One-night tournaments are rare in today’s MMA, but they usually turn heads, especially when highly-touted fighters like Frans Mlambo are a part of the field.
The 30-year-old bantamweight from South Africa was the lone man standing after the Copa Combate one-night, eight-man tournament in Miami. For his efforts, Mlambo earned a $100,000 prize in addition to a bantamweight title shot against current champion David Martinez.
“It’s absolutely life-changing,” Mlambo told MMA Junkie. “My record looks far better now. It just means a lot. I’m keeping it a secret how much it’s going to change my life but I’ll let you guys know what the big reveal is soon enough.
“It’s going to transform my life. Like, I’m obviously going to be able to do more. I’m going to be able to train more and stuff like that because I don’t need to worry about finances and stuff.”
The SBG Ireland product, who is coached by John Kavanagh and a training partner of former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor, Mlambo is excited for what this win means for his career going forward.
The Bellator veteran went undefeated in four fights throughout 2021, stretching his overall win streak to five. His last loss came by the hands of Ricky Bandejas, who also competed successfully in a non-tournament bout at the event. Prior to the setback, Mlambo was on a three-fight win streak.
Despite competing in a one-night tournament for the first time, Mlambo was able to adjust quickly to different situations while showing his development as a fighter.
“It was very different but, I felt like I was ready for it,” Mlambo said. “Even after the first round, which I felt like was the toughest – that guy played a perfect game to how he needed to beat me. He needed to get me against the fence and stop me from hitting him and he did that pretty good. But even when he had me against the fence, I kept doing damage, and that’s kind of what I learned what to do.
“Like, how to deal with people over time because I’m a striker. They want to close that down, but I’ve learned to hurt them from there. The next guy was really different as well, and then the next guy was different as well, but they were all very tough, all very good. It was an exciting thing. I wouldn’t mind doing it again, it was very, very fun.”
Watch the full interview with Mlambo in the video above.
Frans Mlambo reflects on Copa Combate tournament win: ‘It’s going to transform my life’