Mixed Martial Arts fighters from four countries; the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and host, Nigeria featured in the OFU Fight Night 3 – the first MMA cage fight held in Awka, Anambra State on Sunday, November 5, 2023, under the auspices of One Fight Ultimate, OFU, Completesports.com reports.
Tagged ‘One Fight Ultimate (OFU) Solution Fight Night 3’, there was no dull moment as the six fights on the card for the night lasted.
Fans emptied into the X-Fit/Oma Event Centre, the venue of the fight, the first of its kind in the South East State, to watch the brutal cage fight that they were used to watching on television under the World Wrestling Federation, WWF.
The OFU Fight Night is the brainchild and sole initiative of the Founder and Chief Executive of OFU, Chief Ifeakandu Obiudo (Ofuonye na Alor). The combat sporting event which is a replica of the globally popular UFC, saw combat athletes drawn from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda featuring in the historic combat sports program.
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Six fights were on the cards for the OFU Fight Night 3 show of raw strength, skill and dexterity as combat sports followers made up of businessmen, captains of industries, public servants, politicians, academics and students were all in attendance.
In the first fight of the night, Nigerian combat athlete, Stanford Ebere a.k.a ‘Shaolin Tiger’ defeated his opponent Ken Boton from DR Congo via technical knockout in a flyweight challenge.
Venatius Chidubem Iyinagolu a.k.a ‘Dubem’ upended Emeka Onyebuchi ‘The Tiger’ via submission in the heavyweight challenge.
For the middleweight challenge, DR Congo’s Christopher Moly saw off the challenge of Ebenezer Imbu ‘De Dragon’ in a unanimous decision by the judges. Daniel Iwuoha, ‘Danny The Great’ defeated Philemon Bitrus Jeb ‘Captain Hook’ to earn supremacy in the lightweight challenge.
Jean-Jacques Lubaya of DR Congo came out victorious in the featherweight challenge against his Nigerian opponent Chukwuemerie Okoli ‘Oseoji’ while Terlumen Gertrude Doose ‘The Woman King’ defeated Rebecca Amongi from Uganda in the only women’s fight on the night.
After the fights, the convener, Chief Obiudo disclosed that the ‘OFU Fight Night 3’ was the first of its kind in Anambra State having been held twice in Lagos State.
Obiudo informed that the initiative will now be held every quarter in line with the Akuluo Uno philosophy of the present administration under the leadership of Anambra State Governor, His Excellency, Professor Charles Soludo as well as a way of empowering the youths, describing sports as a multi-million dollar industry.
“Today, we’ve showcased mixed martial arts in Awka and by extension to the state at large in line with the ‘Akuluo Uno’ philosophy of the present administration under the leadership of Mr. Governor, H.E Prof. Charles Soludo”, the fight organiser said.
“The essence is to promote combat sports and engage the youths by channelling their energies positively.
“Our plan is to have this event on a quarterly basis and by this development, we want to create a mixed martial arts academy as we intend to produce great combat athletes that will hopefully go abroad and feature on the global stage including the UFC-like Kamaro Usman and Israel Adesanya.
“Despite the fact that we had some setbacks on Saturday, the initial date of the event, owing to Force Majeure, the fight night recorded a massive turnout on Sunday with an electrifying atmosphere which had captains of industries, market men and women, politicians, academics and students all in attendance,” Obiudo said.
The South East Zonal Representative of the Kickboxing Federation of Nigeria further informed that they have made numbers available and the social media handle is also ready to entertain questions and entries from youths who have indicated interest to be part of the innovation.
He mentioned funding as a major challenge of OFU Fight Night while calling on sports lovers, captains of industries, and corporate organisations to be part of the show as the OFU MMA has come to stay.
By Sab Osuji
