African Knockout
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Reviewer tools: Inform author |
| This article, African Knockout, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |
| Industry | Mixed martial arts |
|---|---|
| Founded | October 2020 |
| Headquarters | Lagos, Nigeria |
Key people | Kamaru Usman
Rayan Fayad Natalia Belousova |
| Website | https://ako.show |
The African Knockout (AKO) is a pan African professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotion, providing a live sport experience to a fast-growing audience in Nigeria and Africa, while focusing on and promoting local African talents to the world. AKO was founded in October 2020 in Lagos, Nigeria and, in 2021 the sport’s legend and the first African born UFC World Champion, Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman joined the company, bringing in his sports experience, expertise, and passion to enable local talents to be elevated to the same level of stardom in mixed martial arts as he managed to.[1]
The promotion started off in 2020 as an MMA talent reality TV Show “African Knockout”, which became the first non-scripted sports reality show showing on Netflix, continued with series of fight events titled “FaceOff” Fight Nights in 2022, before witnessing the launch of the first pan-African MMA Championship “AKO Championship” in 2023 [2], with 5 weight divisions gathering athletes from 14 countries across Africa and under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.
AKO Show
The African KnockOut (AKO) Show Season 1 was launched in November 2020 on Dstv Super Sport and GoTv Channels as the first ever Nigerian MMA show and then became the first non-scripted reality show in Netflix history. The show featured 14 amateur fighters from all over Nigeria divided into two teams “White Wolves” and “Team Steal”. For 9 weeks fighters lived together in the closed training camp in Landmark, Lagos, Nigeria and passed through tough martial arts training, team challenges and personal dramas. The show was hosted by Okey Bakassi and had appearances from a number of celebrities such as comedian Basket Mouth, rapper MI Abaga and others in the camp where they met the fighters.[3]
Show theme song “African Knockout” was produced by Chocolate City and performed by multi-award winning musician MI Abaga [4].
The AKO Show Season 1 Grand Finale took place in December 2020 in Landmark Event Centre, Lagos Nigeria, where Ndidi “The Rage” Alonu became the ultimate winner of the Show with Daniel “The Big Shark” Emeka and Segun “The Machine Gun Shegz” Ogunnoiki serving as first and second runner-up respectively.[5]
The AKO Show reached 17 Million views worldwide and received widespread positive feedback.
Events
| Event Title | Date | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| AKO Championship 2 | August 19, 2023 | Goodbeach | Lagos, Nigeria |
| AKO Championship 1 | May 12, 2023 | Sol by Boxmall | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Face-Off Fight Night 3 | December 29, 2022 | Landmark Event Centre | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Face-Off Fight Night 2 | March 18, 2022 | EKO Event Centre | Lagos, Nigeria |
| Face-Off Fight Night 1 | January 7, 2022 | Lagos Continental Hotel | Lagos, Nigeria |
Broadcasters
DStv SuperSport, GoTV, and Netflix (AKO Show).[6]
- ^ Sarmah, Manjit (2021-11-25). "Kamaru Usman reveals he helped create a reality show similar to The Ultimate Fighter in Africa to develop MMA talent". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ^ Akinbo, Peter (2023-05-12). "Usman-inspired African Knockout Championship launches in Nigeria". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ^ Olaleye, Oluwadamilola (2020-10-07). "AKO Show Unveils Sports247 as Media Partner | Sports247 Nigeria". Retrieved 2023-11-27.
- ^ Mix, Pulse (2020-10-31). "MI Abaga drops soundtrack for African Knockout Show, 'African Knockout'". Pulse Nigeria. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ^ "Ndidi "RAGE" Alonu is the winner of Season One of the African Knockout Show (AKO)".
- ^ "African Knockout – The AKO TV Reality show launches in Nigeria".