2015 IMMAF Worlds silver medalist Serdar Altas reaches Africa Open final

Johannesburg, September 1st – Day 2 of the 2016 IMMAF Africa Open Championships saw the completion of all semi-final bouts as we head towards the championship finals on Saturday, September 3, at the Brakpan Indoor Sports Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Amateur MMA championships takes place in association with national governing body Mixed Martial Arts South Africa (MMASA). Among the 10 semi-final bouts that took place, the pick of this morning’s drama unfolded in the 125lb Flyweight bracket as Sweden’s Serdar Altas made his way in to Gold medal contention, but faced an exhausting hurdle against South Africa’s Wayne Kerspuy. Kerspuy maintained a threatening presence on the feet, landing a number of heavy blows to the head and body of Altas, but the South African had no answer for the Swede’s grappling assault, as Altas secured takedowns at will in each round. Having fallen short of a top 3 finish at both the 2015 European Open and 2016 Worlds, Altas now finds himself back on the podium for the first time since earning Silver at the 2015 IMMAF World Championships. In the Africa Open Flyweight final he takes on fellow Swede Sebastian Gonzalez who claimed his own semi-final victory via Split-Decision following a fast paced, back-and-forth encounter with India’s Siddiq Bin Mahmood. Both athletes left the gates aggressively with striking combinations, showcasing their kickboxing arsenals. Mahmood’s determination never faded and appeared close to a stoppage when landing a big right hand in the second round, followed by a rear-naked-choke attempted in the final stanza. However, the Indian himself was forced to survive as Gonzalez landed his own share of heavy hands and remained busy with forceful strikes on the ground as they transitioned back-and forth. 2016 IMMAF Africa Open Championships semi-final (Day 2) results:

1. Flyweight – Serdar Altas (SWE) def. Wade Kerspuy (ZAF) via Unanimous Decision – Referee Doug Burch (USA)
2. Middleweight – Heytham Rabhi (SWE) def. Riyaad Pandy (ZAF) via submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:09 of Round 1 – Referee Doug Burch (USA)
3. Flyweight – Sebastian Gonzalez (SWE) def. Siddiq Bin Mahmood (IND) via Split-Decision – Referee Ferdinand Basson (South Africa)
4. Bantamweight – Shaun Taylor (ZAF) def. Mohammed Tafeez Ahmed Mohammed (IND) via TKO at 2:49 of Round 1 – Referee Doug Burch (USA)
5. Lightweight – Tobias Harila (SWE) def. Caleb Ridley (ZAF) via TKO at 1:02 of Round 2 – Referee Doug Burch (USA)
6. Featherweight – Hoger Salih (SWE) def. Reece Van Der Merwe (ZAF) via submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:53 of Round 1 – Referee Doug Burch (USA)
7. Welterweight – Stephen May (ZAF) def. Axel Karlsson (SWE) via Unanimous Decision
8. Bantamweight – Luthando Biko (ZAF) def. Katiso Matime (ZAF) via submission (Kimura) at 2:42 of Round 1 – Referee Doug Burch (USA)
9. Welterweight – Stephan de la Rey (ZAF) def. Dylan Goosen (ZAF) via submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:15 of Round 1 – Referee Wayne Viola (South Africa)
10. Welterweight – Douw Eksteen (ZAF) def. Bhoopendra Kumar (IND) via TKO (strikes) at 1:05 of Round 1 – Referee Doug Burch (USA) – – Referee Wayne Viola (South Africa)
11. Light-Heavyweight – Christoffer Hillsjo (SWE) def. Andries Boshoff (ZAF) via Unanimous Decision – Referee Doug Burch (USA)

Remaining Tournament Schedule: 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/tournament/10/details]]>