There was an awkward moment on Saturday when Extreme Fighting Championship Worldwide - South Africa's biggest mixed martial arts organisation - hosted an open workout in Cape Town.
Asked to do a "staredown", light-heavyweight challenger Norm Wessels said of his opponent Gideon Drotschie: "If he touches me, I'll kill him."
Such warnings are usually standard PR fodder, but the volatile Wessels is the most polarising figure in local MMA.
It wasn't mock-macho behaviour. Security was brought in and used to keep Wessels in check.
Drotschie, the local champion from Parow, simply looked bemused. He calmly kept his emotions in check, but wasn't sure his up-country opponent could.
At 34, Wessels is a veteran of EFC, having won the heavyweight title at EFC 5 in 2010. Tonight, at Grand West in Cape Town, he goes after Drotschie's light-heavyweight belt in a fight that has divided the MMA community.
Wessels often gets up people's noses, but there's no denying his commitment or ability.
He blends a furious training regime with an exotic diet that sees him eat just once daily. Having recently discovered he is allergic to meat protein, he now shuns all meat in favour of a strict vegetarian diet, usually anathema to athletes who rely heavily on strength.
It works for the man nicknamed "Chef", though, and seems to have sorted out his health issues.
Drotschie is more elemental. A meat and potatoes man, he gets his kicks on the golf course and seldom appears too fazed by what the hexagon might throw his way.
At 27, he is unbeaten in five EFC fights, none of which has gone the distance.
Despite being champion, his inexperience makes him the underdog in a compelling fight.
Wessels turned to MMA as a broke student in London, while Drotschie stepped onto the mat for the first time in 2010.
He's practically a novice, but his brute strength has taken him far.
Said Wessels: "I'll take from him what he calls his identity."
Drotschie, unfazed, issued his own small warning to Wessels: "Bring it on - just don't cry."
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