https:\/\/PFLmma.com<\/a>) made its Pretoria debut at SunBet Arena, where a packed South African crowd was treated to a full night of MMA action and statement performances across the card.<\/p>\nIn the bantamweight main event, Pretoria was treated to Nkosi Ndebele<\/strong> vs. Michele Clemente<\/strong>, who traded sharp punches and elbows early. The Italian \u201cArrow\u201d pushed with relentless pressure but frequently ran into sharp counters from the \u201cKing of Many Nations.\u201d The two threw down in an all-time classic with the South African walking away with the unanimous decision win.<\/p>\nThe heavyweight division delivered a wild one as Senegal\u2019s Abdoulaye Kane<\/strong> and South Africa\u2019s Justin Clarke<\/strong> went toe-to-toe in a firefight. Kane struck first with a huge early combination that left Clarke bloodied and on shaky legs, but the hometown hero refused to back down. Clarke bit down, swung back in the pocket, and turned the tide with a furious counter right hand that sent Kane crashing to the canvas.<\/p>\nNigeria\u2019s David Samuel<\/strong> opened his welterweight tournament campaign in style, submitting Abdelrahman Mohammad<\/strong> in the first round after dropping him several times with sharp boxing. Once the fight hit the mat, Samuel locked in the finish and moved on with minimal damage.<\/p>\nIn another welterweight tournament clash, Guinea-Bissau\u2019s late replacement Rivaldo Pereira<\/strong> made the most of his opportunity, stepping in on just a day\u2019s notice and stopping Kunle Lawal <\/strong>in the opening frame. Pereira folded Lawal with a body shot, then closed the show with elbows on the canvas to punch his ticket to the next stage. With those performances, Samuel and Pereira are now set to meet in the semi-finals, matching two of the tournament\u2019s most dangerous finishers against each other.<\/p>\nAngola\u2019s Shido Boris Esperan\u00e7a<\/strong> made short work of Emilios Dassi<\/strong>, turning in a near-flawless showing to punch his ticket to the next round of the welterweight tournament. After tripping Dassi to the canvas, Esperan\u00e7a quickly settled into top position and unloaded with elbows and punches until the referee stepped in for a first-round stoppage.<\/p>\nIn another welterweight tournament bout, Yabna \u201cThe Panther\u201d N\u2019Tchala <\/strong>started strong against Peace Nguphane<\/strong>, cracking him with heavy shots early. Nguphane steadied himself, dragged the fight into his realm with takedowns and firm top control, and hammered away with ground-and-pound that swung momentum his way and earned a unanimous decision to the delight of the South African crowd. With those results, Esperan\u00e7a and Nguphane are now set to meet later this year in the semi-finals, where they will battle for a place in the tournament final.<\/p>\nIn an all-Nigerian showdown, Juliet Ukah<\/strong> and Jane Osigwe<\/strong> went toe-to-toe in a feature catchweight bout, trading kicks and punches from the opening bell. Ukah, a Police Corporal known as \u201cGolden Bones,\u201d held the center of the cage and dictated the engagements, clipping Osigwe with steady counters as the rounds wore on. Her measured pressure and cleaner shots convinced two of the three judges, earning Ukah a split decision win.<\/p>\nAnnounced just today, PFL Africa is officially landing in West Africa, with the league set to stage its second PFL Africa event on June 13 for the first time in Nigeria at the Eko Arena in Lagos. Headlining the card will be Nigerian rising star and reigning 2025 PFL Africa Featherweight Champion, Wasi Adeshina<\/strong>, who returns home to compete in front of a Lagos crowd for the first time under the PFL banner, as he takes on Spanish standout, Ignacio Campos<\/strong>. The night will also feature a lightweight co-main event showcasing another Nigerian standout, Patrick Ocheme<\/strong>, as he faces Cameroonian contender Octave Ayinda<\/strong> in a lightweight bout.<\/p>\nPFL AFRICA: PRETORIA Results:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nNkosi Ndebele<\/strong> (12-3) defeated Michele Clemente<\/strong> (7-2) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
\nJustin Clarke<\/strong> (5-1) defeated Abdoulaye Kane<\/strong> (5-2) via TKO (punches) in round 1 at 2:12
\nPeace Nguphane<\/strong> (9-3) defeated Yabna N\u2019Tchala<\/strong> (14-3-1) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
\nShido Boris Esperan\u00e7a<\/strong> (12-2) defeated Emilios Dassi<\/strong> (5-3) via TKO (elbows and punches) in round one at 3:17
\nRivaldo Pereira<\/strong> (4-2) defeated Kunle Lawal <\/strong>(3-2) via TKO (punch to body and elbows) in round one at 2:09
\nJuliet Ukah<\/strong> (9-0) defeated Jane Osigwe<\/strong> (5-4) via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
\nDavid Samuel <\/strong>(6-0) defeated Abdelrahman Mohammad<\/strong> (5-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:03 of round one
\nAbdoul Razac Sankara<\/strong> (7-5) vs. \u00c1ureo Cruz<\/strong> (3-0) ends in a No Contest (accidental eye poke) at 0:18 into round 2
\nShadrack Dju Yemba<\/strong> (6-1) defeated Jean-Jacques Lubaya<\/strong> (9-3) via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
\nAsiashu Tshitamba<\/strong> (7-5) defeated Shannon van Tonder<\/strong> (7-4) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
\nFelista-Mutheu Mugo <\/strong>(6-2-1) defeated Annet Kiiza<\/strong> (3-2) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nSource link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PRETORIA, South Africa, April 12, 2026\/APO Group\/ — The Professional Fighters League (PFL) (https:\/\/PFLmma.com) made its Pretoria debut at SunBet Arena, where a packed South African crowd was treated to a full night of MMA action and statement performances across the card. In the bantamweight main event, Pretoria was treated to Nkosi Ndebele vs. Michele […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/8241959f4e51778","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-more-sport"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/8241959f4e51778","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}