Help get Demi-Shaye Thomas to the IMMAF world champs!
Scouts Hall, Toti: Sun 27 Oct 9am – noon
Friends of mixed martial arts expert, Demi-Shaye Thomas, are holding an open-mic fundraiser for her at the Scouts Hall in Toti on Sunday 27 October from 9am until noon, to help her to get to the World IMMAF (the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation) Champs in Uzbekistan in November.
24-year-old Demi is from Athlone Park, and has been chosen to represent all Africa at the tournament, and needs financial help to cover her real costs to get to Uzbekistan next month. It is the first time the nation will host a major IMMAF event. The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation is the international governing body for amateur mixed martial arts.
The fund-raising event will be an open mic with anyone welcome to pop in and play. It’s open to anyone that can play an instrument or even if anyone would like to do a karaoke song. They are also opening it up to vendors to make a small market. All entries for vendors and the event itself will go to Demi. We will also have a donation box for those feeling generous.
Demi holds an Honors Degree in Psychology (Cum Laude). She is the 2024 national gold and silver medalist; she has won the 2024 IMMAF Africa Featherweight Gold Medalist; KZN and South African MMA athlete.
She represented her province at Nationals and won and medaled at the competitions thus securing her spot in the SA team. She also competed at IMMAF African championships and won gold.
“You may be skilled in other disciplines to participate such as kickboxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu and so forth but one needs to have a solid background of both striking, grappling, and clinching to have a good MMA skillset,” explained Demi. “However because South Africa is still building MMA in our country, financing, sponsorships and funds are extremely hard to find, therefore many struggle to get the opportunity to go and participate for the team. We had to raise most of our funds for Africas and now for worlds coming up in November. We need support for this sport,” she said.
“We are ranked currently at 11 in the world. We are starting to hold a high standard of mixed martial arts especially with Dricus (du Plessis),representing us as the UFC world champion and other South African athletes holding the flag high competing at high levels and holding many titles globally. Women have also especially grown over the years, and it makes me so happy to see that more young girls are now coming into the picture, they are the future of womens MMA and combat sports,” she said.
• For more info about the fundraiser, or if you wish to participate, contact Giselle on 083 271 1026; Landie on 072 439 8765.
