The Professional Fighters League (PFL) today announced the full 11-fight card for the inaugural PFL Africa Tournament Semifinals next month in Rwanda, with two other Cameroonian mixed martial arts sensations joining Maxwell Nana and Octave Ayinda on the lineup.
Africa’s elite fighters in the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, and Bantamweight divisions will battle for a spot at the final during the semis scheduled for Saturday, October 18, at the BK Arena in Kigali.
After announcing the first four marquee fights, including the main and co-main events last month, the MMA organization confirmed on Wednesday that seven additional action-packed bouts – including two alternate bouts and one showcase fight – have been added to the PFL Rwanda card.
Among the additional title fights is a Welterweight Semifinals bout between Cameroon’s rising star Emilios Dassi and Guinea-Bissau’s Yabna N’tchala. A product of the Francis Ngannou Foundation, Dassi, who holds a 5-1 fight record, “carries frightening knockout power” reminiscent of his mentor and global Heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Another addition is a Featherweight Alternate Bout pitting undefeated Cameroonian Alain Majorique known as “African Assassin” against Guinea’s Mohamed Camara.
NewsWatch had reported that two of Cameroon’s finest mixed martial artist talents, Maxwell Djantou Nana and Octave Ayinda, were closing in on becoming pioneer PFL Africa Champions following the earlier announcement of four bouts of the Kigali showdown.
Nana will square off with South Africa’s Justin Clarke as both men are eager to establish themselves as the face of PFL Africa’s Heavyweight division. Meanwhile Ayinda, who blasted through his previous opponent with a first-round TKO in Johannesburg to cruise to the semis, will clash with Angola’s Shido Boris Esperança in a highly anticipated Welterweight semifinals bout.
Winners of the semifinal bouts will advance to the league finals in Benin where the first-ever PFL Africa Champions across the four divisions will be crowned in December – opening even bigger doors for them to compete on the global stage with PFL’s goal to create the “Champions League of MMA”.
Here’s the full card for the PFL Rwanda playoffs
Featherweight Semifinals
Main Event: Patrick Ocheme (7-1) vs. Abdoul Razac Sankara (7-4)
Wasi Adeshina (8-3) vs. Dwight Joseph (15-2)
Bantamweight Semifinals
Co-Main Event: Nkosi Ndebele (9-3) vs. Simbarashe Hokonya (6-0)
Boule Godogo (4-0) vs. Karim Henniene (5-0)
Welterweight Semifinals
Shido Boris Esperança (10-1) vs. Octave Ayinda (7-0)
Yabna N’tchala (12-2-1) vs. Emilios Dassi (5-1)
Heavyweight Semifinals
Abraham Bably (6-2) vs. Joffie Houlton (8-4)
Maxwell Djantou Nana (7-1) vs. Justin Clarke (3-0)
Alternate Bouts
Heavyweight: Abdoulaye Kane (3-1) vs. TBD
Featherweight: Mohamed Carama (5-3-1) vs. Alain Majorique (5-0)
Showcase Bout
Featherweight: James Opio (2-1) vs. Isaac Omeda (2-0)
