PFL Africa: Stage set for historic MMA showcase
A confident-looking Nkosi Ndebele at the official weigh-in ahead of his PFL Africa bantamweight bout against Egypt's Mahmoud Atef.
Image: PFL
A monumental moment for South African and African MMA is set for today, Saturday, July 19th at GrandWest Arena, in Goodwood, with the inaugural Professional Fighters League (PFL) Africa. With the official weigh-ins done and dusted, the stage is set for electrifying cage action.
The event will be headlined by South Africa's own Nkosi Ndebele (8-3), who faces Egypt's Mahmoud Atef (5-2) in a bantamweight clash. Five other South Africans are featured on the card with Shannon Van Tonder (7-2) taking on Angola's Boule Godogo (3-0) in the bantamweight division. In the heavyweight division, Justin Clarke (2-0) will face Nigeria's Jashell Ticha Awa. Frans Mlambo (15-6) is set to fight Zimbabwe's Simbarashe "The Hawk" Hokonya (5-0) in another bantamweight bout. In other action, Asiashu Tshitambe (6-4-0) will be up against Canada's Karim Henniene (4-0-0) and, in a women's strawweight bout, Ceileigh Niedermayr (3-2) goes up against Nigeria's Juliet Ukah (6-0).
Justin Clarke, one of five South Africans on the PFL Africa card, will take on Jashell Ticha Awa in a heavyweight clash.
Image: PFL
The PFL Africa card precedes the PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai, which features a stacked lineup. The main event will see Johnny Eblen (16-0) defend his PFL Middleweight World Championship against Costello van Steenis (16-3). In the co-main event, Dakota Ditcheva (14-0) defends her Women's Flyweight title against Sumiko Inaba (8-1).
Ceileigh Niedermayr will open the card against Nigeria's Juliet Ukah at the inaugural PFL Africa mixed martial arts (MMA) showcase at GrandWest.
Image: PFL
The full PFL Champions Series card:
PFL Middleweight World Championship: Johnny Eblen vs. Costello van Steenis
Women’s Flyweight: Dakota Ditcheva vs. Sumiko Inaba
Featherweight bout: AJ McKee vs. Akhmed Magomedov
Lightweight bout: Artur Zaynukov vs. Takeshi Izumi
Heavyweight Bout: Corey Anderson vs. Denis Goltsov
The full PFL Africa card features:
Bantamweight: Nkosi Ndebele vs. Mahmoud Atef
Heavyweight: Maxwell Djantou Nana vs. Mickael Groguhe
Bantamweight: Shannon van Tonder vs. Boule Godogo
Heavyweight: Jashell Ticha Awa vs. Justin Clarke
Bantamweight: Asiashu Tshitamba vs. Karim Henniene
Heavyweight: Abdoulaye Kane vs. Joffie Houlton
Bantamweight: Simbarashe Hokonya vs. Frans Mlambo
Heavyweight: Abraham Bably vs. Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze
Women’s Strawweight Bout: Juliet Ukah vs. Ceileigh Niedermayr