Crystal Van Wyk’s long EFC wait finally over

Her Nigerian opponent Juliet Ukah had visa issues, which forced the organisers to delay their fight by another four weeks. 

Van Wyk had mixed emotions in the build-up to tonight’s EFC 102 event at the EFC Performance Institute in Sandton, Johannesburg.

"It's been an extra-long fight camp for me, it's been a back-to-back fight camp. Obviously, that's a lot of hard work and it's been hectic, but I feel like it's given me more time to improve on my skills and I've never felt so ready for a fight," said van Wyk.

"So, I'm locked in and ready to go, and I'm very excited. I'm excited for my fight, like I'm going to get in there and just have a good time."

The 35-year-old emphasises working on her mental strength in preparation for the match-up included on tonight’s main card. 

"So, obviously, with it being so long and excruciating, the physical aspect – you don't want to burn out or anything, but you're still putting in the hours," she added.

"But I worked a lot on my mentality, I did a lot of meditating on my runs and, obviously, just improved on my strength and conditioning a lot – just being stronger and fitter for the fight.

"So, I just feel like there's always something you can work on. We're always improving, always working, always trying to get better, so I've had a little extra time to just improve on everything."