The large crowd that thronged out to watch the first African Fighting Championship (AFC 001) held at the Velodrome of Moshood Abiola National Abuja during the weekend excited former Nigerian queen of the track, Ambassador Mary Onyali.
The approximate 6,000 capacity Abuja Velodrome was filled to the brim during the AFC 001 featuring both amateur and professional fighters from various disciplines, including boxing, mixed martial arts and kickboxing competing for glory and titles.
Ambassador Onyali, who represented the former minister of youth and sports development, Chief Sunday Dare, at the AFC event could not hide her joy and excitement seeing how passionate Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) enthusiasts and supporters of the fighters stormed the Velodrome to catch a glimpse of the fighters in the AFC 001.
She commended the Nigeria Mixed Martial Arts Federation (NMMAF) for growing the sport from nothing to the appreciable level it is now.
“I’m amazed, this is my first time being in the midst of a live performance like this. It is really interesting, at first I was scared because as an athletics person, we don’t make contact when we run. So, when I came, I was like being taken aback but after a while I got comfortable.
It was quite interesting, and honestly I didn’t know that we would have this much crowd here. I was even told by the president and vice president that we are going to have a bigger crowd.
“We have been working on this for a long time and the former Minister Sunday Dare actually helped MMA come alive because when they started, a lot of people misunderstood them and did not want to have anything to do with them. But after seating with Mr Dare to really listen to the whole concept, we decided to give them a chance and I’m happy it is growing in leaps and bounds. Their first performance was at the festival where they were not a scoring sport but it was quite interesting and from there on they broke the ground and everything started rolling smoothly,” Onyali said.
The African Fighting Championship (AFC) 001 which brought together top fighters from various disciplines showcases the best in combat sports across the continent with thrilling matches, intense rivalries and unforgettable moments.
NMMAF president, Ambassador Henry George, said hosting fights in Abuja showcase their strong partnership with AFC to develop the mixed martial arts sport in Nigeria
“We are super excited to host the fights in Abuja to collaborate and show our strong partnership with AFC.
“As a federation, we represent the dream and aspiration of every athlete in this country and AFC has been in that kind of collaborative table discussing on how best it can promote and give opportunity to our athIetes.
“AFC have show commitment towards the development of athIetes not just promoting fights and today we are satisfied formalizing our partnership.
So, apart from this championship, there are also promised to equip our national gym where we can have our athIetes camp if we have national event. It means a lot for us because MMA is a sport that has gained a mainstream audience and Nigerians are in the forefront of this drive having the sport to the Olympics. Therefore, as a federation, this is a very important step that matters for us,” Ambassador George said.
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