van Heerden has waited with bated breath to compete in Power Slap since October 2025, when he beat Lorenzo Florean at Power Slap 15.

His record currently stands at 6 wins and 3 defeats in Powerslap. He was expected to compete in Powerslap 20 in Las Vegas in April but unfortunately due to the conflict in the Middle East it had been cancelled.

Speaking exclusively to SABC Sport, van Heerden added that if there are no further tensions in the Middle East, he will be flying to Serbia; however, he could not reveal who he is fighting.

“The latest, well I am going to give you a sneak peek here. It might be Serbia on July 30. Again, it all depends on the war, so fingers crossed for July 30 in Serbia. I am not allowed to reveal the opponent as they need to release it first, but hopefully that is the move,” said van Heerden

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The former Hoërskool Dr Malan scholar says it has been a waiting game for him as he was supposed to fight in Jereh in February, but was told the flight was cancelled a week before due to safety concerns. He was then expected to turnout in Las Vegas in April, but the war had still been active.

He says although the sport has not yet been legally sanctioned in South Africa as a combat sport he has received remarkable support from the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton Mckenzie, even revealing that the minister flew to see his fight in Abu Dhabi and met him in person and sat down next to the stage while he was competing.

“I mean Gayton flew down to my fight in Abu Dhabi. He met me in person and talked to me, he shook my hand. He actually met with Dana [White] as well regarding UFC and Powerslap, so the minister flew down and sat next to the stage while I was competing.

That's a different feeling. The minister of sports flew around the world to come see you perform, that was insane so again shoutout to Gayton. He is one of the only guys who gets out there and makes stuff happen.”

The former EFC Heavyweight champion in 2016 says South Africans have not caught onto the sport quickly enough because the rules system and techniques are not understood.

Teams	M	W	L	PTS	NET RR
Jersey	4	4	0	8	4.352
France	4	3	1	6	1.537
Croatia	4	2	2	4	-2.100
Switzerland	4	1	3	2	-1.333
Cyprus	4	0	4	2	-1.829

Teams	M	W	L	PTS	NET RR
Guernsey	4	4	0	8	2.286
Sweden	4	2	2	4	0.422
Austria	4	2	2	4	0.284
Malta	4	2	2	4	-0.084
Slovenia	4	0	4	0	-3.181

Finished ICC Mens T20 World Cup Europe Sub Regional Qualifier A

Group A

Group B