when Gisela Luna (pictured with the gold medal) used her slick jiu-jitsu to submit Alicia Capita in the opening match of the 2024 IMMAF African Championship, he may not have known he was making history. Gisela became the first continental youth champion from Africa outside the IMMAF system in a historic day for amateur mixed martial arts in Africa.
The first match day for the African Championship was fully dedicated to the Youth tournament, with the Angolan team taking the lead in winning nine African Youth titles in total. Led by the likes of Luna and a huge overall performance from Claudio Fontura in the Youth B 57kg, the Angolan team put the entire tournament on notice with the performances of the Youths.
In second place, a respectable effort from South Africa, who won a total of 13 medals, with four Youth championships. Joshua De Beer and Omar Edwards did an impressive double in the Youth A Bantamweight tournament and it was the South Africans who stood out, along with Johnny Esterhuizen (gold in Youth A Featherweight), Caleb Swart (champion of the Youth B 67 kg category), and LK Van Coller (gold medalist B Youth 77.1kg).
The other nation to win medals at the first African Youth tournament under IMMAF was host nation Namibia. Shange Kamwi in Junior B 57 kg and Adriano Bock in Youth A Strawweight represented home countries taking good bronze medals in their categories.
Action at the 2024 IMMAF African Championship continues for Day 2 this Wednesday, May 29, with the first round of the Senior tournament. 2023 Flyweight Champion Damian Muller is the biggest name in action as he looks to book a monumental quarter-final bout against the 2023 Bantamweight Olympic Gold Champion Maurio Silva, which drops to 125 kg. However, Damian must be defeated first Jonathan Banda from Zambia, in what promises to be a huge divisional battle.
Day 2 of the 2024 IMMAF African Championship kicks off at 7pm. (GMT+2) and will be available live on IMMAF.TV!