Three titles on the line in Kigali

PFL Africa puts three titles on the line on Saturday, December 12, at BK Arena in Kigali. The welterweight, lightweight, and bantamweight tournament finals are the bouts the promotion posted. PFL Africa listed $100,000 for each final.

The finals

Welterweight is 170 pounds (77 kg). Shido Boris Esperança of Angola meets David Samuel of Nigeria. Esperança is 13-2, and Samuel is 7-0. Esperança stopped Peace Nguphane with ground-and-pound at 1:03 of the first round on October 10 in Casablanca. Referee Derek Hickey stopped it. Samuel went the distance in his semi-final, beating Rivaldo Pereira by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards, at 5:00 of the third round. Esperança reached the 2025 final and lost it to Yabna N’Tchala by retirement at 5:00 of the third round on December 20, 2025, in Cotonou. Esperança could not come out for the fourth. Samuel submitted Abdelrahman Mohammad with a rear-naked choke at 4:03 of the first round on April 10 in Pretoria, after several knockdowns, in the quarterfinal.

Lightweight is 155 pounds (70 kg), and it is the co-main. Patrick Ocheme of Nigeria meets Demba Seck of Senegal. Ocheme is 10-1, and Seck is 11-3. Ocheme knocked out Cornel Thompson with a body kick at 2:46 of the first round, his second first-round knockout of the tournament. Ocheme knocked out Octave Ayinda with a flying knee at 3:17 on June 13 in Lagos. Seck beat Jean Do Santos by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards, on the same day in Lagos. A groin strike at 0:37 of the first round made the semi-final against Hussain Al Kurdi a no contest, and Seck advanced.

Bantamweight is 135 pounds (61 kg). Dwight Joseph of Liberia meets Raphael Uchegbu of Nigeria. Joseph is 17-3, and Uchegbu is 11-2. Joseph won his semi-final by split decision over Boule Godogo, 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29, on October 10 in Casablanca. Uchegbu is a former FCC champion. Uchegbu’s opponent missed weight, so he advanced without a semi-final. Uchegbu beat Edson Machavane by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards, on June 13 in Lagos, in the quarterfinal. Joseph lost the 2025 featherweight semi-final to Wasi Adeshina by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three cards.

The rest of the card

Juliet Ukah meets Benita Van Rooij at women’s strawweight. Felista Mugo meets Sephora Kiala at women’s strawweight. Boule Godogo meets Ridouan Errami at bantamweight.

Start times

Central Africa Time is two hours ahead of UTC and stays there in December, and Sydney is on daylight time, eleven hours ahead of UTC.

The card is listed for 6 p.m. in Kigali:

• Kigali: 6 p.m.
• London: 4 p.m.
• Sydney: 3 a.m. Sunday

In New York that is 11 a.m. Eastern, and in Las Vegas it is 8 a.m. Pacific. SuperSport has the English broadcast in Africa, Canal+ has the French broadcast, and SportyTV has it free-to-air.