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Cape Town - EFC bantamweight king JP Buys has left Brave Combat Federation after a single outing for the Bahrain-based organisation.
Buys (6-2) initially penned a three-fight contract with Brave with aspirations of becoming a dual-promotion champion, a feat previously achieved by South African compatriot Dricus du Plessis (12-2) under the EFC and KSW banners.
However, the 22-year-old opted to terminate the deal despite winning a controversial debut against Russia’s Gamzat Magomedov (3-1) via second-round disqualification in October 2018 after absorbing illegal strikes to the back of the head.
The contest was marred by a post-fight scuffle, as an enraged Magomedov accused Buys of feigning injury to get his hand raised by English referee Marc Goddard at the Nishtar Park Sports Complex in Lahore, Pakistan.
“I was actually supposed to have two more fights with Brave, but I just didn’t feel comfortable competing for them you know,” Buys revealed to Alastair Bishop on the BigAl MMA Podcast.
“Like, it’s easy to go out and fight. It’s very easy to go out and fight, but now I’ve got to go out and fight, but these people are looking at us funny. These people are saying ugly things to us. These people are making us feel awkward. These people are making me upset while I’m cutting weight. I’m still in danger.
“Like, there will always be those things in your mind, where you don’t actually want go and fight with that in your mind. You want to go and compete at your best. So I took the time, I got a release from Brave and ja, now I’m signed to face Biko.”
The Coach Quan University standout will next defend his EFC crown against interim champ Luthando Biko (5-1) at Cape Town’s GrandWest Arena on April 13.
