The
Professional Fighters League returned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
for the tournament semifinals of its MENA branch.

Mostafa Nada submits Osama Elseady in Round 2 of their PFL MENA
trilogy rubber match

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The
PFL MENA 11 headliner featured the rubber match between
205-pounders Mostafa
Rashed Nada and Osama
ElSeady (9-4, 0-2 PFL). Elseady made his in-cage return
following a nearly three-year hiatus, showing some cage rust in his
takedowns and attempts to stall the action on the canvas whenever
possible. In turn, Nada (10-4, 3-1 PFL) reached his opponent’s chin
with his right hand on different occasions, with Elseady easily
dropping to the canvas whenever Nada connected.

In the second frame, Nada found more success with his strikes, as
fellow former Desert Force titleholder Elseady repeatedly dove for
takedowns. After Elseady’s umpteenth takedown attempt, Nada
sprawled and countered with a guillotine choke. After adjusting his
position, Nada forced Elseady to tap at the 2:33 mark of Round 2.
With the victory, Nada sealed the 10-year trilogy and earned the
third submission win of his career.

In the co-main event, Badreddine
Diani (12-4, 5-1 PFL) submitted International Mixed Martial
Arts Federation medalist Hazem
Kayyali (3-1-2, 1-1 PFL) and earned a spot in the 170-pound
tournament final on Dec. 11. Former UAE Warriors titleholder Diani
was on the receiving end of his foe’s initiative in the opening
frame, where he had to defend several submission attempts. In Round
2, Kayyali landed a well-timed jumping kick and went for a
guillotine choke, but Diani weathered the storm and pursued a
submission of his own: a tight arm-triangle choke that forced
Kayyali to tap at 3:05 of the second stanza.

In the other welterweight semifinal on the card,
Brave Combat Federation veteran Abdelkrim
Zouad (9-2, 2-0 PFL) upended Omar
Hussein (12-8, 1-3 PFL) on all scorecards (29-28, 30-27,
30-27).

At 155 pounds, Ylies
Djiroun (26-9, 2-2 PFL) spoiled the perfect record of Assem
Ghanem (7-1, 1-1 PFL) and reached the tournament final. “Broly”
stopped an ill-advised takedown attempt by Ghanem, pushed his
opponent against the cage and unloaded a series of punches that
forced the referee to halt the action at 3:06 of the opening
stanza. Ghanem took the fight on short notice after Basel
Ahmed Shalaan missed weight the day before.

In December, Djiroun will lock horns with 2025 finalist Mohammad
Fahmi (7-1, 3-1 PFL), who reached the tournament final for the
second year in a row after outclassing Egypt’s Ahmed El
Sisy (8-3, 1 NC; 2-2 PFL) en route to a unanimous decision
(29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

In the only 145-pound semifinal on the card, Mehdi Saadi
(8-2, 2-0 PFL) edged Shadi
Kabbani (5-1, 1-1 PFL) via a narrow split decision (29-28,
29-28, 28-29). The Tunisian fighter came close to finishing his
opponent with a kneebar in the opening frame. Former
Ares Fighting Championship title challenger Saadi will face
Elias
Boudegzdame (21-9, 2-1 PFL) in the tournament final.

Boudegzdame was supposed to take on Islam
Youssef at the event, but his opponent was forced to withdraw
because of visa issues. Youssef’s replacement, Brice
Picaud, couldn’t compete because of weight-cutting issues,
allowing Boudegzdame to advance to the tournament final without
fighting.

In the only WMMA action on the card, Fatima Al
Ammari stopped Aya Lounes
with a knee followed by punches at 1:05 of the second frame.

In the first fight of the event, Alridah
Alnemar outpointed Ali
Alshowakh via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in their
amateur bantamweight clash.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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