Renowned South African combat sports and wellness coach Fidaah Edries says the new Rising Stars Fight Promotion was created with the athletes of the southern suburbs of Cape Town in mind.
Rising Stars makes its debut this weekend in Wynberg and will showcase some of South Africa’s up-and-coming amateur kickboxing and boxing athletes.
Like the rest of South Africa, the Western Cape combat sports scene is booming with talent. Many young fighters take up their favourite fighting disciplines with the aim of reaching the highest levels and following in the footsteps of Mzansi’s brightest stars, including Dricus du Plessis, Faeez Jacobs, Ncedo Gomba, Peyton Letcher, and many more.
Promotions like the Professional Fighting Championship, Barebones FC, Grassroots FC, Thaiholics FP, Jackie Brice Boxing, Insane Boxing promotions, Future Champs, and more, have and continue to provide professional and amateur athletes a platform to grow.
Just this past weekend, Barebones FC rolled out its third event and is peaking as the No 1 amateur MMA brand in Cape Town following another successful 18-fight card in Melkbosstrand.
The only issue surrounding Barebones FC for most fans, fighters, and supporters is logistics, with Melkbosstrand being a 40km drive from the City center.
While Edries and many athletes appreciate this fantastic grassroots show, he would like to build with brands by providing more opportunities closer to “home”.
“Whenever there are events for our amateur athletes, in most cases athletes need to travel far, either to the CBD side or Melkbosstrand. Many of our athletes live in the southern suburbs, and these venues are often quite far for them,” says Fighterz Inc. boss Edries, who started Rising Stars in partnership with Vibrant Sport and Punchline Media.
“We saw a need for a good tournament that caters to athletes right here in the area. Some of these athletes will fight for championship titles in the southern suburbs.
“There is so much talent in our areas. We have so many gyms that need exposure. These people will thrive off a brand like Rising Stars.”
The show will take place on Saturday, February 22nd, at the Simon Van Der Stel Primary School with a mammoth 26-fight card, which includes 13 kickboxing fights and 13 boxing bouts.
The kickboxing show will be headlined by a title fight between current men’s 60kg senior champion Sikho Sirataza and contender Jiyaad Diedericks.
Ayesha Majiet and Asanele Mngxali headline the boxing card in a women’s title fight.
“I believe we can grow something special here. I sincerely feel like that is the need. It’s about time we start something that caters to the community gyms in the area.
“This show is not only for the southern suburbs. We invite everybody from all over as we believe it can work well. We aim to do two shows per year for now, focusing on amateur boxing and kickboxing.
“We will allow this brand to develop and see where the road takes us. We are doing our best to put on a quality show for this year, and we will leave the rest in God’s hands.
“It is exciting to help develop our future stars and provide this grassroots platform in areas where athletes stay. We are localizing the sport now, representing the people and their sport at the end of the day,” concluded Edries.
Doors open at 1pm and the show starts at 2pm on Saturday, and if you are keen on attending, contact Fidaah (082 795 6170) or Dorrothy (071 890 3303). You can also check out the Rising Stars Instagram page for more details.
Early bird tickets are R150.