Hinda steps back into the ring 

Namibia’s sportsman of the year, Veya Hinda, and clubmate Abreu Ferreira will be in action at the Muaythai Fight Night Gladiators Cup in Johannesburg this weekend.

Hinda and Ferreira, who are both members of Combat Club Windhoek, will be in action against southern African opponents at the Gladiators Cup, which is being organised by Eclipse Fight League.

Hinda, who is still unbeaten as a muay thai fighter after four bouts, while he has a mixed martial arts (MMA) record of eight wins and two losses, will take on Jonathan Albrecht of South Afria in a pro-amateur fight over three rounds.

Hinda says he does not know much about his opponent, but is not worried.

“We’ve done the work and we’ve done the preparations. It’s fight week now, so we’re working on cutting weight, but besides that I’m feeling good, I’m feeling strong,” he says.

“I don’t really know much about my opponent, all I know is that they changed my opponent at the last minute. I was initially supposed to fight someone else.

“I’m not too sure what the reasons were, but for me it doesn’t matter. I’m in good shape and in confident mood,” he says.

Hinda has not been in action much this year, but has continued to train, and says he’s aiming to turn professional next year.

“This year I’ve just been working on improving my game a lot more, because I’m planning on going professional – whether it’s in muay thai or in MMA next year. So this is my last year of making sure that by the time I’m there I’ll be ready,” he says.

“I had a fight in March this year in Pretoria, where I won by a second round knockout, but I’ve mostly been working on improving myself this year,” he says.

Hinda, who won the MMA African featherweight title last year, was not in action at this year’s MMA African Championships that Namibia hosted, but he did not explain his absence.

“There were a lot of reasons as to why I did not take part. I would have loved to take part because it’s one of the biggest African tournaments, and I was the 2022 African featherweight champion, but this time around things didn’t really work out for us.

“So hopefully next time around you’ll be able to see me compete back home,” he says.

Hinda says it was great to win the sportsman of the year award.

“At the time I was in Thailand for a fight, and due to the different time zones, it was about 04h00 in the morning when my family called me up.

“I still had to train at 06h00, but I couldn’t sleep. It meant everything to me to win the Namibian sportsman of the year award, knowing there are so many talented athletes in Namibia and I was the chosen one for this year.

“It’s a blessing from God, it meant everything to me,” he says.

“But I’m definitely going to turn professional next year,” he says.

Ferreira, who has a record of six wins and four defeats as an amateur, will take on Emmerson Pedro of Mozambique, who has a pro record of one win and three losses.

“I feel excited and I’m ready. Me and my friend Veja have been training so hard for this fight, and we can’t wait to go and represent our club and our country,” he says.

“I don’t know much about my opponent, I think he’s a professional MMA fighter, but for me his record doesn’t matter. I’ve been training for a long time and I’m ready for anyone,” he says.