Hawkey vs Van Heerden at EFC 12

Tweet The EFC has announced another change to its March 2 EFC 12 fight card due to injury. The hugely anticipated middleweight clash between Donavin Hawkey and Tyron Rightford has been cancelled due to Rightford suffering a neck injury in training. Apart from the what this fight promised on paper, both Hawkey and Rightford had taken to twitter to exchange banter, and had gone a long way to promoting this as one of the fights of the night at EFC 12. Many fans have already expressed their disappointment at the news, but wish Tyron Rightford a speedy recovery and hopefully we will see him in action again soon.

In the wake of this news, the EFC wasted no time in finding a replacement for Rightford. Donavin Hawkey (#3 South African MMA Middleweights) will now face EFC veteran Danie van Heerden in a Middleweight fight.

Van Heerden (8-4, 2-2 EFC), who started his EFC career at heavyweight has faced some big opponents in the hexagon, including former heavyweight champion Normal "Chef" Wessels (#3 South African MMA Heavyweights) and J.P Joubert, but dropping to middleweight, Van Heerden believes he can bring a better package to the cage. Van Heerden has been training hard in the hope that an opportunity would come his way and has embraced the opportunity to fight Hawkey. He certainly feels he can win the fight.

Donavin Hawkey, having also fought in higher weight divisions for most of his career, will not be at all intimidated by the larger opponent. While a decent replacement Donavin Hawkey vs Danie van Heerden does not hold the same allure as the previously slated bout between Hawkey and Rightford.

Posted in: Danie van Heerden, Donavin Hawkey, EFC, EFC 12, EFC Africa 12, Fight Announcement, MMA South Africa, Tyron Rightford