The Professional Fighters League announced the launch of the PFL Africa league scheduled for July 26 at GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa. The inaugural event is set to feature the first round of an eight-man tournament in the heavyweight and bantamweight classes.
The PFL Africa format remains the same. The eventual tournament winner has to go through the first round, semifinal, and final.
The first round of the heavyweight tournament features Jashell Ticha Awa (3-1) of Cameroon up against Justin Clarke (2-0) of South Africa, and Abdoullah Kane (3-0) of Senegal versus Mohammad Ben Yahia (9-4) of Morocco. In the bantamweight contest, Nkosi Ndebele (8-3) of South Africa faces Mahmoud Atef (5-2) of Egypt, and Simbarashe Hokonya (5-0) of Zimbabwe takes on Abderrahman Errachidy (4-1) of Morocco.
PFL Africa is led by former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou as the league chairman.
Additionally, the event in July features the next edition of the Champions Series: Road to Dubai.
The PFL Champions Series card is headlined by Johnny Eblen (16-0) of Des Moines, IA, defending his middleweight title against Costello van Steenis (16-3) of the Netherlands. The co-main event is a flyweight clash between 2024 PFL champion Dakota Ditcheva (14-0) of the UK and Sumiko Inaba (8-1) of Hawaii.
“Kicking off the PFL Champions Series in Cape Town alongside the launch of PFL Africa reflects our commitment to grow the sport of MMA throughout the continent as well as provide pathways for African fighters to compete on a global stage and become champions,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray.
“With PFL Europe, PFL MENA and now PFL Africa launching, PFL’s international growth strategy and footprint is unmatched in the sport. This is all made possible by building a great team.”
“I’m proud to partner with Francis Ngannou and Helios Sports & Entertainment Group and excited to welcome Elias Schulze as GM of PFL Africa.”
The full lineup, including three additional championship bouts, is expected to be confirmed shortly.