MMA – Bahrain's mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Hamad Marhoon had a successful professional debut in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) Mena Finals: All or Nothing, held late Friday night at the Dhahran Expo in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
Marhoon triumphed in his catchweight showcase bout against Oualid Gounaine from Morocco with a guillotine choke submission victory in the first round.
Marhoon was later joined in the cage following his sensational win by Bahrain’s MMA national team head coach Eldar Khan and fellow-Bahraini MMA star Hamza Kooheji.
Also in the PFL Mena Finals: All or Nothing, four new champions were crowned.
In the main event, Kuwait’s Mohammad Alaqraa (10-1) edged out Morocco’s Badreddine “Dreamchaser” Diani (10-4) by unanimous decision after five hard-fought rounds to win the PFL Mena welterweight championship. Diani came out aggressive, but it was Alaqraa who found success early as he was able to control the pace of the fight with his striking and his takedowns.
Momentum swung Diani’s way midway through, as he was able to use his striking to push Alaqraa backwards.
In the end however, it was Alaqraa’s adjustments that spelled the difference, as he was able to take the fight to the mat and grind out the win and bring home a championship.
In the co-main event, Morocco’s Salah Eddine ‘Supersalah’ Hamli (11-0) kept his undefeated record intact as he submitted Iraq’s Mohammad ‘Soulkeeper’ Fahmi (6-1) in the second round to become the new
PFL Mena lightweight champion.
Hamli turned in a dominant all-around performance, as he was in control standing and on the ground.
In the second round, Hamli was able to get the fight to the mat and sink in the D’arce choke.
Hamli caps off an impressive maiden PFL Mena season with a championship win.
Islam ‘The Egyptian Zombie’ Reda (15-1) scored a second-round submission victory over Algeria’s Yanis ‘The Desert Warrior’ Ghemmouri (13-4) to become the PFL Mena featherweight champion.
Reda survived an early striking onslaught from Ghemmouri and managed to take the fight to the ground.
From there, it was all Reda, as he imposed his superior grappling skills to lock in the anaconda choke and earn his ninth win via submission.
Jordan’s Nawras ‘Honey Badger’ Abzakh (15-6, 1 NC) needed just 36 seconds to submit Islam ‘Moksha’ Youssef (7-3) of Egypt and capture the PFL Mena bantamweight championship.
Abzakh stuffed a takedown attempt from Youssef, and then reversed it into a deep guillotine choke, forcing the tap and securing the eighth submission win of his career.
&uuid=(email))