Two of three Dunedin mixed martial arts fighters found success in South Africa and the other one did not get to fight, through no fault of his own.
Robert Dean, Manu Panirau and Brogan Anderson, backed by coaches Matt Toa and Wahid Wennekes, had an eventful trip to Johannesburg to fight at an inaugural Tri-Nations tournament.
Toa said there were rule changes right up until the day before the tournament. The Dunedin fighters believed the competition was for amateur fighters but found out they were facing top professional fighters.
The Australian and New Zealand teams decided to continue and both Dean and Anderson had victories. Dean won by a knockout, just under two minutes into the first round, while Anderson won by a submission, just under two minutes into the first round.
Panirau was all set to fight but the ring collapsed and, despite the best efforts of organisers, the rest of the event had to be cancelled.
