Bracketology: 2026 PFL Africa welterweight tournament

Professional Fighters League on Friday hosted PFL Africa 1: 2026 First Round in Pretoria, South Africa, with welterweights taking center stage. Eight fighters competed for four spots in the tournament Semifinals, with three of those bouts ending violently in the opening frame. Here’s an updated look at the PFL Africa welterweight tournament after the first round of action at 170 pounds: David Samuel def.

Abdelrahman Mohamed This fight did not take long and set the stage for what was a very fun and entertaining opening round of the welterweight tournament. Both fighters were making their promotional debut, and Samuel came out on fire. Swinging heavy leather early in the first round, Samuel dropped Mohamed twice in the frame, but then ended it in the final minute with a rear-naked choke.

Rivaldo Pereira def. Kunle Lawal Another contest in which the action got started early, Pereira fought with plenty of gusto against Lawal. Pereira landed a vicious body shot that sat Lawal down and took top position where he went to pour down elbows and ground-and-pound.

Shido Boris Esperanca def. Emilios Dassi Esperanca wasted little to no time, coming out aggressive and blitzing Dassi throughout the first stanza. Once he was able to get the action to the ground, he used a lengthy attack of ground-and-pound before the referee stepped in and called it.