Watching Darren fight is like driving past a car accident and looking, you know it’s going to be gory, you know it’s going to make you feel sick but you would do it again, and again.  There is something inside every one of us that fights the internal conflict of watching the brutal destruction of another person, you don’t admit it to your friends and you don’t talk about it at lunch. You shake your head in pity at the victim but in the deepest darkest catacombs of your soul you know you would look again. When Darren fights that is generally what you get – brutal destruction.  Thankfully Darren will be satisfying our secret thirst for the macabre at EFC 04 on 5 August 2010.

Darren has just returned from a trip to Las Vegas where he trained at Wanderlei Silva’s (UFC legend) Wand Fight Team where he spent his time honing his skills and sparring with the likes of Forrest Griffin (UFC Super Star) and has begun a quest for perfection before re-entering the cage.

“I am very self critical and I am a perfectionist.  The training that I did in The States was a big wake up call for me, I realised the potential that I have to be better and how much harder I have to work before I can fight again, so I pulled out of EFC 3 to concentrate purely on EFC 4.”

This statement must send shivers down the spine of his opponents.  Darren Daniel, already one of the most technically gifted and devastating fighters in South Africa is on a mission, a mission to better his skills and become more devastating than before. 

We in the stands applaud this effort and look forward to seeing the gory result in August as much as Darren looks forward to displaying his new found skill and flawless execution.

“My next fight is going to be a huge show.  I love smashing people and the crowd loves it when I do.  What they are going to see from me is perfection.”

At EFC 2 Darren wore a gum guard that had sharp teeth printed on it that resembled the mouth of a hybrid demon from a Stephen King novel. He says it represented a little piece of his character.

“I am an animal, when the door closes behind me I get angry and I want to hurt my opponents.  I mean no disrespect for them as people but the cage is my world and when they step into my cage and my world I feel like they are disrespecting me and I want them to deal with pain for it.” This is something that all of us onlookers, and more so, his opponents can attest to.

Darren is yet another of South Africa’s best to fight under the Fight Fit Militia banner where the words “Thou who sheds his blood with me shall always be my brother” is the credo that embodies their unity.

“We are a brotherhood at FFM.  I have been there from the beginning and we are a family and FFM is our home.”

There are few names in the world of Mixed Martial Arts that conjure up feelings of fear in opponents and excitement in fans like Darren Daniel.  To say that he is menacing would be like calling Anderson Silva average.  It is exciting to know that at EFC 04 we get to see him in brutal action again, and like most of the finer things in life; it will be worth waiting for.

Here is Darren Daniel in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng0nB1A-DPo

For more on MMA in South Africa please visit www.smacktalk.co.za

Darren video courtesy of www.nv.co.za

By Jono Williamson