Abu Dhabi to showcase the best of region's Mixed Martial Arts

Abu Dhabi: Once again, it's time for fight fans in the Middle East to get their fix of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

The UAE's own fighting franchise, the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship (ADFC) Round 2, will take place this Friday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec).

Four heavyweights have made their way to the semi-finals of the ADFC Grand Prix and will face off for a chance to win Dh1,000,000.

"I think this is going to be one of the toughest fights of my life," said Marcos ‘Santa Cruz'Oliveira, who will be fighting Britain's Neil ‘Old Skool' Wain.

Oliveira won his Round 1 fight by knocking out the French wrestler Johan Romming in an amazing 17 seconds.

"I'm not thinking about the money," Oliveira said at the ADFC Round 2 press conference held yesterday. "I want the belt, I want the honour. I know I'm the underdog in this tournament," said the Brazilian grappler who is an instructor at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club and teaches Juijitsu to children.

Wain advanced in the competition after defeating Polish powerhouse Przemylsaw ‘Misiek' Mysiala late in the second round of the ADFC Round 1.

"I've been training with bigger guys to get ready for this fight," said Thierry Sokoudjou, who had a disappointing first fight winning by disqualification. "All you can do is train hard and hope things will go as planned but that doesn't always happen and you just have to train harder next time."

The African Assassin will step in the cage against five time Russian Wushu-sanda Champion Shamil Abdurahimov. Known for training in the mountains, Abdurahimov is often called the Russian Bear, "Mountain training finished months ago, it's too cold now," he joked.

When asked about the speed of Sokoudjou, he replied, "Every door has a key, and I have a lot of keys, I think I can find the right one."

The preliminary card will showcase many winners from Round 1 as well as some new regional fighter. Professional MMA fighter Hassan Al Rumaithi will fight again, "This time there is less pressure and I'm much calmer," says the Judoka.

Dubai challenger

Following in his footsteps is Dubai's Ali Mohammad Ali Abdullah Ahli. The Emirati free-style fighter will be making his MMA debut.

The ADFC will also have a representative from India in the preliminary fights. Bhupesh ‘The Maratha Warrior' Kamble is a kick boxer who will step out in the light-heavyweight category. "MMA is growing in India as with all the Asian counties that are taking up the sport."

From Iraq comes ‘The Lion of Babylon" Rafat Mahmoud Shawe, a striker and two-time UAE Karate Champion and Iraq Champion. The 35- year-old middleweight will be fighting out of Dubai's Big Apple Gym.

"We are here to promote pure fighting in the UAE," said COO Randall Yogachandra of iSee, parent company of ADFC. "After Round 1 we got more then 300 fighters contacting us to be part of Round 2."

"A lot of gyms and clubs in the country contacted us, some have very talented fighters and some have a lot of potential. But there is no real MMA gym in the UAE yet, some are about to open, but you need to get that experience first."

He went on to confirm that the ADFC plans to set up an MMA gym for its fighters. "It just makes logistic sense for us to have somewhere for them to train when they're here."

ADFC Round 3 will take place in March where the winner of the Grand Prix will take home Dh1,000,000. Weight-ins for ADFC Round 2 will take place today at Mall of the Emirates at 7pm.

Former champ drops in

Much to everyone's surprise, former UFC Heavyweight Champion and UFC Hall of Famer Mark ‘the Hammer' Coleman attended the ADFC Round 2 press conference yesterday. It was announced that the MMA legend, known as the ‘Godfather of Ground and Pound,' will be doing colour commentary for the event.

The veteran fighter had a few words of advice for the fighters. "This is your time now, say what's on your mind, don't try to be nice, nice guys finish last. Get the fans excited and on your side, give ‘em something to remember."

The Hammer said that his was his first visit to the UAE and he hopes it's not his last, "I'm really excited to be part of the ADFC, I think this is going to be a great event. I'm really looking forward to the main event fights and I'm really going to be looking out for Hassan's fight. It's very important to have local and hometown heroes, so the sport can continue to grow here, so I'll be cheering for those guys on Friday."