Demarte Pena showed great composure and awareness in his EFC Africa 14 featherweight title defence against Wesley Hawkey. Though behind on points on my scorecard, Pena managed to sink a late fourth round rear-naked choke to force a tap from Hawkey and maintain his EFC title. A relieved young champion was humble in victory and thanked Wesley Hawkey for such a great fight.
Demarte Pena vs Wesley Hawkey fight breakdown
Wesley Hawkey was not as nearly as aggressive as many had expected him to be, and this lead to a much more methodical and calculated battle. Though Pena landed some effective leg kicks and take downs in the early rounds, Hawkey was more effective on the ground landing some nice ground and pound from the top and attempting submissions from the bottom. Nothing fight changing was landed early on and both fighters looked fresh in the latter rounds.Rounds three and four saw Hawkey begin to open up a little more with his hands as Pena's leg kicks slowed down. Hawkey still remained cautious though, in all likelihood trying to nullify Pena's dangerous double leg take down.
A late flurry from Hawkey in the fourth round saw Demarte Pena back up and look in trouble. As Hawkey pressed forward, Pena was able to land another take down. A ground battle ensued and Pena eventually managed to get top position. With less than 20 seconds on the clock, Hawkey made a costly mistake as he tried to escape from the bottom position. Demarte Pena was quick to latch onto this opportunity and rolled with Hawkey, got his hooks in and sunk in a deep rear-naked choke. Wesley Hawkey would be forced to tap with less than 5 seconds on the clock in the fourth round.
Demarte Pena, now 4-0, became the first EFC Africa featherweight champion to defend his belt.
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