SME-Coverage/Samir Boussad
The UAE champions are excelling, and Frenchman Benoit is the star of the main event
“Al-Shehhi” surpasses the Brazilian champion, and “Al-Kalbani” achieves an unprecedented achievement
Al Hashemi: Leadership support is the foundation of our global achievements
Paris, France May 19, 2024
The UAE champions, Khalid Al Shehhi and Shamma Al Kalbani, excelled, achieving two prominent victories on a historic night in the French capital, Paris, for the fourth edition of Abu Dhabi Extreme, which took place yesterday, and achieved an organizational success that demonstrated the competence of the Emirati cadres in holding the largest and most important sporting events at the international level, specifically martial arts through… This is a unique tournament that combines the sports of jiu-jitsu and grappling inside the cage.
In the details, Khaled Al-Shehhi faced a strong opponent in the main joint fight, as the fight continued for five rounds full of challenges. Khaled Al-Shehhi started with clear superiority from the beginning, as he succeeded in overthrowing his Brazilian competitor, Leonardo Mario, and trying to subdue him, before using his unique techniques to control the fight, despite the opponent’s attempts. To counteract and apply pressure, Khaled’s skills continued to emerge, as he was able to maintain the attack and show diversity and strategy in attacks and defense techniques, and through the outstanding performance of the hero Khaled Al Shehhi, he was awarded the victory by the final decision of the referees.
Shamma Al Kalbani also achieved the first victory for an Emirati champion in this tournament, after defeating Frenchwoman Lina Grosset in the preliminary bout of the tournament.
Al Hashemi: Supporting our leadership is the basis of success
In this regard, Abdul Moneim Al Hashemi, President of the Asian and Emirati Jiu-Jitsu Federations and President of the World Vision Sports Management Company, said: “Thanks to the support of the wise leadership, the efforts of the work teams and the strategic plan to support and develop Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling players according to a sports path with great ambition without ceiling, this success came in the event whether From an organizational point of view, the national cadres demonstrated their capabilities at the international level, and the sons of the Emirates excelled in the two fights they fought, namely Shamma Al-Kalbani and Khaled Al-Shehhi, as honing their skills according to a well-thought-out plan contributed to making them ready to fight this type of fights with the participation of elite international fighters, and raising the UAE flag. In major international forums.
He added: “It was not a matter of the moment and work for a few days, but rather years of continuous work, specifically the parental support enjoyed by all members of the sport of jiu-jitsu in the Emirates, which made us reap the fruits of that by seeing champions from the Emirates ascend the global podium.”
For his part, Mohammed Al Hosani, member of the organizing committee and official fight organizer for the “Abu Dhabi Extreme” tournament, said: We are pleased with this success achieved by the tournament in France, and we were keen to make it in the best shape, and include a distinguished group of athletes in “fights with the suit” and “without the suit.” “We intend to continue these efforts and achieve more successes in the next edition, scheduled to be held next August in the capital, Abu Dhabi.
Media attention and public following
The tournament received great attention from the local and international press, and received unprecedented interaction on social media platforms. The remarkable public attendance that the tournament witnessed confirmed the extent of the success of the tournament and its competitions, especially in light of the big names of participating players from Europe and France in particular, the unique rules, and the unprecedented organization in the world. Combat sports, as this success resulted in achieving the goals of the organizing committee aimed at promoting the tournament globally and enabling the participation of athletes of multiple nationalities. In total, it witnessed the holding of 14 strong fights with the participation of an elite group of 28 male and female athletes from various parts of the world. There were 7 jiu-jitsu fights and 7 grappling fights, including 5 preliminary fights, 5 fights on the main card, and 4 main fights.
Results of fights
The main event of the grappling fight brought together the Frenchman Benoit Saint-Denis and the Englishman Mark Diakissé, and Benoit was able to snatch the victory after an enthusiastic fight and the remarkable prowess he showed throughout the fight. The jiu-jitsu fight also witnessed the victory of the Norwegian Espen Matthiessen over the Frenchman Leon Larman, and in the joint main event fight the Welshman Ffion Davis was able to defeat Beating American Morgan Black.
The rest of the matches on the main card resulted in the victory of the Palestinian Abdul Karim Al-Selwadi over the Frenchman Amin Ayoub in the “Walter” fight, the victory of the Brazilian Cassio Silva over the Finnish Marko Ukkarnen in the flyweight fight, the victory of the Brazilian Natalie De Jesus over the player Elizabeth Mitrovic in the “Walter” weight fight, and the victory of the Englishwoman Nia Blackman defeated Polish Magdalena Loska in a light-weight bout, and Scottish Stephen Ray defeated Gambian Ibrahima Mane in a middle-weight bout.
In the preliminary bouts, the Danish Casper Larsen defeated the Bulgarian Alexander Alexandrov in the heavyweight bout, the Frenchman Calem Masturi defeated the Italian Luca Anacorita in the middleweight bout, and Giovanni Martinez defeated the Frenchman Nicolas Rene in the “unrestricted weight” weight, and in the light weight the Frenchman Younes Benawali was defeated. Who beat the Belgian Florian Bialy.
