Professional Fighters League is further
expanding its presence in the Middle East region by signing two
talented finishers.
On Wednesday, PFL announced via press release that it had signed
two international competitors to exclusive contracts. From Lebanon,
PFL snagged two-division middleweight and light heavyweight
Brave Combat Federation champ Mohammad
Fakhreddine (15-4, 2 NC). Out of Syria, it picked up former UAE
Warriors 205-pound kingpin Tarek
Suleiman (12-8, 1 NC). It is unclear which divisions these
fighters will be competing at, as the PFL no longer maintains
maintain a 185-pound division in its tournaments. Their debuts have
not yet been set.
Advertisement
Fakhreddine will join the promotion celebrating an 80% knockout
rate, with each of his last eight victories coming by way of
knockout. A longtime Brave fighter that first joined that league
back at Brave CF 4, “The Latest” shifted from welterweight to
middleweight as he moved up its ranks. Although ultimately
unsuccessful in Brave’s one-night openweight tournament in 2019,
Fakhreddine went on to claim the middleweight throne by knocking
out Daniel
Souza Pereira in 2020. A no contest and then a knockout of
Mohamed
Said Maalem at 205 pounds earned him the light heavyweight
strap to serve as a concurrent two-division champ.
While he may not sport the same championship accolades as his
friend Fakhreddine, Suleiman has never gone the distance in victory
as a pro. In fact, he has never needed to go beyond the second
round to record a win. In his last time out, he came up short to
Will
Fleury by decision for the UAE Warriors middleweight strap,
putting an end to a win streak that included victories over
Piotr
Walawski, Laid
Zerhouni and K.B. Bhullar.
In 2019, Suleiman moved up to light heavyweight to duke it out with
strongman Oli
Thompson, and he knocked the Brit out to earn the UAE Warriors
205-pound title – a belt he did not attempt to defend.
The PFL will carry on with its 2022 season on Friday with
PFL 5: 2022 Regular Season, which will see featherweights and
heavyweights put it on the line for playoff spots. In the main
event, Bruno
Cappelozza throws down with Matheus
Scheffel in the heavyweight division. The co-headliner sees a
155-pound tilt between Anthony
Pettis and Steven Ray,
while the top featherweight tilt comes between Chris Wade
and Kyle
Bochniak.