The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has finalised the lineup for the upcoming PFL Cape Town event, marking the debut of MMA in Africa with the continent’s first-ever global MMA event.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Set for Saturday 19 July at GrandWest’s Grand Arena, the landmark event marks a groundbreaking moment in PFL’s global expansion. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The event will feature the launch of the 2025 PFL Africa Tournament with first-round match-ups in the heavyweight and bantamweight divisions, each featuring an eight-man bracket.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the tournament bouts, the evening will be headlined by five high-stakes PFL Champions Series’ fights featuring elite global talent.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 145-pounds, former Bellator featherweight world champion AJ “Mercenary” McKee returns to the SmartCage against Akhmed Magomedov, a rising Russian star and prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also confirmed is a heavyweight showcase featuring current light heavyweight world champion Corey Anderson moving up a division to face 2024 PFL heavyweight champion Denis Goltsov.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Artur Zaynukov returns to the PFL following an impressive showing at Battle of the Giants, aiming to extend his winning streak to six. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He will meet RIZIN veteran Takeshi Izumi of Japan, a decorated wrestler who earned a unanimous-decision win over Spike Carlyle in his most recent outing.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These marquee match-ups round-off an already stacked PFL Champions Series card, showcasing some of the world’s top MMA talent on African soil. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Headlining the evening is undefeated middleweight world champion Johnny “Pressure” Eblen, who puts his perfect record and title on the line against Spain’s surging contender Costello “The Spaniard” van Steenis.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the co-main event women’s flyweight phenomenon “Dangerous” Dakota Ditcheva, widely considered one of the top pound-for-pound woman fighters in MMA, faces Hawaii’s elite striker Sumiko “Lady Samurai” Inaba in a thrilling penultimate bout.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 The PFL Cape Town event begins at 16:30 with the PFL Africa portion of the card, followed by PFL Champions Series at 20:30. Tickets for this landmark event are on sale via Ticketpro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 2025 PFL Africa Tournament’s first-round match-ups is taking place this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":264754,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"30","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"2025-07-03","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"2","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"22","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"","article_feature_type":"","article_main_image_caption":"","article_media_icon":"","article_template":"","author_byline":"","background_color":"","block_editor":"1","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"Africa's first MMA bouts finalised","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22],"tags":[7874,8041],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-264589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-local-news","tag-sport"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/PFL.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":266266,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/international-polo-returns\/","url_meta":{"origin":264589,"position":0},"title":"International polo returns","author":"Eikestadnuus","date":"4 August 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"International polo will return to Val de Vie Estate in Paarl with the Standard Bank Polo International on Saturday 15 November. The event marks the beginning of a new chapter in the estate's legacy as one of Africa's leading polo destinations. Ryk Neethling, marketing and brand director at Val de\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sport"","block_context":{"text":"Sport","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/sport\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tcpolo_79927.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tcpolo_79927.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tcpolo_79927.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tcpolo_79927.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tcpolo_79927.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":263316,"url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/no-stopping-young-tylon\/","url_meta":{"origin":264589,"position":1},"title":"No stopping young Tylon","author":"Tasmin Cupido","date":"2 June 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"He is the (unofficial) best under-20 player on the African continent! The euphoria and exhilaration of winning the Player of the Tournament award at the recent under-20 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) may have simmered down somewhat, but for local soccer star Tylon Smith, the gravitas of his individual achievement\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tctylon_25249.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tctylon_25249.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tctylon_25249.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tctylon_25249.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/tctylon_25249.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Eikestadnuus","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264589"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=264589"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/eikestadnuus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=264589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}