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2025 PFL Africa bantamweight champion Nkosi
Ndebele shined in his first fight since winning the tournament,
beating Italy’s Michele
Clemente by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

The hometown hero Nedbele (12-3, 4-0 PFL) headlined Friday’s

PFL Africa season opener at the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria, South
Africa, and he left his countrymen signing with joy. Ndebele was
too well-rounded for Clemente (7-2, 0-1 PFL). He outstruck the PFL
debutant throughout the first two rounds before dominating his foe
from side control throughout the third. Ndebele has emerged as the
face of PFL Africa after a string of impressive performances and
although he won’t be competing in the bantamweight tournament this
season, fans were still excited to see the young prospect take the
next step in his career.

Justin
Clarke was a dead man. As the giant Senegalese heavyweight
Abdoulaye
Kane beat him down all along the cage, a cataclysmic knockout
seemed inevitable. And it was. Clarke went for broke and landed a
Hail Mary left hook into Kane’s jaw just as he was pressing for his
own knockout. Kane dropped to the canvas in shock at how fast
things got out of hand. Kane (5-2, 2-2 PFL) was officially stopped
at the 2:12 mark of the first round, but the crowd couldn’t stop
cheering for
one of the most unforgettable comebacks in PFL
history.

Peace
Nguphane picked up a fifth straight win and a victory in his
PFL debut after outgrinding Yabna
N’Tchala en route to a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,
29-28). N’Tchala (14-3-1, 3-1  PFL) was considered to be a
favorite in the welterweight tournament and took a slim lead after
a slow first round. Nguphane (9-3, 1-0 PFL) dug deep and pinned his
game plan on the grappling skills and kept N’Tchala on his back,
wearing him down with consistent ground-and-pound.

Shido
Boris Esperanca made a statement with a first-round stoppage
(3:17) over Emilios
Dassi to advance in the welterweight tournament. Esperanca
(11-2, 4-1 PFL) put his experience to good use by dumping Dassi on
the canvas early with a sneaky trip. After settling into full
guard, Esperanca wasted little time clearing his way for full
mount. With Dassi (5-3, 1-2 PFL) at his mercy,
Esperanca dropped elbows with bad intentions until
referee Rich
Mitchell was forced to pull him off.

Rivaldo
Pereira brought the crowd to its feet with a devastating
first-round TKO (2:09) of Kunle Lawal
in welterweight action. Pereira (4-2, 1-0 PFL) steadily timed the
darting Lawal and caught him blitzing in with a right cross that
had the Nigerian stumbling. As Lawal (3-2, 1-1 PFL) tried to clear
his head,
Pereira put him down for good with a gut-wrenching
right hand to the solar plexus.

In a battle of Nigerian strawweights, Juliet Ukah
proved to be too sharp on the feet for fellow countrywoman Jane
Osigwe. Ukah outslugged Osigwe and made her look silly at
times, as she flowed and countered beautifully out of combinations.
Ukah (9-0, 3-0 PFL) kept her unbeaten record intact despite a blind
ref who unbelievably scored the bout in favor of Osigwe (5-4, 0-1
PFL), who suffered her first loss since 2023.

A world class
bantamweight clash headlines PFL Chicago: Tune in LIVE, Saturday,
April 11 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Nigerian welterweight David
Samuel put a well-rounded beatdown on Abdelrahman
Mohamed. The undefeated PFL debutant exploded in the SmartCage
and overwhelmed Mohamed from the onslaught. After dropping Mohamed
(4-1, 0-1 PFL) with a thudding right hand, Samuel allowed him to
rise to his feet before dropping him again with a stiff jab. As
Mohmaed realized he was out of his depth, Samuel (4-0, 1-0)

capped off his dominant performance with a rear-naked
choke with 57 seconds remaining in the first
round.

Aureo
Cruz’s and Abdoul
Razac Sankara’s lightweight tilt was ruled a no-contest after
Cruz was accidentally poked in his eye midway through the second
round. Neither fighter had separated themself, but Cruz (3-0) hoped
to pick up the pace. As the Angolan dipped into a punch, Sankara’s
finger accidentally scraped his eye. Cruz called for time and was
unable to continue, causing referee Ferdinand Basson to call the
bout.

Shadrick
Dju Yemba escaped with a razor-thin split decision win over
Jean-Jacques
Lubaya in featherweight action (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Yemba
(6-1, 1-1 PFL) was knocked out in the first round of the PFL Africa
tournament last season, and things weren’t looking great early
against Lubaya (9-3, 0-2 PFL). Yemba dropped the first round, but
fought his way back into the fight as Lubaya’s pace began to slow.
Yemba found a lot of success with his jab and picked away at
Lubaya’s guard in spurts, handing the Congolese slugger his
third-straight loss.

After dropping a split decision in his PFL Africa debut last
season, Asiashu
Tshitamba made life easy on the judges with a three-round
striking masterclass over Shannon
Van Tonder (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Tshitamba (7-5, 1-1 PFL) used
his range and picked Van Tonder apart like a chuck roast, catching
him with jabs, crosses, and sneaky hooks to the body. Van Tonder
had no answers for the test Tshitamba presented and was forced to
take his lesson.

Felista
Mugo pulled out a hard-fought unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27,
30-26) over Uganda’s Annet Kiiza
in a 117-pound catchweight bout. Don’t let the scorecards fool you;
this fight was competitive throughout. Mugo (5-1-1, 1-0 PFL) was
quickly pulled into a firefight as Kiiza’s striking was fast and
ferocious. But the Kenyan found her success on the ground. Despite
Kiiza’s attempt to reverse position, Mugo kept her hips heavy and
spent most of the fight in control. As the fight wore on, Kiiza’s
(3-2, 0-1 PFL) strength and speed waned as Mugo dragged her into
deep waters.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger