Clash of the titans to rock the UAE

Abu Dhabi: Tonight the Middle East will crown its first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Champion. Eight veteran MMA fighters from around the world stepped into a cage in Abu Dhabi last May. All for a chance to win Dh1 million and become the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship's (ADFC) first World Champion.

Six fighters have been eliminated in this open weight grand prix and tonight at Zayed Sports City, the two finalists will face off for the belt and the cash in a bout scheduled for five five-minute rounds.

Living and fighting out of Abu Dhabi, Brazilian Marcos ‘Santa Cruz' Oliveira, is the fighter representing the UAE in this tournament. "Winning the belt is more important to me than the money. I want to make sure this belt stays here in Abu Dhabi," says Oliveira who teaches Jiu-jitsu to sixth and seventh grade children in Abu Dhabi's government schools.

Oliveira, considered the underdog, admitted that the pressure has been mounting as the fight gets closer and he has been having trouble sleeping, but support has been coming in from coaches and family as more than a dozen people have moved into his two-bedroom apartment in the past few weeks.

The man standing between Oliveira and the belt is five-time Russian Wushu-Sanda champion, Shamil ‘Rostov-on-Don' Abdurahimov. The Russian has defeated two UFC veterans, Jeff Monson and Thierry Sokoudjou, on his way to the final. A man of few words, Abdurahimov would only say that you will see the fruits of his training when he steps into the cage.

When asked about the Dh1 million, both fighters said that they will not make any plans until the money is in their hands; though Oliveira did say that he would like to own a horse.

The co-main event of the night is a highly-anticipated fight that was scheduled to be the main event of British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA) 5 last December in the UK, but it was cancelled due to bad weather. Bob ‘The Beast' Sapp will take on Stav ‘Crazy Bear' Economou.

"Last year I showed up and Stav showed up, but the weather also showed up and it snowed up," says Sapp. "I'm always excited to fight, and fighting the Beast whether it's in the UK or America or here in the UAE I'm up for it, I'm ready," says Economou.

Trademark hairstyle

Sapp taunted his opponent during the press conference saying that he was going to take out "Rainbow Bright" with a first round knockout, making fun of Economou's trademark colourful hairstyles.

Crazy Bear didn't seem fazed by the Beast's words and intimidation tactics as he squared off with the giant American and the two literally butted heads at the weigh ins on Wednesday night. "I can't wait, I finally get my hands on the Beast," Economou told Gulf News.

"It should have happened in December, but now there's no more hype... the anticipation was killing me, but now it's finally here. I predict a first round KO, with me winning of course."

Also on the card are two Dubai-based fighters who will go head to head. The youngest Emirati Professional MMA fighter, Ali Mohammad Ahli, made his MMA debut at ADFC Round 2 last October winning a controversial split decision.

Ahli will be facing a rising star in the MMA scene, Contender MMA's Malik ‘The Smiler' Omarov who holds a perfect MMA record of 3-0-0 with all his wins coming via first round KOs.

Fight fans will be looking to see how much Ahli has improved, as he looked very green in his first fight, there will be no room for mistakes in the cage against a fighter of Omarov's calibre who is a Muay Thai Intercontinental Champion.

ADFC Round 3 will also hold the first Women's MMA fight in the region, when the Netherlands' Tatiana Van Polanen faces Finland's Outi Louhimo.

For more information go to www.adfc.ae