Friendship goes out the window for this bout

From childhood foes to professional mixed martial arts athletes battling it out for the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) featherweight title.

This is the story of Igeu Kabesa (pictured left) and Pierre Botha (right), who meet at Carnival City tomorrow night for the vacant featherweight belt at EFC62.

This fight came about after the champion, Daniel Henry of Scotland, was offered a UFC fight and subsequently had to relinquish his title.

Kabesa, the former EFC division champion who lost the title to Henry, is itching to get back the gold that was once his.

The two are no strangers to each other as they have been wrestling since they were very young and Kabesa won the title when he beat Botha’s twin brother Hanru at EFC56.

“He (Botha) is a very good wrestler and boxer, but I don’t feel he is a complete mixed martial artist. He doesn’t bring anything to the table that scares me,” said the man known as “Smiley”.

Botha’s wrestling pedigree speaks for itself.

He is a 38-time South African wrestling champion, a Commonwealth gold medallist and he qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008.

Consistency in the hexagon has been the biggest problem for the man from Boksburg, but since moving gyms to be trained by former heavyweight champion Ruan Potts, he seems to have found a new lease on life.

“Outside the ring Igeu and I are very good friends, but when the door closes, whatever happens inside the cage is just business,” Botha said when asked if friendship with Kabesa will be affected.