Diepsloot mixed martial artist, Nkosi Ndebele aims to rule Africa

Africa’s top amateur mixed martial artist, Nkosi Ndebele has a chance to win big at Combat Week Africa.

The 23-year-old Diepsloot resident is promoted by Fightstar. Come December, he will compete in this international competition at Sun City, which is hosted by Brave Combat Federation and will feature the world’s leading mixed martial artists.

Ndebele said organisers wanted great performances from martial artists, and he had everything they were looking for.

“I am so excited and inspired because if I succeed then I may be awarded a contract for further fight events. [This] is incredible, there’s no way I am going to let this opportunity slip from my hands.”

He said he first learned karate to avoid being bullied when he was younger. He saw that his friends who were involved in a martial art were not bothered by the local bullies and this inspired him to join his local karate club. He discovered that he loved all aspects of karate as a sport, from the physical to the mental, and used his skill to try and solve arguments verbally as opposed to physically.

Jason van Schalkwyk of Scuffle Media, a Fightstar partner who first sponsored Ndebele’s participation in Brace’s Amateur World Championships last year, said he had high expectations of what the fighter would accomplish in his career. “Nkosi is the perfect example of the kind of talent we are constantly searching for: A young man who has a well-rounded, balanced ability with lots of personal ambition.

“He turned to MMA as a healthy, physical alternative to a potentially challenging life, driven by violence and crime.”

Fightstar founder Grant Oliff was the first to ‘discover’ Ndebele and give him a chance in the ring. “He has the talent, the personality and the commitment to really succeed and we’re behind him all the way.”

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https://www.citizen.co.za/midrand-reporter/198168/kyalami-fight-clubs-charles-mabunda-has-trained-professional-boxers-for-the-last-eight-years/