Nigerians fight for MMA World Championship spots

In order to pick their contingent for the 2024 MMA World Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia, amateur fighters in Nigeria are vying for the few available seats in the inaugural Mixed Martial Arts National Amateur Championship, which will take place in December.

Fighters from the country's northwest and centre competed for spots in the grand finale of the series last weekend at the Abuja Continental Hotel.

Mixed martial artists from Kwara, Kogi, Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau, Benue states, and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja competed in the event, which was hosted by Boxing & MMA Hall of Fame, the official representative of the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts.

In some of the bouts that were settled in the women's division, Felix Stephanie of Plateau defeated Yusrallah Abdulraheem of Kaduna in the 65kg class, and Beauty Akatiku of Nasarawa defeated her state opponent Zubair Fatimoh in the 56kg class.

In the men's division, Momoh Itopa of Abuja lost to Ovye Charles of Nasarawa in the 66kg division, David Ezekiel of Abuja defeated Joseph Jackson of Nasarawa in the 70kg division, and Tarkpe Stephen of Benue defeated Uthman Ahmed of Kwara in the 60kg division. Aliyu Taofeeq of Kogi defeated Abdulazeez Abdulrahman of Abuja in the 77kg division.

The first open national referees and judges seminar and certification programme was organised by the organisers as part of the programme, and it was overseen by international judges and referees from GAMMA Nigeria, who were present and officiated during the 13th African Games in Ghana.

Seven new officials were certified as National LEVEL C MMA Judges and one official as National Level C MMA Referees as a consequence of the free programme.