The Professional Fighters League (PFL) Africa debut is happening sooner than initially planned. The organization announced on Tuesday that its inaugural event on the African continent has been rescheduled from July 26 to July 19.
The PFL Africa event will take place at the GrandWest Arena in Cape Town, South Africa. The fight night is actually a doubleheader, featuring two distinct cards. The second part is a PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai card, headlined by a middleweight title defense between champion Johnny Eblen and challenger Costello van Steenis.
In the co-main event of the Champions Series card, undefeated flyweight sensation Dakota Ditcheva is set to face Sumiko Inaba.
The first event, officially designated as PFL Africa 1, marks the beginning of the league`s Africa regional tournaments. This card will feature matchups in the heavyweight and bantamweight divisions. The full lineup is listed below:
PFL Africa 1 Tournament Lineup
- Nkosi Ndebele vs. Mahmoud Atef — bantamweight
- Maxwell Djantou Nana vs. Mikael Groguhe — heavyweight
- Shannon Van Tonder vs. Boule Godogo — bantamweight
- Jashell Ticha Awa vs. Justin Clarke — heavyweight
- Antero Dos Santos vs. Karim Henniene — bantamweight
- Abdoullah Kane vs. Mohammed Ben Yahia — heavyweight
- Simbarashe Hokonya vs. Alain Majorique — bantamweight
- Badredinne Medkouri vs. TBD — heavyweight
- Juliet Ukah vs. TBD
Notably, this schedule adjustment puts the PFL event in direct competition with UFC 318. That pay-per-view is headlined by a highly anticipated trilogy fight between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier, a bout rumored to be Poirier`s last.
