Chidi Njokuani

Chidi Godson Njoku-Ani^[1] (born December 31, 1988) is an American-Nigerian Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the Light Heavyweight division in kickboxing and the Welterweight division in MMA.

Background

Chidi Njokuani was born to Nigerian parents in Dallas, Texas on December 31, 1988. His name "Chidi" means "God exists" in Igbo.^[2] He was introduced to Muay Thai by his older brother Anthony at the age of 10 and began competing at the age of 11. He was temporarily distracted from Muay Thai with skateboarding during his teenage years but eventually returned to fighting and discovered mixed martial arts at the age of 18.^[3]

Career

Turning professional in 2007 after around fifteen amateur Muay Thai fights, Chidi Njokuani came to prominence competing in the -80.7 kg/178 lb division for the Oklahoma Destroyers in the team-based World Combat League kickboxinga promotion during the 2007-08 season in which he lost matches to such notables as Raymond Daniels and Lyman Good. He suffered his first professional Muay Thai loss at the hands of Joe Schilling on April 25, 2009 (dropping a unanimous decision at Dominant Knockout 1 in Irving, Texas) but rebounded with back-to-back defeats of Edwin Aguilar (a UD win under Oriental kickboxing rules at Kickboxing Empire I in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 30, 2011^[4]) and Ken Tran (a second round knockout at Lion Fight: Battle in the Desert 4 in Las Vegas on November 19, 2011)^[5]).

Having compiled a 7–3 record as a mixed martial artist, Njokuani signed with the Resurrection Fighting Alliance in 2012. He made his RFA debut at RFA 3: Stevenson vs. Cochrane, against Bobby Cooper. He won via the first decision of his career. Njokuani then was paired up with Phil Dace at RFA 4. He won via TKO.^[6] He fought Jeremy Kimball at RFA 7 and lost via submission.^[7]

Returning to the Muay Thai ring, Njokuani fought to a controversial majority draw with Simon Marcus on the Push Kick Promotions: Muay Thai World Stand Off 5 card in Las Vegas on September 29, 2013.^[8][9] Njokuani started the fight well, using footwork to control the ring, but Marcus soon got inside and began landing knees and elbows from the clinch. In round two, Njokuani was twice given time to recover from illegal strikes, an elbow to the back of the head and a low blow. Each time the fight continued, Marcus would begin to again work in the clinch and Njokuani repeatedly turned his back, so the referee decided to break the fighters continually. Marcus was docked a point by referee Tony Weeks for landing a second low blow in round three and the fight turned into a brawl towards the end. When it went to the judges, the bout was declared a majority draw with two judges scoring the bout a draw and one scoring the bout for Njokuani. Simon Marcus then took to the microphone, calling Chidi Njokuani a "bitch" for his unwillingness to fight in the clinch and questioning the judges knowledge of the Muay Thai scoring system. These post-fight comments led to a heated confrontation between Marcus and Chidi's brother Anthony as they scuffled back stage.^[10]

Kickboxing record

Professional kickboxing record
12 wins (7 KOs), 1 loss, 1 draw
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time	Record
2013-09-28	Draw	Simon Marcus	Push Kick Promotions: Muay Thai World Stand Off 5	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Draw (majority)	3	3:00	12-1-1
2011-11-19	Win	Ken Tran	Lion Fight: Battle in the Desert 4	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	KO	2	2:34
2011-07-30	Win	Edwin Aguilar	Kickboxing Empire I	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Decision (unanimous)	5	3:00	10-1
2009-04-25	Loss	Joe Schilling	Dominant Knockout 1	Irving, Texas, USA	Decision (unanimous)	5	3:00

Amateur kickboxing record
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time	Record
2008-00-00	Loss	Lyman Good	World Combat League	USA	Decision (18-9)	1	3:00
2008-05-03	Loss	Raymond Daniels	World Combat League	USA	Decision (18-6)	1	3:00

Mixed martial arts record

References

External links

• Professional MMA record for Chidi Njokuani from Sherdog