By Caoilte de Barra
The opening day of the 2022 IMMAF Africa Championships is in the books. The action began at 11 am (UTC+2) local time. Ten fights took place in Cage 1 to get the competition kicked off.
A bout in the Bantamweight division got the day started with Angola’s Maurio Silva opening their day for the competition. Silva put on a grappling clinic, dictating the fight with his takedowns. Midway through the second round, Mauritius athlete Djadoo Lionel Ashley Cedric overcommitted with a strike, which missed, exposing his back. Silva took advantage instantly, finishing the bout via Rear-Naked Choke.
Angola’s Ivandro Francisco added to their success later in the day, finishing Kelvin Chishimba with less than twenty seconds left in the second round.
In the third bout of the day, South Africa’s Nathanial Komana secured his win on the IMMAF circuit, defeating Zambia’s Mwelwa Nkhata via Unanimous Decision. The South African fighter put on a striking clinic throughout the three rounds, comfortably outpointing his opponent to advance to the semi-finals.
Wins from Veja Hinda and Geraldo Bok saw Namibia go undefeated in the nation’s debut appearance in IMMAF. Hinda had the superior grappling in his bout that saw him secure a triangle choke finish in the first round.
Bok added to their success three bouts later when he defeated Vedaman Canee of Mauritius via TKO. A slow first round was quickly made up for as Bok got into the mount position and rained down ground and pound, forcing the referee to step in.
At Lightweight, Ken Nyaondo picked up Zambia’s first-ever bout win on the IMMAF circuit. Nyaondo looked dominant in there, submitting Angola’s Luan Tomas Shaka via Rear-Naked Choke in under two minutes of the opening round.
The final bout of the day saw South Africa standout Cameron Coulson make a big impression in his return to IMMAF competition. His grappling prowess was the difference in his bout, as he locked up an arm-triangle choke early in round one to get the finish.
The full set of results from day one of the 2022 IMMAF Africa Championships can be found here and the schedule for tomorrow can be found here.
You can watch all of the action from the 2022 IMMAF Africa Championships live on immaf.tv. The Championships will be free-to-view for audiences in African countries and available to immaf.tv subscribers. A Championship Pass will be available for non-subscribers from outside of Africa, providing three days of MMA action for just $4.99.
