Extreme Fighting Championship


Extreme Fighting Championship is a South African mixed martial arts promotion company established since 2009. It is the largest MMA promotion company on the continent of Africa and features on its roster professional fighters from across the world including the United States, Europe, South America, the UK, Australia, and Africa. The organization produces 10 live events annually. They currently have over 120 athletes exclusively contracted to the organisation. EFC events are currently broadcast in over 120 countries around the world on numerous television networks in multiple languages. To date, EFC has held 132 events and presided over approximately 1,000 matches.

History

EFC was founded in 2009 by brothers Cairo Howarth, Silas Howarth, and Calvin Howarth who are the present owners and along with Graeme Cartmell, who is the Vice President of Talent and Matchmaker, are the key people in the company. Prior to 2009, the Howarth brothers were great admirers of the UFC and would regularly watch UFC events through pay per view channels. This inspired them to create an African-based MMA promotion company modelled on the UFC which they named Extreme Fighting Championship . EFC's inaugural event took place at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa on 10 November 2009. The first 7 events took place at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg. From the 8th event in 2011 onwards, the organization held events in other major cities throughout South Africa which to date includes Cape Town, Durban, Carnival City Casino, Sun City Casino, Pretoria and Johannesburg. When the demand to watch EFC events grew, they signed television broadcasting and streaming deals with a number of media organizations throughout the world. Today EFC has broadcasting deals in place with Multichoice Supersport, SABC Sport, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, CSI Sports, DAZN, Best4Sport, and IB Sports.

Rules

Extreme Fighting Championship's rules were initially drafted and aligned by Marius Lotter, the then regulator for Amateur and Professional MMA and are based upon the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. All bouts are contested over three, five-minute rounds, with the exception of five-round championship bouts. There is a one-minute rest period between rounds. As per the Unified Rules of MMA, Extreme Fighting Championship only allows competitors to fight in approved shorts, without shoes or any other sort of foot padding. Fighters must use approved light gloves that allow fingers to grab. The referee has the right to stop the fighters and stand them up if they reach a stalemate on the ground after a verbal warning.

Match outcome

Matches usually end via:
  • Submission: a fighter taps on the mat or his opponent three times or verbally submits.
  • Knockout: a fighter falls from a legal blow and is either unconscious or unable to immediately continue.
  • Technical Knockout: stoppage of the fight by the referee if it is determined a fighter cannot "intelligently defend" himself or by ringside doctor due to injury.
  • Judges' Decision: Depending on scoring, a match may end as:
  • *unanimous decision,
  • *split decision,
  • *majority decision,
  • *unanimous draw,
  • *majority draw.
  • *split draw
A fight can also end in a technical decision, technical draw, disqualification, forfeit or no contest.

Judging criteria

The ten-point must system is used for all EFC bouts; three judges score each round and the winner of each receives ten points, the loser nine points or less. If the round is even, both fighters receive ten points. The decision is announced at the end of the match, but the judge's scorecards are not announced.

Fouls

The following are considered fouls in EFC bouts:
  1. Butting with the head.
  2. Eye gouging of any kind.
  3. Biting.
  4. Hair pulling.
  5. Groin attacks of any kind.
  6. Fish hooking, gouging as in self-defense and some martial arts.
  7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent.
  8. Small joint manipulation.
  9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
  10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
  11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
  12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
  13. Grabbing the clavicle.
  14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
  15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
  16. Stomping a grounded opponent.
  17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
  18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck.
  19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
  20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.
  21. Spitting at an opponent.
  22. Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.
  23. Holding the ropes or the fence.
  24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.
  25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
  26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
  27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.
  28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
  29. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
  30. Interference by the corner.
  31. Throwing in the towel during competition.
When a foul is charged, the referee in their discretion may deduct one or more points as a penalty. If a foul incapacitates a fighter, then the match may end in a disqualification if the foul was intentional, or a no contest if unintentional. If a foul causes a fighter to be unable to continue later in the bout, it ends with a technical decision win to the injured fighter if the injured fighter is ahead on points, otherwise it is a technical draw.

Current champions

Men's championship history

Heavyweight World Championship

''206 to 265 lbs ''

Light Heavyweight World Championship

''186 to 205 lbs ''

Middleweight World Championship

''171 to 185 lbs ''

Welterweight World Championship

''156 to 170 lbs ''

Lightweight World Championship

''146 to 155 lbs ''

Featherweight World Championship

''136 to 145 lbs ''

Bantamweight World Championship

''126 to 135 lbs ''

Flyweight World Championship

''116 to 125 lbs ''

Women's championship history

Women's Bantamweight World Championship

126 to 135 lbs
No.NameEventDateDefenses
1

Women's Flyweight World Championship

'' to ''

Women's Strawweight World Championship

''Under ''

Tournament winners

EFC Flyweight Grand Prix

Four-man flyweight tournament for the vacant EFC Flyweight title.
Weight DivisionChampionRunner-upEventDate
Flyweight

Notable athletes and alumni

The Fighter: Season 1

EFC launched a reality TV show on 14 October 2017 called The Fighter. Housed in a villa in Johannesburg, South Africa, 10 male MMA Middleweight prospects from around the world lived and trained together, as well as competed against one another for a multiple fight contract and a guaranteed EFC title fight. They were split into two teams each coached by an experienced EFC athlete. The Fighter was broadcast on global television in 10 one-hour episodes. It was concluded on 16 December 2017 at EFC 66 with The Fighter title bout taking place between the two finalists followed by a bout between the two coaches
SeasonDateWeight classWinnerRunner-upSource
The Fighter: Season 114 October 2017MiddleweightBrendan LesarIbrahima Mane

The Fighter: Season 2

Following the success and positive reception to The Fighter: Season 1, EFC launched The Fighter: Season 2 on 26 April 2019. It followed the same format as Season 1 but with 10 female MMA Flyweight athletes from around the world instead. They were housed in Rosebank, South Africa, where they trained together and competed against one another in a quest to win a multiple fight contract and a guaranteed EFC title fight. As with Season 1, the competitors were split into two teams each coached by an experienced EFC athlete. Season 2 was also broadcast on global television in 10 one-hour episodes. It was concluded on 29 June 2019 at EFC 80 with The Fighter Season 2 title bout taking place between the two finalists followed by a bout between the two coaches.
SeasonDateWeight classWinnerRunner-upSource
The Fighter: Season 226 April 2019FlyweightManon FiorotMellony Geugjes

Subsidiary companies

EFC owns the following companies:
  • EFC Gym
  • EFC Performance Institute