MMA Knockout

MMA fighter rebounds from failed UFC bid with savage face plant finish

"Mellow" made short work of his first opponent since appearing on The Ultimate Fighter.
Drew Beaupre|
(EFC Worldwide)

Tumelo Manyamala earned himself a shot at the EFC Worldwide flyweight belt with a violent first-round finish at EFC 130.

Much of the attention of the MMA world has been dominated this week by a massive UFC 323 event set to take place on Saturday night in Las Vegas, NV. The card features two title bouts, and it will also serve as the final PPV offering of the ESPN era before the UFC begins its new deal with Paramount next year.

There’s still plenty of regional MMA action outside of the UFC for fans to take in this week, and today South Africa's EFC 130 saw Manyamala and his countryman Ntando Zondi set themselves up to fight for the promotion’s vacant flyweight belt next year.

Tumelo Manyamala Face Plants First Opponent After TUF 33

Taking on fellow South African Lihle Ngamnthwini in the EFC 130 co-main event, Manyamala was competing for the first time since he appeared on Season 33 of The Ultimate Fighter and was submitted by Roybert Echeverria in his only fight on the show.

READ MORE: UFC fan favorite aims to end losing skid against towering KO artist at UFC 325

While he missed out on a chance to join the UFC through TUF, “Mellow” was booked to challenge EFC Flyweight Champion Willie van Rooyen after returning to the promotion. Van Rooyen’s decision to sign with ONE Championship left the flyweight title vacant, and EFC elected to set up a four-man tournament to crown a new champion at 125 lbs.

It only took two minutes of action for Manyamala to rattle Ngamnthwini and send him to the canvas. “Rush Hour” impressively survived an onslaught of ground and pound to return to his feet and even managed to connect with a big counter punch while his opponent was airborne, but Manyamala pressed his advantage until his countryman ended up face down in the middle of the cage (clip courtesy of the one and only @Grabaka_Hitman).

The result marked just the second time that Ngamnthwini has lost in his professional MMA career after he dropped a decision in his debut and rebounded with five-straight wins. Manyamala’s only career loss outside of TUF came to Road to UFC veteran Mark Climaco under the UAE Warriors banner last year.

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The 26-year-old will have the chance to attract the attention of the UFC once again when he fights for the vacant EFC flyweight belt next year against Zondi, who took a unanimous decision over Nathanial Komana in the EFC 130 main event.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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