EFC Worldwide heavyweight champion Danie van Heerden and challenger Elvis Moyo engaged in a social media battle leading up to their main event fight at EFC 54 in Sun City, South Africa, on October 15. Van Heerden is the brother of former IBO and IBF World Champion Chris van Heerden, who famously boxed in the gym with UFC featherweight Conor McGregor in July. Pre-fight bad blood is often manufactured and is good in the sense that it puts asses in seats, and thus money in the bank.
But there are limits.
Chael Sonnen used to sneak up to the line, but somehow never quite crossed it. Van Heerden, crossed the line, right off a cliff.
“This is what you look like to me when I see you Elvis “Bomber” Moyo,” van Heerden captioned this image.
The reaction on his social network was immediate and outraged. Van Heerden quickly removed it, and put up a different image, with an apology.
“Hey all regarding my last post to Elvis “Bomber” Moyo,” wrote van Heeden. “Wrong I’m sory for that elvis wasn’t ment for that I’m so sory if it affended you guys not ment that way.”
However, content on the Internet is like a genie – it doesn’t go back in the bottle.
EFC reacted quickly, stripping van Heerden of his title and suspending him until further notice. He has been pulled from the scheduled bout against Moyo.
This type of behavior is completely unacceptable by anyone, regardless of whether you are a champion or not, and will not be tolerated, said EFC President Cairo Howarth. We will not tolerate any form of racism by our athletes.
An official disciplinary hearing will be held with van Heerden and the sanctioning body, MMA SA.
Former two-time champion Andrew ‘One Gear’ van Zyl has stepped in to face Moyo at Sun City in four weeks time on 15 October for the now vacant
EFC Worldwide events are broadcast live in over 110 countries around the world, on numerous television networks, in multiple languages. With EFC programming available weekly in 600+ million TV households worldwide, it is one of the most recognizable MMA brands on the planet.
