Outside Source
Nigeria’s Patrick Ocheme reserved his spot in the Professional Fighters League Africa featherweight semifinals after battering Mohamed Camara en route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) in the 2025 PFL Africa 2: First Round main event Saturday at Big Top Arena in Johannesburg.
Camara (5-3-1, 0-1 PFL) showed tremendous heart throughout the fight, routinely hurt by Ocheme’s shots. It was a miracle that Camara survived the second round after Ocheme (7-1, 1-0 PFL) dropped, pummeled, and nearly submitted Camara while referee Paul Crossley watched on. Despite a controversial 29-28 scorecard, Ocheme dominated the fight and rightfully advanced to the semifinals, where he’ll face Abdoul Razac Sankara.
Esperanca Makes Quick Work of Mane
Fast finishes were the theme throughout PFL Africa 2, but Shido Boris Esperanca really accelerated the card with his 34-second rear-naked choke of Ibrahima Mane.
Esperanca (10-1, 2-0 PFL) earned the final welterweight spot in the semifinals after reversing Mane (13-5, 1-1 PFL) on the ground, taking his back and seizing the choke without hesitation.
Heading into the fight, Mane had never been submitted, but Esperanca quickly proved that there’s a first time for everything.
Unbeaten Octave Turns Up Decibels
Ayinda Octave’s pressure was too much for British Boloyoang during the welterweight quarterfinals.
Mere moments after Octave took Boloyang to the mat, the Congolese prospect waved off the fight, resulting in a first-round TKO via retirement (1:55). Octave (6-0, 1-0 PFL) barely dished out any punishment, but was thrilled to advance without taking any punishment. Boloyoang dropped to 3-2.
N’Tchala Outpoints Sadeck
Yabna N’Tchala wasn’t able to put the finishing touches on Sanon Sadeck during their welterweight quarterfinal showdown.
Still, the Guinea native did deliver one of the most well-rounded performances of the day en route to a unanimous decision win (29-28, 29-28, 30-27). N’Tchala (12-2-1, 1-0 PFL) was pushed by the sturdy Sadeck, but his skills and gas tank were a step ahead. Sadeck (7-3, 0-2 PFL) saved his best work for the final round and even took the third on two of the official scorecards, but N’Tchala’s early diverse work was too much to overcome.
Dassi Dispatches Bendito
If you have a shot to take out Emilios Dassi, you’d better make the most of it.
Early in the first round of their welterweight quarterfinal matchup, Osvaldo Benedito had Dassi in the grasp of his triangle choke. However, the Cameroonian would showcase his survival instincts by swatting, swinging and slugging Bendito’s face. As the fight worked its way back to the feet, Dassi put Benedito back on his butt with a ferocious flurry of shots that would leave his opponent limp along the cage.
Dassi’s first-round knockout (2:12) could’ve gone another way, but he proved that he’s willing to leave it all out in the cage to remain in the tournament.
Adeshina Taps Lubaya
Wasiu Adeshina claimed his spot in the featherweight semis with a dominant second-round submission (rear-naked choke) of Jean-Jacques Lubaya (3:14).
Adeshina (7-3, 1-0 PFL) halted Lubaya’s grappling advances in the first round before becoming the aggressor on the ground in the second. After securing a full mount with four minutes left, Adeshina pelted his foe (9-2, 0-1 PFL) with shots from above until Lubaya gave up his back and succumbed to a rear-naked choke.
Joseph Starches Nsamo
If you blinked during Dwight Joseph’s featherweight quarterfinal against Wilker Nsamo, you might’ve missed one of the most explosive knockouts of the year.
With three seconds left in the second round, Joseph knew he needed something special or he’d risk falling even further behind on the scorecards. As Nsamo looked to close out the round with a takedown, Joseph made him pay with a flying knee straight to the jaw. The next shot was Nsamo’s unconscious body hitting the canvas.
Joseph (15-2, 1-0 PFL) moved on to the featherweight semifinal with the incredible highlight-reel knockout.
Errachidy Puts on a Show
The Johannesburg crowd was left disappointed after hometown favorite Elbert Lukas Steyn was TKO’ed by Morocco’s Abderrahman Errachidy in under two rounds (0:14). Errachidy (5-1, 1-0 PFL) dominated the entirety of the 148-pound catchweight bout and nearly stopped Steyn (3-1, 0-1 PFL) in the closing seconds of the first round.
Steyn may have survived, but Errachidy wouldn’t let him off the hook. Steyn would crumble to the canvas mere seconds into the second round after taking a devastating knee to the body and was pummeled until referee Wiekus Swart called the fight.
Sankara Has the Answer
Abdoul Razac Sankara put himself in the running for knockout of the year with his picture-perfect first-round knockout (2:01) of Shadrick Dju Yemba.
Dju Yemba (4-1, 0-1 PFL) came out looking to feel Sankara out, but didn’t get the chance after Sankara deceived him with a frightenedly fast question mark kick. Yemba thought the kick was coming low but misread the target and went to sleep as soon as the shot landed.
With the win, Sankara (7-3, 1-0 PFL) notched his third-straight conquest.
Lawal Denies Tamungang
Nigeria’s Kunle Lawal handed Cameroonian welterweight prospect Desmond Awa Tamungang his first loss following a three-round barnburner.
Lawal outgrappled Tamungang throughout the first round and nearly stopped the Black Dragon with ground-and-pound, but Tamungang would weather the storm and tie up the fight in the second.
Lawal (3-1, 1-0 PFL) dug deep and put Tamungang (5-1, 0-1 PFL) on his back with a gorgeous single-leg trip. Lawal’s late fight takedown earned a close, but clear unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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