Terrence Born's EFC 138 Title Win Raises One Big Question

Terrence Born became the new EFC Heavyweight Champion at EFC 138 on Thursday. With a new champion now at the helm, EFC is now faced with a bigger question: where does the heavyweight division go from here?

Terrence Born Needs More Than The Title

There is no shortage of ways that EFC could approach Born's first title defence. The promotion could look to one of its established heavyweight names, as there are veterans who have been around the division for years. But that is exactly where the problem is.

EFC cannot keep recycling the same handful of names at heavyweight and expect the division to become more competitive. Experience matters, and having fighters like Matunga Djikasa, Elvis Moyo, and Vandam Mbuyi around the division is valuable. But they cannot be the future of the division.

Born has already defeated Djikasa to become the champion. Moving forward, there should be a clear hierarchy of viable challengers that can keep up with the evolving division. Born needs a division that will test him and cement his place at the top of the division.

The Heavyweight Division Needs New Blood

The obvious solution is simple in theory: find more heavyweights. The difficult part is actually doing it. EFC needs to look beyond the fighters who are already established in the promotion and start identifying the best heavyweight talent across the African MMA landscape.

That means looking at professional fighters in other African promotions, keeping tabs on fighters who have competed internationally, and identifying African diaspora fighters who could realistically make a run in the promotion. It also means paying attention to the amateur scene.

The amateur circuit should not simply be viewed as a developmental pathway for the lighter weight classes. There are heavyweight and light heavyweight athletes competing at continental level who could eventually become valuable additions to EFC's roster.

But the shortage of contenders is not a problem unique to the heavyweight division.

Light Heavyweight has the Same Problem

The EFC's light heavyweight division is arguably even more glaring with its lack of contenders.

JC Lamprecht won the light heavyweight title at EFC 106 in August 2023. More than three years later, he remains the champion, and he has only had one title defense. That is a remarkable amount of time for a championship division to remain effectively stagnant.

Light heavyweight has increasingly felt like a division that fighters enter when an opportunity presents itself, rather than one with a deep, established group of fighters trying to become the best 205-pound fighter in the promotion. Middleweights move up, heavyweights come down, and fighters accept short-notice opportunities that happen to be around that 205-pound mark.

While that can produce interesting fights - and it already has - it does not create a healthy division. The light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions need to be built, not simply populated when fights need to be made.

Give Born A Challenge - And Build The Next One Behind It

In the short term, there is absolutely nothing wrong with EFC looking internationally for Born's first challenger. In fact, it could be the perfect solution.

Find a legitimate heavyweight from outside Africa, bring him into the EFC, and give Born an intriguing stylistic matchup. Give the champion a meaningful first title defence while the promotion continues working on the bigger problem. But that cannot become the model.

EFC should not have to rely on international fighters flying in for one-off appearances every time its heavyweight champion needs an opponent. That is not a division, but a special attraction.

A healthy division needs movement throughout the year. It needs fighters climbing the rankings, prospects being tested, contenders emerging, and established names being pushed out of the way by the next generation. Born needs challengers - but more importantly, EFC needs to create challengers.

Born's Reign Could be the Reset EFC Needs

Born's victory at EFC 138 could ultimately mean more for EFC than simply crowning a new heavyweight champion. It gives the promotion a clean slate.

Born's rapid rise - five professional wins, five finishes, and a championship - should be a signal of the kind of talent that EFC needs to be searching for in its heavier divisions. The promotion now has an opportunity to build around that.

The goal should not simply be to find out who Terrence Born fights next. The goal should be to make sure that, by the time other title challenges and defences take place, there is a completely different generation of fighters and a clear division.

Born has his heavyweight title. Now, EFC needs to build the division that makes that title matter.