Frans Mlambo arrived in Poland with a reputation as more of a striker than a grappler. However, Mlambo’s quickfire submission win over Denmark’s Jonas Magard at FEN 34 will make future opponents think twice about going in search of a takedown when coming face-to-face with the Irishman.
Mlambo and Magard squared off in the co-main event of FEN 34, which went down on Friday night in Warsaw, Poland. The bout — the only title fight on the eight-fight card — was over before it had begun, with Mlambo submitting Magard with just over a minute gone on the clock.
Mlambo’s striking came into play early in the fight, after he landed a sidekick to the mid-section of Magard, before following it up with a straight right. Magard, known primarily as a grappler, then went for the takedown and found himself instantly trapped by a guillotine choke. It was an impressive display from Mlambo, who was making his promotional debut and who came into this bout off of a win at Bellator Milan.
#AndNew! Frans "Black Mamba" Mlambo po nieco ponad minucie walki udusi? Jonasa Magarda i zosta? nowym mistrzem kategorii koguciej! pic.twitter.com/K0pWleI3S2
— FEN MMA (@fenmma) May 28, 2021
“I’m a striker, and people know that. I’m crisp on the feet, so knowing that he was a wrestler, I knew what he was going to do, ” Mlambo said in a post-fight interview with InTheCage.
“My corner guys looked at him, and they told me just keep the distance, and he is going to shoot in eventually.”
Mlambo has already set his sights on who he wants to fight next , with the SBG fighter calling out former UFC veteran Taylor Lapilus. The 29-year-old Frenchman recently signed with FEN MMA , and matchup between him and Mlambo seems almost a certainty.
In the main event, light heavyweight’s ?ukasz Borowski and Pawe? Tryba?a faced off in their rematch, with Borowski doing enough in the eyes of the judges to get his hand raised.
Earlier in the night Ekaterina Shakalova , continued her fine run of form with a second-round submission victory over Brazil’s Jamila Sandora. The 23-year-old Ukrainian grappler is now on a four-fight winning streak and if she can continue to improve she will definitely be prospect to keep a close eye on in the coming years.
Here are the full results from FEN34
- Light Heavyweight: ?ukasz Borowski def. Pawe? Tryba?a via Decision
- Bantamweight Title Bout: Frans Mlambo def. Jonas Magard
- via RD1 Submission
- Bantamweight: Lil Masti def. Ada Sledz via RD1 Submission
- Welterweight: Cezary Oleksiejczuk def. Szymon Dusz via Decision
- Openweight: Mateusz Mura?ski def. Epic Cheat Meal via Decision
- Bantamweight: Ekaterina Shakalova def. Jamila Sandora via RD2 Submission
- Catchweight: Adam Radziszewski def. Kamil Piórkowski
- via RD1 TKO
- Bantamweight: Paulina Paola def. Wiktoria Gnieciak via RD1 Submission
- Catchweight: Micha? Piwowarski def. Kacper Miklasz via RD1 Submission