Jarrah
Al-Silawi’s chance to regain his
Professional Fighters League roster spot could rely on him
winning the eight-man PFL MENA Welterweight Season. Despite his
setbacks during the previous two years, Al-Silawi says he’s become
a brand-new fighter.
“I feel that I’m one of the most experienced fighters in the
field,” Al-Silawi told Sherdog.com. “This camp, however, gave me
the chance to improve and work on new things to become Jarrah 2.0.
With that comes the responsibility to perform and do well in this
tournament.
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“I’m very excited to fight in an Arab country again,” he added. “I
think it gives me a chance to prove that I’m one of — if not the
best — Middle Eastern fighters, and who knows, maybe this will
lead to me fighting on the big show again.”
Al-Silawi (19-6) will face Algeria’s Rayan
Atmani (4-2) at
2024 PFL MENA 2 Regular Season on Friday at The Green Halls in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Armani has never been outside the first round
and could look to test Al-Silawi’s chin early. If the “Jordanian
Lion” wants to move forward, he must be ready to hunt.
Although Al-Silawi is excited to fight in Saudi Arabia and take
part in a Middle Eastern fighting showcase, at this point in his
career, his main concern is returning to the PFL global roster.
Al-Silawi fought his way up through the challenger series and
claimed his roster spot with a first-round knockout over Michael
Lilly. After beating Gleison
Tibau in his regular-season debut, he thought the sky was the
limit but quickly came crashing back into Earth after suffering
three-straight knockout losses.
Al-Silawi fell short to heavy hitters Magomed
Umalatov, Sadibou Sy
and Solomon
Renfro, discovering that he’d have to level up his game if he
were to ever return to the big stage. He says he’s watched those
fights regularly throughout camp and won’t make the same mistakes
again.
“I now know those losses were due to mistakes that I feel have been
fixed,” he said. “I’ve worked a lot on my wrestling, footwork,
boxing and overall approach to the sport. My confidence is just
where it needs to be.”
The process wasn’t easy for the 32-year-old. After a decade of cage
time, it wasn’t easy to rebound after three straight knockout
losses. Beating Nenad Avramoic last December was the confidence
boost he needed to return to form. Now, with the path back to the
PFL global tournament in front of him, all Al-Silawi has to do is
perform like the fighter he believes he can be.
“When I lost those fights, I had to remind myself not to forget who
I was,” he said. “That can be easy to overlook in situations like
that. I’ve beaten some significant names and people who’ve done
incredible things in other promotions, which has helped my
confidence. I’m just here to show what I can do, and hopefully,
that’ll be enough to return to the PFL U.S. tournament.”