Abdullah Al Qahtani sent off his opponent in his latest assignment in the Professional Fighters League. There’s nothing more exciting for a mixed martial artist.
Al Qahtani punched away Yazeed Hassanain in the second round of the PFL MENA 1 headliner at Green Halls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. Hassanain (3-1, 0-1 PFL) turned to referee Rich Mitchell 4 minutes, 59 seconds into the second round and waved his arms, indicating he would not take any more punishment. The program featured qualifying matches for the newly established featherweight and bantamweight divisions. PFL Middle East and North Africa Chapter.
Hassanain was more or less at a disadvantage. Al Qahtani (9-1, 4-0 PFL) staggered him with a left hook in the first round, completed a takedown and cornered his Jordanian opponent. He spent much of the second round pushing Hasanian into the fence, dodging counterattacks and landing power punches to the head. Hasanain’s damage was cumulative and he was eventually forced to raise the white flag to preserve his long-term health.
Meanwhile, Redline MMA export Ali Taleb bounced back from his loss to Khurshed Kaholov on September 30th to defeat fellow former UAW Warriors champion Nauras Abuzakh by unanimous decision in three rounds in the bantamweight co-main event. . All three cageside judges scored it for Taleb (10-1, 3-1 UFC): 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.
The 32-year-old Abuzaf (12-6, 0-1 PFL) secured takedowns in all three rounds but otherwise proved ineffective. Taleb boxed him on the back foot, throwing two, three, four punches at a time. The protégé of Aquila Corassani did his best work with powerful hooks to the head and body, although he mixed in occasional jabs and leg kicks. Taleb suffered a takedown in the third round that stalled his progress, but by then the winner was already decided.
It was Abuzaf’s second loss in three games.
Also later on the card, Entram Gym’s Rachid El Hazomeh defeated Xavier Alaoui in the second round of bantamweight with a rear-naked choke. Alaoui (14-6, 0-1 PFL) was defeated 2:54 into the second round, suffering his second setback in his career.
El Hazomeh (11-3, 1-1 PFL) was given a warning by officials at TriStar Gym after a back-and-forth first round. He got a takedown with about 90 seconds left in the period, moved backwards, secured position with a body triangle, and looked for a possible choke. Alaoui responded early in the second round, dropping the Moroccan with a left hook and biting a guillotine attempt. However, the choke failed and El Hazome quickly reversed. He moved backwards again, leveled Alaoui, and snaked his arm into position to end the match.
El Hazomeh, 31, has won six of his past seven matches.
In other bouts, Islam Reda (10-1, 1-0 PFL) won a unanimous decision in a three-round featherweight bout against Adam Meschini (8-3, 0-1 PFL) . Tariq Ismail (7-1-1, 0-0-1, PFL) takes on Jalal Al Dajjah (11-8-1, 0-0-1, PFL) in a third-round bantamweight bout. It ended up being a majority draw. Elias Boudeghsdam (19-8, 1-0 PFL) applied a guillotine choke to Hassan Mandour (8-6, 0-1 PFL) 52 seconds into the second round of their bantamweight bout. . Maroun Belagui (6-0, 1-0 PFL) defeated Ahmed Rauf (6-2-1, 0-1 PFL) to remain undefeated through the third round of the featherweight bout with 4 minutes and 24 seconds to go. . Abdalrahman Alhyasat (4-0, 1-0 PFL) won a unanimous decision over Ahmed Tareq (4-1, 0-1 PFL) in a third-round featherweight bout. Hattan Al-Saif knocked down Nada Faheem with a head kick 41 seconds into the second round of the amateur women’s atomweight pairing. Malik Basahel won a three-round unanimous decision from Harsh Pandya in an amateur flyweight bout.
