South African mixed martial arts fighter Nkosi Ndebele will headline the opening event of PFL Africa season two on 10 April at Sun Arena in Pretoria. The 31-year-old from Diepsloot aims to defend his bantamweight title won in the inaugural season last year.
Nkosi Ndebele, a 31-year-old MMA fighter raised in Diepsloot township near Johannesburg, will defend his Professional Fighters League (PFL) Africa bantamweight title for the first time. The event marks the start of PFL Africa season two at Sun Arena, Time Square in Pretoria, featuring 11 fights including Ndebele versus Italian Michele Clemente. Another South African, Justin Clarke, is scheduled for the heavyweight division. Ndebele won the title last December by defeating Boule Godogo in Benin after PFL's debut season across Africa, including Cape Town, Rwanda, and Benin. Now based in Bali, Ndebele expressed excitement about returning home. “Performing with the PFL, especially here in SA, is a big milestone for me. SA is where everything started for me, especially in Johannesburg. That’s my home ground,” he told Daily Maverick. He reflected on his tough upbringing, raised by a single mother after his father's death, leaving school at 11 to work when she fell ill around 2006, hustling jobs like washing cars at Kyalami race course and selling chickens in Diepsloot before returning to school at 14. Karate provided discipline amid gang culture and bullying, leading to amateur MMA success with Nova MMA in Pretoria under JD du Plessis. In 2017, he joined BRAVE Combat Federation in Bahrain, becoming its bantamweight world champion in 2023 by beating American Jose “Shorty” Torres—the first to go from amateur debut to title within BRAVE. “I’ve never had it easy, not at all. But I’ve never used that as an excuse. It just fuelled my hunger,” Ndebele said. PFL Africa general manager Elias Schulze highlighted the promotion's growth: “This year we are hoping to hit all four corners of Africa.” He noted MMA's resonance with African traditions and the need to adapt to local contexts after lessons from the first season.