{"id":451850,"date":"2011-07-01T14:37:04","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T14:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/07\/01\/nigerians-lose-at-african-mixed-martial-arts-competition\/"},"modified":"2011-07-01T14:37:04","modified_gmt":"2011-07-01T14:37:04","slug":"nigerians-lose-at-african-mixed-martial-arts-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/07\/01\/nigerians-lose-at-african-mixed-martial-arts-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerians lose at African mixed martial arts competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Johannesburg –\u00a0 Two Nigerians were defeated in the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) Africa 09, a mixed martial arts contest, which held at the packed Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

They are Raymond Ahana, 31, and Steven Momah, 29.<\/p>\n

Ahana lost to 28-year-old Jeremy Scheepers from Pretoria, South Africa by a unanimous decision of judges after a three-round bout in the Light Heavyweight category.<\/p>\n

Ahana, who started well in the first round, lost grip of the last two rounds when Scheepers bounced back and went ahead to take the day.<\/p>\n

But Momah was knocked out in two minutes and 20 secs. of the first round by his opponent, Martin Van-Staden from Durban, South Africa in a worse defeat than that of his compatriot.<\/p>\n

The duo clashed in the welterweight category.<\/p>\n

Ahana said after the duel that though he had no excuse for his defeat, he believed the high altitude and the weather in Johannesburg worked against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe altitude here is very high so it kind of chokes one out, though I don\u2019t have any excuse as I did my best.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had stayed here longer I would have been able to go the whole rounds without being fatigued,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Momah in his reaction said he lost to a better fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is my first major loss and I give God the glory. I have no excuse for this, my opponent was a better fighter and the better fighter will always win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to go back home, do my homework and come back and get better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Valentine Morah, trainer of the Nigerian team which is from Combat League Gym, said though his boys lost, he was happy they did not sustain injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fight to fight tomorrow,\u201d he said, adding that they would go back home, put themselves together and come back again for the next fight.<\/p>\n

Morah said the team was in the competition to showcase the good attributes of Nigerian youths and change the perception that many were into advanced fee fraud.<\/p>\n

He said the team came for the competition independently and called for support from both the government and the private sector to enable them do more for the nation.<\/p>\n

Two officials of the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg, Mr Itodo Ojobo, Consul, Trade and Investment and Mr Chris Iruala, Consul, Nigerian Community Relations, watched the bouts.<\/p>\n

They said the boys should use the experience from the competition positively.<\/p>\n

They also encouraged the team not to be discouraged by the losses but to continue to look ahead for a brighter future.<\/p>\n

EFC AFRICA was formed in 2009 and is reputed to be the largest, most prestigious Mixed Martial Arts Championship in Africa. (NAN)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Original post:
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Johannesburg –\u00a0 Two Nigerians were defeated in the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) Africa 09, a mixed martial arts contest, which held at the packed Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg on Thursday night. They are Raymond Ahana, 31, and Steven Momah, 29. Ahana lost to 28-year-old Jeremy Scheepers from Pretoria, South Africa by a unanimous decision of judges after a three-round bout in the Light Heavyweight category. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-451850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nNigerians lose at African mixed martial arts competition - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/07\/01\/nigerians-lose-at-african-mixed-martial-arts-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Nigerians lose at African mixed martial arts competition - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Johannesburg -\u00a0 Two Nigerians were defeated in the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) Africa 09, a mixed martial arts contest, which held at the packed Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg on Thursday night. 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