Warrior Sports C’ship: Onoja, Nabi clash in light heavyweight title bout

.As 16 fighters battle for $4,000 Africa crown

By Akeem Lawal

All is now set for a three-day international mixed-martial art (MMA) competition, tagged Warrior Sports Championship which begins on Friday at the Indoor Sports hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports that the International Open competition organized by Warrior Sports Championship (WSC), a mixed-martial art Promotions Company in Africa, will feature two categories of fights: A title fight including undercard draws and the international open which is to feature 16 fighters in a knock-out series.  

The highlight of the competition is the main WSC light heavyweight title five-round fight between Emmanuel Onoja of the Nigerian Army and Amar Abdul Nabi of Lebanon. According to the organisers, both fighters will be paid according to international standards.  

Also, as part of the event, 16 fighters in the 77kg weight category will feature in the international open knock-out series where the winner takes home $4,000 (Four thousand dollars) while the runner up takes home a consolatory cash prize of $1,500 (One thousand five hundred dollars).

According to the fixtures, eight out of sixteen fighters in the international open contest will be eliminated in the first round while the successful 8 will move to the quarter finals. 

At the quarter finals, four winners will emerge and move into the semi-finals stage where two fighters will qualify for the grand finale to produce the ‘Last Man Standing’, who will also go home with a crown.

The 16 fighters include Dteng Karti (Cote D’ Ivoire), Mozou Francios (Cote D’ Ivoire), Shido Boris Sato (Angola), Horatius Ndidi (Nigeria), Stephen Abbey (Ghana), Isaac Aikins (Ghana), Farouq Apoaya (Ghana), Esoa Franklin (Cameroon), Samuel Ogedengbe (Nigeria), Emmanuel Onyemache (Nigeria), Nnaemeka Nwonya (Nigeria), Daniel Emeka (Nigeria), Albert Issaiah (Nigeria), Obinka Chigozie (Nigeria).

President of Warrior Sport Championship, Jeff Taylor said that mixed martial arts has come to stay in Nigeria, as the country had all it takes to become one of the greatest in the sport.

In a chat with SportingLife during the media briefing and official weigh-in of the fighters held at the Pool side of the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos, Taylor assured of organizing more of such event on a regular basis.

In a chat with Sporsbiz247.blogspot.com, Olusegun Fayose of Hexagon Production and Media Solution said the sport will give the country avenue to engage youths by taking their minds off social vices.

“We are looking forward for the fights, we are happy and the fighters are ready, we can’t wait for it to happen. Mixed Martial Art is gaining a lot of ground in Nigeria. The sport is the ultimate as far as martial art is concerned because it has that crossover appeal. So if you are into judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, kungfu, karate, boxing and so on. It is a home for everybody. So it’s going to grow very fast. We have people already practicing it but they’ve been going outside the shores of the country to take part in competitions. 

“So thank God that Warrior Sports Championship is here and they have brought it to Nigeria. It will help in keeping the knowledge, interest about the sport to bring in more practitioners and also help people to discover themselves. This will help the sport to grow,” Fayose said.