Ocheme, Uchegbu rep Nigeria at PFL semis in Morocco

Nigerian fighters Patrick Ocheme and Raphael Uchegbu have been selected to represent their country at the Professional Fighters League Africa semi-finals in Morocco. The event will take place on October 10 at the Mohammed V Sports Complex in Casablanca and is expected to be Morocco's biggest mixed martial arts night in history. The winner of each bout will advance to the PFL Africa Finals later in the year.

This marks PFL's first event in North Africa and continues the league's expansion across the continent, with general manager Elias Schulze stating that they aim to reach all four corners of the continent. In the bantamweight co-main event, Uchegbu, who has an 11-2 professional record, will face unbeaten Algerian-Canadian Karim Henniene.

Ocheme, who is unbeaten in nine of his last 10 outings, will then meet fellow Nigerian Cornel Thompson in an all-Nigerian lightweight semi-final. The heavyweights, Abdoulaye Kane from Senegal and Badr Medkouri from Morocco, will face off in the main event. Other semi-final ties include Angola's Shido Boris Esperança vs South Africa's Peace Nguphane, Guinea-Bissau's Rivaldo Pereira vs Nigeria's David Samuel, Senegal's Demba Seck vs Chad's Hussain Al Kurdi, and Liberia's Dwight Joseph vs Angola's Boule Godogo.

Across the semi-final round, fighters from Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Chad, Liberia, and Morocco will compete, showcasing the continent's growing presence in the PFL Africa tournament format.