Jason van Schalkwyk wants to create more opportunities for mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters in South Africa, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Van Schalkwyk who lives in Fourways is the founder and chief executive officer of Shuffle Media, the company which brought the Brave Combat Federation (CF) to South Africa for the first time on 8 December last year, where local and international fighters had the chance to show their stuff. As the sport grows globally, he hopes local fighters will have more chances to compete in MMA professionally at both a local and international level, just like Nkosi Ndebele from Diepsloot has done.
“Brave CF was started in Bahrain by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa,” Van Schalkwyk told the Fourways Review.
“My relationship with them started in February last year. I really wanted to grow MMA on the African continent and provide more opportunities for fighters.”
He has already achieved his goal regarding Ndebele – the 24-year-old from Diepsloot was already a talented amateur fighter and part of the Fightstar Fighting Championship scene when Van Schalkwyk met him and saw something special in him. Van Schalkwyk started supporting and working with the athlete, even helping him get to Brave CF events in other countries in the past two years.
“One of Nkosi’s nicknames is ‘future’ because I really believe he is the future of MMA in Africa. When you look at him and realise what he can do, you get an idea of the talent we have here.
“That’s what Brave tries to achieve – it gives South African and African fighters more chance to go overseas, where they can get better pay, fight professionally and have more chance at sponsorship.”
There will be two Brave CF events on the African continent this year. One planned for Johannesburg and another planned for Egypt.
If you would like to learn more about Brave CF or become involved in sponsoring local MMA fighters, please email info@shuffle.co.za
