True to its promise to avail Nigerian fans of the best of combat sports, the Warrior Sports Championship (WSC), a mixed-martial art Promotions Company in Africa held its second Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event in Lagos on Sunday.
The ten-bout blockbuster affair – sequel to the first edition in April where about 40 warriors took part – was staged in a very boisterous Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere and featured two female bouts and a headline match between Cameroonian Leo Franklin and defending champion Bounjou Baba Nadjombe of Togo for the Lightweight title.
The fighting ice was broken in the day’s first piece of action which saw Nnaemeka Nwonye defeat Igwe Nani Chime via split decision in the MMA 77kg class.
Following the curtain-raiser, Cornelius Godpower then saw off Kingsley Uzor of the Nigeria Police Force in another MMA encounter this time in the 67kg class.
While the first two bouts were essentially warmups for the rest of the programme, teeming fans who graced the event were thrust into a frenzy by the no-quarter-given explosive kickboxing match involving two ladies from opposing security outfits.
Rachael Idam of the Nigeria Army seemingly took the recent bad blood between the Army and Police into the cage as she earned a split decision victory over Juliet Chukwu Juliet of the Nigeria Police in the 60kg female category.
Both fighters had raised the bar and set the tempo for the rest of the night which was more than matched by subsequent bouts much to the delight of the crowd.
The Nigeria Police provided the next set of fighters in an MMA 81kg bout with Daniel Okechi earning reigning supreme over Effime Etu via unanimous decision.
With all four preceding bouts having been decided by the judges, Ibukun Opaaje didn’t need external validation however as he scored the night’s first knockout victory when he floored Tajudeen Abingbon in a kickboxing encounter to the delight of the crowd.
In a night of non-stop combat action, Onyeka Kingsley then got Gideon Dappa to tap out in an MMA 64kg bout earning a technical knockout win in the process following which Togolese Adams Zikpli beat Nigerian challenger Erhahon Osarumwsen of the Nigeria Police by split decision in an MMA bout for the Intercontinental Title in the 66kg category.
The second all-female kickboxing encounter nearly brought the roof down as local favourite Eniola Busari rewarded her vocal fans with a split decision victory over Pamilerin Akintayo by split decision. Fans will have another opportunity to witness the two explosive fighters in action with a rematch between the pair having been fixed for December 2019.
The penultimate match saw another Nigerian come up short against continental opposition as Samuel Ogedengbe was knocked out by no-nonsense Ivorian Mozou Ahizi in an MMA bout in the 75kg class.
The headline bout for the Super Lightweight title between Togolese defending champion Bounjou Baba Nadjombe a.k.a Zeus and Cameroonian Esoe Franklin Bilikha a.k.a Soldier of Jesus was a fitting end to a night of pulsating action as the Togolese retained his title via a brutal knockout of the challenger.
It wasn’t just a night of exciting combat for the fans as three lucky fans won a Refrigerator, Television set and the grand prize of a Motorcycle via a raffle draw.
Ikechukwu Nwobodo of Warrior Sport Championship said that MMA has found a home in Nigeria and promised to continue to be at the vanguard of providing fight fans with premium fight nights.
