Sport | Other Sports
World's top fighters to square off
Mixed martial artists to slug it out for Dh1m purse in Abu Dhabi on Friday
- By M. Satya Narayan, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:00 May 12, 2010
- Image Credit: Ravindranath/Gulf News
- Hans Olbertz, General Manager of Abu Dhabi Fighters Championship, with the fighters (from left) Thierry Sokoudjou, Marcos Oliveira, Dave Herman, Johan Romming, Shamil Abdurahimov and Przemyslaw Mysiala during yesterday’s press conference at Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi: Eight of the world's top Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters have arrived here in Abu Dhabi to feature in Friday's opening battle of a three-stage event for the Dh1 million purse in the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship.
Extreme Brawl champion Przemyslaw Mysiala from Poland, Briton Neil Wain- the Ultimate Force heavyweight champion, Marcos Oliveira the 100 Per Cent Fight champion, American Jeff Monson- the former ADCC heavyweight champion, fellow American Dave Herman, five-time Wushu-sanda champion from Russia Shamil Abdurahimov, Cameroon's Thierry Sokoudjou and 100 Per cent Fight champion Johan Romming from France lined up at a press conference at the Emirates Palace Hotel and announced that they were ready for Friday's first round battle at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec).
Event highlights
Soheil Nemri, the chief executive of I See Events, the event organiser said, "Tickets for Friday's action have been selling fast and we expect an estimated audience of 6,000. Before the four featured fights which count for the Dh1 million event we have six other bouts and with entertainment in between it will be a great event."
"This event is sanctioned by the UAE Wrestling, Judo and Jiu Jitsu Federation and is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan," Nemri added. The eight fighters will face each other in four bouts and the winners will come back for another round after which the final will be scheduled at the end of the year for the winner-takes-all purse of One million dirhams.
The MMA (mixed martial arts) competition will pit fighters of various fighting skills and techniques and the rules allowing striking and grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground, to decide winners.
Hans Olbertz, General Manager of Emirates Palace said, "For the last two years we have seen some really exciting sporting events being staged here in Abu Dhabi and this Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship is another milestone."
Fans
The star competitors will assemble on Thursday at the Marina Mall for the weigh-in at 7pm after which fans will get a chance to get autographs and photographs of the fighters.
On Friday, the four Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship bouts will last three rounds of five minutes each.
Championship
- The Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship line-up:
- Johan Romming (Fra) vs Marcos Oliveira (Bra)
- Przemylaw Mysiala (Pol) vs Neil Wain (GBR)
- Thierry Sokoudjou (Cam) vs Dave Herman (USA)
- Shamil Abdurahimov (Rus) vs Jeff Monson (USA)
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