The undisputed featherweight title is up for grabs this Saturday at Eternal MMA 111. Interim champion Kevin Kophamel takes on Tasar Malone. Both men failed to win an Eternal MMA belt on their first attempt. However, they have gotten back on track and done enough to warrant a second shot. At 26, Kophamel’s name is starting to pick up steam. He headlines his second event in a row for the biggest regional promotion in Australia.
Kophamel began his amateur MMA career in 2019, at 19. He compiled a 4-1 amateur record on the regional scene. Before turning pro, he took part in multiple GAMMA: World Championship tournaments. He first competed in a GAMMA tournament in 2022. Impressively, he made it all the way to the championship bout but suffered defeat to the now-UFC fighter Murtazali Magomedov. A few months later, in October of 2022, Kophamel made his professional debut. As all his professional fights have been, this one was under the Eternal MMA banner. He took home the unanimous decision victory.
He fought again as a pro less than two years later, but he won two more amateur GAMMA bouts before then. Kophamel won his first pro fight of 2024 with a submission. Then he got the opportunity to fight for the Eternal lightweight belt. He was already scheduled to fight a featherweight bout on the card, but his opponent ended up pulling out. The day of the fight, Harry Webb’s opponent pulled out as well. Consequently, a 2-0 Kophamel took the chance to fight up a weight class for the belt, on just six hours’ notice.
It didn’t go his way, as one of the best Australian prospects, Harry Webb, won via split decision. This fight remains one of the best Eternal fights ever. Kophamel then closed out the year by competing in his final amateur GAMMA tournament, which he won. He got back in the win column as a professional last year. Additionally, he began a new win streak and took home the interim featherweight title earlier this year.
Inside the cage, Kevin “The Devoted” Kophamel is an all-action type of fighter. He knows his strengths and uses them well. He isn’t the tallest featherweight, standing at 5’7”, but he is built like a tank. Kophamel blends a well-rounded skillset together, but his game is based on his strength, pressure, and cardio.
From the second the bell rings to start the fight, Kophamel looks to get on the front foot. You’ll rarely see him take a step back. To pair with the pressure he likes to put on, Kophamel fights behind a lot of kicks. He has all sorts of kicks in his bag, but a few are favorites. From his usual orthodox stance, he throws leg kicks with either leg and a lead-leg teep to the body. If he switches to southpaw, he likes to rip a left body kick. His boxing is where you can find Kophamel’s most noticeable improvement from his debut to now. He has always been and likely always will be a bit wild with his hands, but his combinations have definitely flowed better in his more recent bouts.
Early on, he would back guys up with kicks and then close the distance with a wild combination of hooks. It felt like he was swinging and praying something would connect or using the flurry of punches as a means to get into the clinch. As of late, he seems to have built more confidence in his jab, and he puts together more purposeful combinations. Instead of only using the chaos of a combination to close the distance, he will go to the body first to open up shots to the head. You can see the work he’s put in to improve his boxing. As a result, it all looks more thoughtful and put together.
As for his grappling and clinch offense, this is where he does his best work. The high pressure and good cardio really lend themselves to this part of his game. When he does decide it’s time to close the distance, he’ll punch his way into range and get to work against the fence. Kophamel does a great job finding openings for knees and elbows in the clinch as he wears down his opponent. He’s also best at taking fights to the ground against the cage. He has some sneaky trips and isn’t afraid to grind his opponent down before taking the fight to the ground.
Unfortunately for his opponents, once the fight hits the mat, they won’t get a moment to breathe. Just like he grinds down opponents with pressure on the feet, he does the same on the mat. Whether he is looking for ground and pound, improving his position, or hunting for a submission, Kophamel doesn’t let them rest. Kophamel has shown some slick back takes and also has two pretty cool submissions on his record. His first submission win was just a guillotine, but the sequence to snatch it up was slick. In his most recent fight, he finished former Eternal champion Justin Van Heerden with a reverse arm triangle.
Defensively, Kophamel is very open, but this seems to play into his game. He knows his chin is good and that he can take shots, so he isn’t afraid to take one to give one. Obviously, this leaves him vulnerable to taking some big shots, but that comes with the style he fights. Kophamel can be taken down, but overall, I would say he’s proven to be a good defensive grappler so far. Most of the time, he fends off takedown attempts, but if he gets grounded, he is not easy to hold down. His strength, paired with his scrambling ability, has caused trouble for those trying to grapple him. Justin Van Heerden is the only fighter who has taken Kophamel down and held back control for almost all of the second round.
Earlier this year, when Tasar Malone was supposed to fight Justin Van Heerden, I got to do a deep dive on him. I don’t think Malone is a walk in the park, but if Kophamel is going to fight for a big promotion one day, he should win this fight. Malone leaves all sorts of holes for Kophamel to exploit, and I don’t think Malone is dangerous enough to cause Kophamel many problems. This is a great matchup for Kophamel to win the belt, look good doing it, and get on the radar for next year’s Road to UFC.
