First Sunday Dare National MMA Championship ends in Abuja

.AFC tips FCT to become Africa’s Mixed Martial Arts hub

The First Sunday Dare National Mixed  Martial Arts (MMA) Championship ended in Abuja, at the weekend, with a total of six fights in different weight categories.
The event, which held at the MKO Abiola National Stadium’s velodrome, featured the nation’s top MMA talents who competed for glory from October 26 to 28.

Dedicated to the former Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, the championship celebrated his role in the approval of Nigerian Mixed Martial Arts Federation (NMMAF) as a national federation, which has led to a rapid rise in the popularity of the sport.
The championship also served as a platform to grade and recognise the country’s rising MMA stars and their officials, as well as, set a new benchmark for the sport in the region.

Speaking at the pre-fight press briefing in Abuja, NMMAF President, Henry George, described the African Fighting Championship’s (AFC) decision to hold the championship in Nigeria as a positive step.

He said: “Mixed Martial Arts is a new sport. But it has gone mainstream because of the acceptance. And Nigerians are in the forefront promoting the sport. We know about our superstars who are artists, we know about people like this one, and many other fighters”.

“We have inspired a lot of youth. And our youth are naturally strong. And this is a sport that has welcomed a lot of fighters from across the world. We talked about judo, karate, taekwondo, and all that. So, we have a lot of fighters who are motivated and ready to fight.”

The 10 fighters at the championship were Bitrus Jeb Philemon (A.K.A the African Spartan), who faced Dany The Great in a lightweight co-main event, and Osoba Pelejah, fondly called the bridge, who battled with Abdul Razac (Sankara Burkino Faso) in another lightweight co-main event.

Octave Tiphaine Ayinda “the Bantu Warrior” slugged it out with Ozooma Orji in the featherweight category, Victor Felix met Jeremiah Akpan in a welterweight bout, while Nani Chima (Young Nightmare) took on Emmanuel Christian in the light heavyweight category.

Meanwhile, the co-founder of the African Fighting Championship (AFC), George Oladipupo Younes, has expressed his organisation’s desire to position Abuja as the premier hub for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in Africa.

Speaking during the final bouts of the championship, yesterday, Younes emphasised the sport’s potential for growth in Nigeria, describing AFC 001 as the beginning of exciting developments for Abuja, the fighters, and mixed martial arts in Nigeria.

He said: “It’s a dream come true being able to not just host this event in my city, in the capital city, but also to be able to stand in the centre of the octagon and talk about these fighters who have become my friends.
“This main AFC 001 is just the beginning of a lot more things to come, not just for the city, but for the fighters themselves and mixed martial arts in Nigeria as a whole.”