Former BRAVE CF bantamweight champion Ndebele is looking to claim the inaugural PFL Africa bantamweight crown, and moved one step close to that goal with a first-round TKO finish of Mahmoud Atef in the headline bout of the PFL Africa 1 card.
Ndebele looked a cut above Atef as he stood and traded on the feet, but the real difference came once he took his opponent to the mat. With the action on the canvas, Ndebele dominated from top position, and eventually forced the finish with a barrage of unanswered ground strikes as Atef merely looked to cover up, rather than improve his position.
THAT'S IT! Nkosi Ndebele takes the W in Cape Town! #PFLCapeTown 🇿🇦 | TODAY | Grand Arena, GrandWest | Cape Town, South Africa | 2pm on ESPN+ | 🇺🇸10am on the PFL App pic.twitter.com/YuGcKrdWrw
— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 19, 2025
Ndebele’s victory means he’ll progress to the semi-finals of the 135-pound tournament, where he’ll face Simbarashe Hokonya, who sprung something of a shock when he defeated former Bellator veteran Frans Mlambo via unanimous decision.
The other half of the bantamweight bracket saw a pair of split-decision victories, as Boule Godogo and Karim Henniene edged their respective opponents to progress to the final four. They’ll go head to head in the bantamweight semi-finals later this year.
The card also featured the heavyweight bracket, with Maxwell Djantou Nana defeating Michael Groguhe via unanimous decision in the co-featured bout of the card. He’ll take on Justin Clarke, who forced Jashell Ticha Awa to retire on his stool at the end of the first round of their quarter-final matchup.
The other heavyweight semi-final will be contested by two British heavyweights, as Abraham Bably and Joffie Houlton both booked their spots in the final four in very different ways.
Abraham Bably at the bell!😱#PFLCapeTown 🇿🇦 | TODAY | Grand Arena, GrandWest | Cape Town, South Africa | 2pm on ESPN+ | 🇺🇸10am on the PFL App pic.twitter.com/iPBUkJmUzM
— PFL (@PFLMMA) July 19, 2025
Bably blastes his way into the semi-finals with a huge buzzer-beating knockout of Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze in the final second of the first round, while Houlton progressed via disqualification after his opponent Abdoullah Kane landed an egregious illegal knee to the clearly-downed Englishman after just 40 seconds, leaving him unable to continue.
The opening bout of the night saw unbeaten Nigerian strawweight prospect Juliet Ukah overcome two accidental, but pretty nasty, eye pokes from South African opponent Ceileigh Niedermayr en route to a shutout decision on the scorecards in their showcase bout.
PFL Africa 1: Official results
- Nkosi Ndebele def. Mahmoud Atef via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:50 – bantamweight quarter-final
- Maxwell Djantou Nana def. Michael Groguhe via unanimous decision (no score announced) – heavyweight quarter-final
- Boule Godogo def. Shannon van Tonder via split decision (30-26, 28-29, 29-27) – bantamweight quarter-final
- Justin Clarke def. Jashell Ticha Awa via TKO (retirement) – Round 1, 5:00 – heavyweight quarter-final
- Karim Henniene def. Asiashhu Tshitamba via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29) – bantamweight quarter-final
- Joffie Houlton def. Abdoullah Kane via disqualification (illegal knee) – Round 1, 0:40 – heavyweight quarter-final
- Simbarashe Hokonya def. Frans Mlambo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25) – bantamweight quarter-final
- Abraham Bably def. Paul-Emmanuel Gnaze via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:59 – heavyweight quarter-final
- Juliet Ukah def. Celleigh Niedermayr via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – strawweight showcase
