The major event of the weekend was a dramatic fight night in Abuja, with Cameroon’s Octave Ayinde defeating Nigeria’s Vincent Ebenezer.
This came after Yahaya Yahuza, another Nigerian, won the -84 kg weight class against Christopher Moly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Eight thrilling fights took place at the Mo Arena in Abuja, where sixteen competitors competed for honor and glory, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Akala Spirit of the Warrior collaborated with the Nigerian Mixed Martial Arts Federation (NMMAF) to organize the Abuja Mixed Martial Arts Fight Night.
Ayinde of Cameroon didn’t take long to establish his superiority; he swiftly dragged Ebenezer of Nigeria to the canvas and delivered a barrage of elbows to the head to seal the victory.
Ebenezer’s head began to gushe blood due to the impact of the strikes, forcing the referee to step in and alert the medical staff.
Barely three minutes into the opening round of the -77kg weight class bout, he then gave the Cameroonian the victory via Technical Knockout (TKO).
But in the 84 kg weight class, Nigerians were jubilant as Yahuza continued his perfect MMA record, compelling Moly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to stop fighting early in the intense first half of their match.
At the beginning, Moly was very vivacious and focused on getting Yahuza early on by using his strength and wrestling prowess to overcome him.
But in a swift turn of events, Yahuza wriggled free and attempted to use the Brazilian jujitsu method as he went in search of the winner, beating the Congolese man to his own game.
With less than a minute remaining in the first round, he caused the Congolese to tap out after flipping him backwards to the canvas and timing a perfectly timed unusual naked choke.
The evening’s co-main event featured Nigeria’s unbeaten female sensation as well. “The woman king,” Terlumun Gertrude, successfully defended her Bantam weight championship.
At the beginning, Moly was very vivacious and focused on getting Yahuza early on by using his strength and wrestling prowess to overcome him.
But in a swift turn of events, Yahuza wriggled free and attempted to use the Brazilian jujitsu method as he went in search of the winner, beating the Congolese man to his own game.
With less than a minute remaining in the first round, he caused the Congolese to tap out after flipping him backwards to the canvas and timing a perfectly timed unusual naked choke.
The evening’s co-main event featured Nigeria’s unbeaten female sensation as well. “The woman king,” Terlumun Gertrude, successfully defended her Bantam weight championship.
This came after she successfully took down and rapidly eliminated her countrywoman Immaculata Nelson, then dealt some severe blows to her skull.
Nelson was defending and taking a lot of punishment without answering, so the referee had to step in and give Gertrude a TKO early in the first round.
According to the results of earlier fights, middle weight contender Ephraim Onwuania defeated Ernest Ugwuanyi by TKO in a dull, one-sided match.
In the -71 kg weight class, Peter Onuh prevailed via TKO over Dilli Ohabuire, and in the -75 kg weight class, Jeb Philemon prevailed via split decision over Osoba Peleja.
In the Bantam weight class, Stanford Ebere prevailed over Felix Ncheta via split decision, and Swande Christopher similarly prevailed over David Ezekiel via split decision in the -65kg weight class.
James Christoff, the Canadian ambassador to Nigeria, Ogundele Ayodeji, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) for Zone 7, and other dignitaries are reportedly present at the ceremony, according to NAN.
Ayodeji was represented by CSP Kalu Chijioke, the Chairman, Police Mixed Martial Arts Association.
The others were Chris Nwokolo, vice president of Akala Spirit of the Warrior, and Ebere Benard, youth director of NMMAF and CEO of Akala Spirit of the Warrior.
Israel Inwang, the secretary general of NMMAF, Faridah Wada, the wife of the former Kogi State governor, and a few members of the diplomatic corps were also present.