Patrick Ocheme hasn’t won a PFL Africa title yet, and he’s already picked out the man he wants to dethrone. The Nigerian lightweight prospect told reporters in Casablanca, Bloody Elbow among them, that his long-range target is Usman Nurmagomedov, the promotion’s unbeaten lightweight champion.
“I’m looking at one thing and that’s the best in the world,” Ocheme said. “Right now, the best in the world and the champion is Usman Nurmagomedov. I’m working really hard so that I can earn the chance to share the cage with him.”
That’s a long road, and Ocheme seems to know it. The immediate job is Saturday night’s PFL Africa semifinal in Casablanca against Cornel Thompson, a fellow Nigerian. Win that, and Ocheme expects to fight for tournament gold in December. Only after that does he plan to make his move toward the world stage, working his way up the lightweight rankings until he’s earned a shot at the champion.
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He was candid about what a win over Nurmagomedov would mean to him personally. “That is a fighter that I know when I get a win over him it will change my life for good,” he said, adding that he wants to change the sport in a positive way.
Then came the backstory, which is the part I keep coming back to. “I’m a guy who comes from nothing and started as a soccer player,” Ocheme said. He credited PFL Africa with giving him the chance to live out a fighter’s life, and he turned that gratitude into a warning for his semifinal opponent: “PFL Africa has given me the privilege to accomplish that, so I’m forced to humble Cornel in the cage.”
The MVP MMA wrinkle
There’s a business question hanging over the whole plan. MVP MMA takes over the reins from PFL next year, according to Bloody Elbow, and nobody has said yet whether the new operation will hold on to Nurmagomedov. Ocheme’s roadmap depends on the champion still being there when he arrives. If MVP keeps him, Ocheme believes he’ll eventually prove he deserves the title shot.
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He isn’t the only PFL Africa lightweight with something to prove this fall. Raphael Uchegbu, who missed out on a UFC contract, is also chasing the tournament’s $100,000 prize, as Bloody Elbow reported separately.
Quick take
I love this kind of ambition from a regional tournament fighter, because somebody on these cards should be saying the champion’s name out loud. Still, the gap between a semifinal in Casablanca and a cage across from Nurmagomedov is enormous, and Ocheme only gets to talk about the second one if he handles Thompson first. A Nigerian-vs-Nigerian semifinal with a December final on the line already has plenty of stakes on its own. If Ocheme humbles Thompson the way he promised, the Nurmagomedov talk turns into a real December storyline. If he doesn’t, Thompson becomes the guy with the soundbite.
