By Murdo Todd
Former IMMAF Africa Champion Luthando Biko (South Africa) continued his impressive run this past weekend with a second-round TKO victory at Brave CF 93 in Zhengzhou, China.
Biko defeated 30-fight veteran Zinbo Zou via elbows in the final seconds of round two in a catchweight bout, improving his professional record to 13–3. This marked Biko’s debut under the Brave Combat Federation banner, following wins in his previous three outings with Ares FC, UAE Warriors, and Eagle FC.
A standout on the African amateur scene, Biko first made waves in 2016 when he won IMMAF’s Africa championship in the bantamweight division. He claimed gold by defeating Katiso Matime (South Africa) via kimura and earning a split decision win over Shaun Taylor (South Africa).
Biko would take one more amateur fight in 2016 before turning professional in 2017, signing with the South African-based promotion EFC. After dropping his debut, he bounced back with a five-fight win streak, capturing the promotion’s interim bantamweight title. Though he would later fall short in a unification bout against then-champion, and future UFC fighter, JP Buys, Biko eventually claimed EFC gold in the flyweight division, finishing Nkazimulo Zulu in just 26 seconds.
Now riding a five-fight win streak, the 35-year-old enters Brave CF at an opportune moment. With the flyweight title currently vacant and a stacked division featuring fellow IMMAF alum Mohammad Mokaev (England) and Jose Torres (USA), Biko could be just a fight or two away from title contention.
Biko is just one of many former IMMAF competitors who are mixing it at top of high-level promotions all around the world.
