EXCLUSIVE – Frans Mlambo laughs longer than usual when he reflects on his first fight with Dom Wooding. Before they were paired together in the draw for Saturday's PFL Europe 2 show, the familiar adversaries established a violent connection almost four years ago by which Mlambo remains baffled.
"My elbow was in bits because I kept hitting this flipping guy with my elbow, right?" the genial Dublin-based, South Africa-born bantamweight recalls, still sounding surprised by his target's durability at Bellator 227. "He wasn't doing anything. And I was like, 'It must be doing something, even though he's acting like it isn't, because it's definitely hurting me to keep hitting him.'
"Actually, there was a crazy moment that we had in the ring. I was elbowing him in the head and he kind of turned his head and I elbowed him in the back of the head. The two of us kind of paused for a second automatically, and I was like, 'Oh s*** bro, are you OK?' He's like, 'Yeah — no, no, I'm good, bro. Just keep going.'
"Then I continued to elbow him in the head. But just as that was going on, I was going, 'This is flipping crazy'. I'm hitting this guy in the head with my elbow — and then we paused to make sure everything was all good and continued like it was normal."
As that level of prolonged punishment might suggest, Wooding lost by unanimous decision in the Irish capital, finding himself part of the sort of mid-contest exchange that MMA can specialise in: sometimes a case of showboating, at others a kind of warrior code in semi-surreal action.
WATCH: PFL Europe 2 live on DAZN
In recent days, Mlambo has been watching Max Holloway's advice to Brian Ortega in 2018, when the American almost theatrically attempted to teach his opponent how to land a strike before knocking him out at UFC 231. "During the fight, he was showing this guy how to throw proper shots," says Mlambo. "That's just mad. I love that nuance kind of thing in certain fights. It's fun to be a part of that. It's very interesting to me."
Mlambo, who sparred with Conor McGregor before the Irishman's boxing defeat to Floyd Mayweather and UFC world title knockouts of Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez, has joined Wooding in enhancing his winning record since their scrap, but the rematch will not be happening after Wooding pulled out through injury eight days before the fight.
Londoner Wooding took more than a year out before following up a Bellator defeat with three wins from four Cage Warrior (CWC) outings, while Mlambo was knocked out in his subsequent fight but has now won five in a row, including a title in Poland.
The last of those victories took the total he had earned from Copa Combate's tournament to $100,000, an amount he will eclipse if he beats replacement opponent Rachid Haz, wins a playoff in Paris in September and triumphs in the PFL championship fight in his home city in December.
All of which would go some way to making up for his last appearance coming a frustratingly distant 18 months ago. "After December 2021, I thought, 'I'll have another fight' and kept training for about four months with nothing in the works," he explains.
"I thought 2022 was going to be awesome because I won that 100 grand, but it was the worst year of my life — just the worst. You would think once you win the 100 grand, the next while would be good. But it wasn't. I'm not at all one of those guys who enjoys training. But when I know there's a fight scheduled, everything is different. Training is much better, easier and more enjoyable."
Winning PFL Europe would give Mlambo the right to compete for the $1 million PFL title in a tournament set to be held in 2024, which he calls the "ultimate goal". "PFL is doing big things. The pandemic did properly screw everything for me. I had just been ranked with Bellator. I'm sitting here now with the PFL with a great opportunity. Hopefully, I can get on the milly tournament."
What would he do with the top prize? "I'd buy a gaff as soon as possible, and or an Audi. The million gives me an opportunity to do more things and be able to live either back in South Africa or the two places. Who knows? I left South Africa when I was 11 and I've been here for 20 years. I've only been back for a combined period of about three months. I have my family here."
He calls the creation of PFL Africa "awesome", but his pleasure at the prospect of finally fighting again has his full focus, as did his respect for Wooding before news of his luckless withdrawal emerged. "I just can't wait. It's taken so long for the fight to come around and I want to get it done. I found out about this fight four or five months ago, which was already a long wait.
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"I saw how good he was and I like his fighting style. I was rooting for him to make it to the UFC. At the time, I was trying to do the same. When he won a CWC title, I couldn't wait for him to make it big. Badda-bing, badda-bang, now we're in the same place and fighting. That's a no-brainer. I'd like to fight someone I hadn't already, but it is what it is. PFL is just giving you fireworks right out of the gate."
The 32-year-old's wish has been granted with a novel opponent in Haz, an experienced Las Vegas-based Moroccan-Spaniard who has won all but two of his 14 fights, including each of his most recent four. Before that bout, Mlambo has another mystery to chuckle at.
"If you know you're going to fight me, what are you thinking?" he asks. "I'm at a place where I feel like it's going to be very hard to beat me.
"Where are you going to beat me? You're not going to win on striking; you're not going to on the ground. What are you going to do? I just wonder. It's crazy."