SME/ Riyadh
Amidst a large audience of martial arts fans, the second round of the first season of the “PFL MENA” mixed martial arts championship in the Middle East and North Africa region was concluded in Riyadh.
The final stage matches will be held next November in Riyadh.
Saudi supremacy
In the “International Fighting Event,” the Saudi fighter, Mustafa Nada, was able to defeat his Algerian opponent, Abdel Rahman Deri, by knockout in the first round during the main fight.
Nada increased his professional record to 9-3, and achieved his sixth victory by knockout during his career, in addition to maintaining his streak of victories in 5 consecutive fights.
Nada said: “My opponent was very strong and had a long history in international fights, but I had a great sense of victory… I am special at deceiving the opponent.”
In a round of excitement and suspense, Saudi fighter Hattan Al-Saif achieved a new victory over the Egyptian first-round champion, Iman Baraka, in the second round of the women’s amateur atomweight competition.
Hattan scored a dramatic victory after a fierce fight that ultimately led to the withdrawal of her Egyptian competitor, who holds a black belt in karate.
The list for the second round of the tournament includes fighters from the “light”, “medium”, “fly” and “corn” weight categories, competing with the innovative “play-off” system, as the tournament aims to provide a platform for Arab fighters to showcase their skills on an international level. And enhancing the status of combat sports in the region.
Results of fights
In other fights, Kuwaiti Mohammed Al-Aqra’ defeated Algerian Youssef Bou Abbas. Al-Aqra’ maintained his undefeated record, raising his score to 6-0, in addition to achieving the second victory by knockout during his career, while Bou Abbas suffered his first defeat in his career.
Jordanian Jarrah Al-Silawi was able to defeat Algerian Rayan Othmani by submission in the first round of their middleweight bout, increasing his professional record to 20-6, and achieving his sixth victory by submission.
In the middleweight bouts, Moroccan Badr Eddine Diagne defeated Iranian Amir Fadli by unanimous decision of the judges, and Egyptian Omar Al-Dafrawi achieved an exceptional victory over Lebanese Anthony Zidane by decision of the judges.
In the lightweight fights, Iranian Mohsen Saifi defeated Lebanese Josh Togo by knockout in the first round, and Algerian Sohail Taheri achieved a distinguished victory over Bahraini Ahmed Amir by unanimous decision of the judges, and Kuwaiti Abdullah Salim was able to decide matters in his favor in the first round against Tunisian Omar Al-Raqi. The Lebanese George Eid also defeated the Bahraini Abbas Khan by decision of the referees, and the Egyptian fighter Ziad Ayman Mukhtar was able to win and defeat the Emirati Hadi Omar Al-Husseini by submission in the third round in the exhibition flyweight fight.
Professional Fighters League
The American Mixed Martial Arts Association was founded in 2018, after acquiring the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promotion in 2017. It is the first major mixed martial arts organization in which individual athletes compete on a regular basis. Season, post-season, tournament, not year-round.
The Professional Fighters League kicked off its inaugural season on June 7, 2018 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
The year 2018 also witnessed the holding of the first championship of the American Professional Fighters League (PFL), based in Washington, DC, and supported by a giant sports investment company newly established in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
