Palestinian champion, who has just fought his way into the prestigious Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) following an impressive win on Tuesday, might make his UFC debut in October, USAToday sports reported.
Abdul-Kareem “Pride Of Palestine” Al-Selwady was granted entry to the UFC Tuesday after an impressive and much anticipated fight in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This came after Fury FC champion Selwady defeated Cage Warriors champion Hardwick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in week 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series.
“On paper, the headlining lightweight clash between George Hardwick and Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady profiled as one of the best, most high-level fights in Dana White’s Contender Series history, and when the two men stepped into the cage, they delivered,” UFC said in a statement following the match.
Al-Selwady with the best fight of his career on the biggest stage 👏🏻👏🏻 #DWCS2 pic.twitter.com/5KVB5Cw4o6
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 16, 2023
The UFC described the fight as follows:
“Al-Selwady started quickly, stinging Hardwick with a couple sharp right hands as the former Cage Warriors champ looked to find his range and settle in.
“The British fighter grew into the contest, having greater success late in the first and throughout the second, but Al-Selwady remained sharp, continuing to land with greater speed and frequency.
“In the third, the pace, movement, and variety from the Fortis MMA representative continued to hold the upper hand, keeping Hardwick guessing while banging home good shots that stymied the Brit’s advances.”
“I’ll just be excited to fight and build my way up,” Al-Selwady said, USAToday Sports reported.
“I want to build a nice name for myself, I want to collect performance bonuses each event because my style I believe is very exciting, and I just want to win in nice, dominant fashion,” he added.
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The MMA Junkie blog, part of USAToday Sports, said that “UFC 294 on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi would be nice for Al-Selwady to make his promotional debut,” but “‘The Pride of Palestine’ is just ready to continue riding the momentum he built from an impressive showing at DWCS 58.”
Al-Selwady, a lightweight division fighter, is the second Palestinian fighter to make it to the UFC, preceded by Belal “Remember the Name” Muhammad.
Muhammad is reportedly expected to have a shot at the welterweight title soon.
(ROYA NEWS, PC)
