Johannesburg, August 31 – The 2016 IMMAF Africa Open Championships kicked off today in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the Brakpan Indoor Sports Centre. The Amateur MMA championships takes place in association with national governing body Mixed Martial Arts South Africa (MMASA). Day 1 of the #2016IMMAFAfricaOpen saw a clean sweep of victories for South Africa. The opening bout of the 155lb lightweight bracket saw a face off between countrymen as South Africa’s Stephan del la Rey and J.C Roets battled it out for a place in the semi-finals. Del la Rey advanced via a first round TKO at the 1:22 mark and in the semis he will face another national team mate, Dylan Goosen, who received an opening round bye. In the 135lb bantamweight bracket, South African Katiso Matime advanced after going the distance with India’s Raymond Johny Kurbah. The opening round was a predominantly ground based encounter between the two competitors, controlled by Matime who made a number of attempts to finish the fight with a Guillotine Choke. Following the completion of each 3×3 round, the judges awarded a Unanimous Decisioc victory to Matime. In the semi-finals Matime comes against national team mate Luthando Biko who received an opening round bye. South African Featherweight Ryan Roets advanced automatically as his opponent, Nkosi Ndebele, failed to make weight. Roets will face Daniel Duda in the next round of the 145lb bracket. All remaining preliminary bouts are scheduled for Thursday, September 1, with the finals taking place on Saturday, September 3. 2016 IMMAF Africa Open Championships Day 1 results: Bout 1. Lightweight – Stephan De La Rey (South Africa) defeated JC Roets (South Africa) via TKO (strikes) at 1:22 of Round 1 – Referee Doug Burch (USA) Bout 2. Bantamweight – Katiso Matime (South Africa) defeated Raymond Johny Kurbah (India) via Unanimous Decision– Referee Doug Burch (USA) Remaining Tournament Schedule: Thursday 1st September – Day 2 of competition Start time: 10am SAST (UTC +2) Friday 2nd September – REST DAY Saturday 3rd September – Day 3 of competition Start time: 5pm SAST (UTC +2 For all tournament information, including draw, brackets, live results and updates, sign up to MyNextMatch.com for FREE and go to: https://www.mynextmatch.com/
2016 IMMAF Africa Open Championships: Day 1 Recap
