United States: PFL Africa duo makes glittering global debut in Washington.

The fights were staged at the Carefirst Arena. It brought together some of PFL’s finest global stars to deliver what was later described as an unforgettable evening of fights in the US capital city.

Amongst the global PFL stars who animated the showdown was Haiti’s Thad Jean who bagged the PFL Welterweight Champion crown after securing a third-round technical knockout victory over famed Cuban sensation, Ernesto Rodriguez in the main event.

Ruthless Kubanza destroys Mixan

DR Congo’s Eliezer Kubanza, nicknamed “King Kong” in reference to his stellar fighting career, claimed his much-acclaimed victory after bullying Ukraine’s Chris Mixan to submission in the main card opener of the night. 

The Central African handed Mixan his third loss in 10 career fights after he had the European locked in a d’arce choke, forcing the
27-year-old to give up in the second round of the welterweight bout.

South Africa’s Nkosi Ndebele came out victorious in the catchweight bout organized as part of the preliminary cards of the Washington fight night.

The 2025 PFL Africa bantamweight champion defeated the United State’ Brandon Davis after claiming a 30-26 unanimous decision victory over the home star.

The 31-yer-old registered the 13th career victory after silencing the North America with multiple precision strikes.

This was despite a change of opponent shortly before the showdown which led to fight getting changed to a catchweight category event in a switch that many bookmakers predicted could negatively affect the morale of the African giant. 

“Thank you. Keep supporting, guys. We keep raising the flag. We need your love. We need your support,” Nkosi Ndebele said after the much-applauded display in Washington. 

Following the outstanding debut, the African duo is expected to return to action in the PFL Global League in the days ahead to appear in a series of forthcoming showdowns in the category.

Three PFL Global League fights are programmed between July 31 and August 22.

The events will flag off with the PFL New York event at the UBS Arena on Friday July 31 followed by PFL Charlotte at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte in North Carolina on Friday August 7.

It will close on Saturday August 22 with PFL Tampa in Flora still in the United States.

The fights which are expected to assemble several other African stars to battle for the biggest prizes offered by PFL, are expected to also help the African fighters to prepare for the biggest event remaining in PFL Africa’s calendar for the year which takes place in October.

The event dubbed PFL Africa Morocco showpiece will be held in Morocco’s commercial hub, Casablanca, on October 10. 

Unforgettable fight night 

The co-main event of last Saturday’s fight nights saw Brazil’s Rafael Xavier brutally defeated Australia’s Tyson Pedro in the first round of their light heavyweight clash.

Bahrain’s Rasul Magomedov defeated home athlete Sullivan Cauley in the third round of their light heavyweight showdown.

In the preliminary cards, the United States’ Bryce Meredith defeated compatriot Michael Cyr 30-27 by unanimous decision.

The United States’ Coby Bradford overpowered Barbados’ Chad Yard in round two of their light heavyweight bound while Noah Hermosillo, also of the United States, silenced compatriot Jacob Pais 30-27 by unanimous decision in a featherweight bout.