Abdullah
Al-Qahtani made his opponent quit in his latest
Professional Fighters League assignment. There can be no
greater joy for a mixed martial artist.
Al-Qahtani put away Yazeed
Hasanain with punches in the second round of their
PFL MENA 1 headliner on Friday at The Green Halls in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia. Hasanain (3-1, 0-1 PFL)
turned to referee Rich Mitchell, waved his arms and indicated he
could absorb no further punishment 4:59 into Round 2.
The show featured qualifying bouts in the featherweight and
bantamweight divisions for the newly established Middle East and
North Africa branch of the PFL.
Hasanain was more or less outgunned. Al-Qahtani (9-1, 4-0 PFL)
staggered him with a left hook in the first round, completed a
takedown and went about stalking his Jordanian counterpart. He
pressed Hasanian into the fence for much of the second round,
dodged return fire and unleashed power punches to the head. Damage
was cumulative on Hasanain and ultimately forced him to raise the
white flag in an effort to preserve his long-term health.
Meanwhile, Redline MMA export Ali Taleb
rebounded from his Sept. 30 loss to Khurshed
Kakhorov and outstruck fellow former UAW Warriors champion
Nawras
Abzakh to a unanimous decision in their three-round
bantamweight co-main event. All three cageside judges scored it for
Taleb (10-1, 3-1 UFC): 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
The 32-year-old Abzakh (12-6, 0-1 PFL) secured takedowns in all
three rounds but otherwise proved ineffective. Taleb boxed him onto
the back foot and unleashed two, three and four punches at a time.
The Akira
Corassani protege mixed in the occasional jab and leg kick but
did his best work through powerful hooks to the head and body.
Taleb’s progress stalled in the third round after being taken down,
but by then, the outcome had already been decided.
The defeat was Abzakh’s second in three outings.
Further down the card, Entram Gym’s Rachid El
Hazoume disposed of Xavier
Alaoui with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their
bantamweight feature. Alaoui (14-6, 0-1 PFL)
conceded defeat 2:54 into Round 2, suffering his second setback in
as many appearances.
El Hazoume (11-3, 1-1 PFL) put the Tristar Gym rep on notice in a
back-and-forth first round. He struck for a takedown with roughly
90 seconds left in the period, advanced to the back, secured his
position with a body triangle and probed for potential chokes.
Alaoui answered early in Round 2, where he dropped the Moroccan
with a left hook and bit down on an attempted guillotine. The choke
failed, however, and El Hazoume soon sprang a reversal. He again
progressed to the back, flattened out Alaoui and snaked his arms in
place for the fight-ending choke.
The 31-year-old El Hazoume has won six of his past seven bouts.
In other action, Islam Reda
(10-1, 1-0 PFL) captured a unanimous decision against Adam
Meskini (8-3, 0-1 PFL) in their three-round featherweight
confrontation; Tariq
Ismail (7-1-1, 0-0-1 PFL) settled for a majority draw with
Jalal
Al Daja (11-8-1, 0-0-1 PFL) in their three-round bantamweight
battle; Elias
Boudegzdame (19-8, 1-0 PFL) subdued Hassan
Mandour (8-6, 0-1 PFL) with a guillotine choke 52 seconds into
the second round of their bantamweight encounter; Maraoune
Bellagouit (6-0, 1-0 PFL) punched out Ahmed Raouf
(6-2-1, 0-1 PFL)
to remain unbeaten 4:24 into the third round of their featherweight
tilt; Abdalrahman
Alhyasat (4-0, 1-0 PFL) laid claim to a unanimous decision over
Ahmed Tarek
(4-1, 0-1 PFL) in their three-round featherweight clash; Hattan
Alsaif cut down Nada Faheem
with
a head kick 41 seconds into the second round of their amateur
women’s atomweight pairing; and Malik
Basahel took a three-round unanimous decision from Harsh
Pandya in an amateur flyweight clash.