FINAL EFC 81 FIGHT REVEALED
Lyle Karam returns to the EFC Hex to face Andrew Smith on 10 August
Pretoria, South Africa – Undefeated prospect, Lyle Karam will step back in the Hexagon for the first time since April 2016, to face Andrew Smith at middleweight, live from Time Square, Menlyn Maine, Pretoria. This bout bolsters the already exciting fight card featuring the interim bantamweight title fight between Nkazimulo Zulu and Faeez Jacobs on Saturday 10 August.
Karam’s return bout to the Hex was originally slated against Justin Smith. However, Justin and EFC could not reach an agreement. At this, AndrewSmith jumped at the opportunity. EFC VP Talent, Graeme Cartmell elaborates, “Justin Smith is being held back by a team who is happy to watch him waste a career on the side lines, in my opinion; career suicide. Andrew on the other hand embodies what it is to be an athlete, not just in the MMA context. The more you compete the better you get, the more you get seen the more relevant you are, he gets that formula and it leads to excellence.”
Karam spent the majority of his career training and fighting out of Team CIT in Pretoria, alongside current and former champs Dricus du Plessis, Adam Speechly and Leon Mynhardt to name a few.“I might not be training with Dricus at the moment, but him and everyone over at CIT will always be my family and teammates,” Karam explained.
The young stand out put together an impressive 4-fight undefeated streak, 3 of them ending before the final bell. All just over 3 years ago, before moving to Australia. Karam elaborated, “I was looking for change of scenery. I have been active studying, working, training and even competing in Jiu Jitsu comps.”
“I am back to put my name on the map!” he stated with extreme confidence. He continued, “I want to give a big thank you to Graeme and Cairo for allowing me to come back and fight in South Africa. EFC is great and we are very fortunate to have such an awesome organisation in South Africa to help grow the sport!”