It was martial arts at its best last Saturday at the La Madison Place, Lekki, Lagos, as Fearless Energy Drink from the stable of Rite Foods Limited, which was the energy drink sponsor of the 11th edition of the Africa Knock Out (AKO), boosted contestants in various categories to the delight of mix martial arts.

Contenders in the various categories, which was headlined by the middleweight clash between South Africa’s Chad Hanekom and Cameroon’s Jordan Fongno, made the evening match exhilarating.

The Fearless Energy Drink, which is the market leader in the energy drink segment, powered the contest, which attracted many martial arts enthusiasts to the event.  The main match between Fongno and Hanekom saw the Cameroonian fighter defeat the South Africa-born superman, scoring a huge split-decision technical victory.

In the Featherweight category, Bibi Zazah from Ivory Coast, who engaged his opponent, Tulundat Daniel of Angola, in a tense fight, was defeated after the third round, while Stephen Akintewe won in the fight against Jamiu Musa, both Nigerian contenders, in the Bantam weight division.

“I fight to win, and this is what I naturally like to do. Honestly, I will further improve my skills, and many thanks to my coach for the training.,” Akintewe stated.

In the Lightweight category, Pelejah Osoba from Nigeria was declared the winner of the three-round fight against Lonan Fanghamou from Equatorial Guinea, while Peter Onuh emerged the winner of the Bantam weight fight against Eberechukwu Ibeh, in a highly competitive three-round show.

Reacting to comments on his victory, Osoba affirmed, “I am very happy to win this fight and would build on my victory.”

Expressing the Fearless brand’s stance in this year’s AKO competition, the Brand Manager of Fearless Energy Drink at Rite Foods Limited, Olaniyi Aderuku, stated the AKO represents grit, courage, and a fearless attitude, and these resonate with the brand’s DNA, the “I AM, I CAN’ rejuvenating spirit of attaining success and in making dreams come true.

He said the AKO is one of Africa’s most exciting combat sports platforms, with a large youth audience who live for thrill, passion, and vigor, and this offers the Fearless brand an opportunity to connect authentically with this audience.

On what informed this sponsorship, Aderuku said, “AKO is a mixed martial arts combat sports which tests grit, courage and endurance, which aligned with the brand and showcases artist in Nigeria and Africa.”

Asked if the sponsorship would be continuous or a one-off thing, “We signed an agreement for six matches this year, and this is the fourth one. The fifth comes up in December while the sixth is slated for March 2026.