PFL Africa moves debut event to July 19; tickets on sale this Thursday

IOL News

20-05-2025

Former UFC Heavyweight and current global combat superstar, Cameroon's Francis Ngannou, is the acting chairman of PFL Africa and will also play a pivotal ambassadorial role in further growing the Professional Fighters League on the Motherland and finding and developing the next generation of African champions. | Professional Fighters League
PFL Africa's first event has officially been brought forward by one week, with tickets set to go on sale this Thursday, 22 May.
Originally scheduled for 26 July, the event will now take place on 19 July at the Grand Arena in GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World, located in Goodwood, Cape Town.
In an exclusive interview with Independent Media and MzansiMMA, PFL Africa's General Manager, Elias Schulze, confirmed that South African ticketing platform TicketPro will be the official distributor for the event.
'We like TicketPro's approach, we like their reach, and we believe that they will offer us a viable way to access the right market. We want people to have this access across whatever mechanisms—if it's purely mobile, that's fine. If they need to purchase tickets at selected stores offering the service, such as PostNet or Spar, that's also fine. Let's go where the people are,' said Schulze. Tickets will go on sale at 10:00 am SAST.
The arrival of PFL is set to be a major boost for African MMA, as the global mixed martial arts promotion continues to grow in popularity, rivalling even the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The Grand Arena will make history as the first venue in Africa to host a major international MMA event. The night will feature 18 top African athletes entering the SmartCage as they begin their journey to claim the PFL Africa title in a knockout tournament.
Headlining PFL Africa's inaugural event will be South Africa's Nkosi Ndebele (8-3), who faces Egypt's rising contender Mahmoud Atef (5-2) in a thrilling Bantamweight semi-final. In the co-main event, Cameroon's Maxwell Djantou Nana (6-1) squares off against Ivory Coast's Mikael Groguhe (6-2) in a battle of heavy-handed finishers.
The card will also showcase a special Women's Strawweight bout featuring undefeated Nigerian prospect Juliet Ukah (6-0). Her opponent is to be announced shortly.
The PFL Africa Tournament will kick off with eight-man brackets in the Heavyweight and Bantamweight divisions. The full tournament schedule and remaining host cities for the semi-finals and finals will be announced soon.
In total, 32 fighters representing 15 African nations will compete across four weight classes in 2025, as the league begins a continent-wide journey to crown the first-ever PFL Africa Champions.
The launch event will also set the stage for the PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai card, bringing the world's best MMA talent to Africa. Headlining that card will be undefeated Middleweight World Champion Johnny Eblen, who defends his title against Spain's Costello Van Steenis. In the co-main event, Dakota Ditcheva will face Sumiko Inaba in a Women's Flyweight clash. Additional bouts in the Champions Series will be announced in due course.
In July 2024, PFL announced the creation of its third international league, PFL Africa, following the success of PFL Europe and PFL MENA. The league aims to showcase African talent on a global platform.
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion and current global combat sports icon, Cameroon's Francis Ngannou, serves as the acting chairman of the league and plays a pivotal ambassadorial role, aiming to develop the next generation of African champions.
The PFL Africa launch is further supported by strategic broadcast partnerships to ensure wide-reaching distribution across sub-Saharan Africa.
For those unable to attend the event in person, all fights will be broadcast live on SuperSport. Coverage will also be available on Canal+, the official broadcaster for French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
To further expand access, PFL has launched a mobile-first platform, distributed in partnership with Content For Mobile (CFM) through leading telecommunications providers. This initiative aims to deliver affordable MMA content directly to fans and reach over 90% of African households.
More details on streaming and broadcasting will be shared in the coming weeks.