the UK. MMA will probably never be the biggest sport in the states, but the notion of it becoming the biggest sport in the world is looking less and less ridiculous.
Thursday, EFC Africa will host 12 bouts in Northgate, Johannesburg: one of two competing Americans is Gabe Casillas, who reportedly trains out of Wanderlei Silva’s Las Vegas gym. The venue, the Coca-Cola Dome, has previously been host to Elton John, 50 Cent, and the WWE. (You guess which one of these things doesn’t belong.) There’s even the requisite gaudy afterparty at Platinum. VIPs get in free.
The news follows word that Dubai could soon host events, the UFC’s journey into Germany, and increasing sanctioned violence in China and the UK. MMA will probably never be the biggest sport in the states, but the notion of it becoming the biggest sport in the world is looking less and less ridiculous.
