Welterweights and Lightweights did not
disappoint in Riyadh!All The Finishes From PFL MENA 2
#PFLMENA pic.twitter.com/HalC5XdDNZ— PFL (@PFLMMA)
July 12, 2024
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Semifinals matchups for the
Professional Fighters League’s first season in the Middle East
and North Africa are now in place.
Welterweights Mohammad
Alaqraa, Jarrah
Al-Silawi, Badreddine
Diani and Omar El
Dafrawy punched their respective tickets, along with
lightweights Mohsen
Mohammadseifi, Souhil
Tahiri, Abdullah
Saleem and Georges Eid
at
PFL MENA 2 on Friday at The Green Halls in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia. A $100,000 grand prize goes to the winner of each weight
class, along with consideration to be included on the PFL’s global
roster in 2025.
Alaqraa (6-0, 1-0 PFL) made his intentions known, as he disposed of
Youcef
Ouabbas with punches in the third round of their welterweight
quarterfinal. Ouabbas (3-1, 0-1 PFL) met his end 53 seconds into
Round 3. The American Kickboxing Academy’s Alaqraa moves on to the
170-pound semifinals against Diani (8-3, 1-0 PFL)—a 30-27, 30-27,
29-28 winner over Amir Fazli
(6-2, 0-1 PFL) in their three-round welterweight quarterfinal.
Meanwhile, Al-Silawi (20-6, 3-3 PFL) took another step toward a
six-figure payday when he submitted Rayan
Atmani with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
welterweight quarterfinal. Atmani (4-3, 0-1 PFL) capitulated 4:20
into Round 1. Al Silawi advances to the 170-pound semifinals
against El Dafrawy (11-6, 1-0 PFL)—a 30-25, 30-26, 30-27 unanimous
decision victor over Anthony
Zeidan (4-2, 0-1 PFL) in their three-round welterweight
quarterfinal.
Elsewhere, Mohammedseifi (5-1, 1-0 PFL) brought down Josh Togo
with punches in the first round of their lightweight quarterfinal.
Togo (13-6, 0-1 PFL) succumbed to blows 3:33 into Round 1. A
five-time gold medalist at the World Wushu Championships,
Mohammedseifi advances to the 155-pound semifinals against Tahiri
(7-4, 1-0 PFL)—a 29-27, 29-27, 29-27 unanimous decision winner over
Ahmed
Amir (12-5-1, 0-2 PFL) in their three-round quarterfinal.
Further down the card, Saleem (6-0, 1-0 PFL) disposed of Omar
Reguigui with a triangle choke in the first round of their
lightweight quarterfinal. Reguigui (4-2, 0-1 PFL) bowed out 90
seconds into Round 1. Saleem moves on to the 155-pound semifinals
against Eid (9-4, 1-0 PFL)—a 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 unanimous decision
victor over Abbas Khan
(6-3, 0-1 PFL) in their three-round quarterfinal.
In other action, Mostafa
Rashed Nada (9-3, 2-0 PFL) punched out Abdel
Rahmane Driai (9-3, 0-1 PFL) just 2:34 into their middleweight
headliner; Ziad Ayman
(6-1, 1-0 PFL) put away Hadi
Omar Al Hussaini (5-1-1, 0-1 PFL) with a rear-naked choke 4:25
into the third round of their flyweight pairing; and Hattan
Alsaif forced Eman Baraka
to retire in between the second and third rounds of their amateur
atomweight affair.
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