A 19-year-old underdog, Philemon Jeb Junior, delivers a knockout against a more experienced rival to highlight the debut of mixed martial at the One Fight Ultimate OFU Fight Night 2.
Philemon Jeb Junior claimed a technical knockout victory over Opara Goodluck at Redbar Lagos in Lekki.
The 19-year-old was the underdog against Goodluck, the gold medal from the last edition of the National Sports Festival in Delta State, but all that did not matter in the cage as Jeb claimed a first-round TKO in the lightweight bout.
It was an electrifying atmosphere as OFU continues its commitment to host a fight night once a month, and the fans would anticipate next month’s event.
Earlier, Chukwuemerie Okoli earned a split decision win against Geoffrey John in the flyweight matchup of the competition’s opener, which proved cagey. Both fighters were very cautious as the crowd yearned for more action.
In the women’s kickboxing bout, Nwankwo Faith showed her superiority in the aggressive contest, winning by unanimous decision against Bello Omolola in their flyweight clash after three rounds.
OFU Fight Night: A Night of Knockouts
Another knockout was witnessed by the MMA fans in the welterweight clash between Sammy Black Samuel Ogedengbe and Ozioma ‘Muay Thai’ Orji as Ogedengbe broke Orji’s nose, sending his opponent tumbling to the floor to set the tone for the main event.
Welterweight fighters Ebenezer Imbu and Nani Chima clashed in the main bout in the last fight of the night, and both served up a heated contest.
Imbu turned defense into attack to become the eventual winner through submission in the second round despite Chima being the aggressor in the first round of the bout.
Repositioning MMA In Africa and A New Logo
The founder/CEO of OFU, Ife Obiudo, revealed that he was happy with the success of the event, saying, “I feel so overjoyed. The event was exactly what we expected, with fight fans having a good time watching some of Nigeria’s finest MMA talents.”
Chief Obiudo said that the goal now was to position the promotion as Africa’s biggest MMA brand while also working on advancing the grassroots:
“We recently launched a new OFU logo which is a true reflection of our resolve to reposition the promotion in order to attain the number status as Africa’s biggest MMA brand.
Also, part of our goals is to make Nigeria the hotbed for MMA talents by providing opportunities for the country’s budding talents at the grassroots,” he said.
“The grassroots have been our biggest concern as a body, the reason why from inception, we decided to create a project fully dedicated to spreading the combat sports gospel to the grassroots.
The project, OFU Street Fight, takes place outdoors at venues in areas with high population density or with a history of massive sports following.
OFU Street Fight 1 was held at the national stadium in Lagos while OFU Street Fight 2 took place in the sprawling city of Ajegunle.”