EFC 12 Pro's Picks

Tweet With the EFC's first event in 2012 just around the corner, the EFC team sat down with some of its contracted pros to get their thoughts on the fights. The four professional fighters included two current EFC Africa champions - heavyweight champion Ruan Potts and welterweight champion Dallas Jakobi. The other two pro fighters were combatants who were forced to withdraw from this very event due to  injury, namely Martin van Staden and Tyron Rightford.

The professionals were asked to give their views on the following EFC Africa 12 fights:

Garreth McLellan vs Jeremy Smith (Middleweight Title fight)
For this fight I predicted Jeremy Smith to win via second round TKO. I really felt I would be a minority in this prediction as McLellan is not only a great all round fighter, but also the reigning Middleweight champion and a huge fan favourite.


Pros who picked Garreth McLellan to win: 1
Pros who picked Jeremy Smith to win: 3
My prediction article: Jeremy Smith vs Garreth McLellan preview

Wesley Hawkey vs Denzil Wait (Featherweight)
Another extremely close fight between two high level featherweights, this was probably the hardest fight on the card to pick a winner for. I went with Wesley Hawkey because I felt he would have the upper hand standing and is well versed in his submissions.

Pros who picked Wesley Hawkey: 3
Pros who picked Denzil Wait: 1

Dino Bagattin vs Michiel Opperman (Welterweight)
A battle of very high level strikers, Bagattin and Opperman almost nullify each other standing. I felt that Bagattin would have a slight advantage due to being in his natural weight class. I do also think he has a slightly stronger ground game. The pros had very mixed feelings on the outcome of this fight, most seemed to think it would not finish early.

Pros who picked Dino Bagattin: 2
Pros who picked Michiel Opperman: 2

Sean Robinson vs Tumelo Maphutha (Light Heavyweight)
A difficult fight to call between two fairly new MMA fighters, I went with Sean Robinson on more of a feel from his last fight.

Pros who picked Sean Robinson: 4
Pros who picked Tumelo Maphutha: 0

Analysis
Total Pro Picks: 16
Pros pick with the same winner as me: 12
Pros pick with a different winner to me: 4
Pros alignment with my views: 75%

Click here to view my full fight card predictions for EFC 12
To view the pros picks on the EFC Africa website complete with their rationale, click here

Posted in: Denzil Wait, EFC, EFC 12, EFC Africa 12, EFC Fights, Fight Prediction, Garreth McLellan, Jeremy Smith, Pros Picks, Wesley Hawkey