Skinny kid aims to become UAE's youngest fighter

Dubai: His teachers' jaws dropped when the 20-year -old skinny kid told them that he was training to be a professional fighter.

The sophomore management major at Dubai Men's College shocked his teachers and classmates with the announcement that he is about to become the youngest professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter in the region.

"They were really very supportive once the idea sunk in," Ali Mohammad Ali Abdullah Ahli tells Gulf News.

After training on Muay Thai for over a year and MMA for the last four months, Ahli will have his debut fight tomorrow at the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship (ADFC) Round 2.

"I've been training eight hours a day, every day for the last few months." said Ahli.

He said he's indebted to the support he has from his coaches, friends, family, teachers and classmates in helping him keep up with his training and his studies.

"My classmate and best friend Hamad Al Falasi has been making sure I don't fall behind on my training or my classes."

Acceptance

"It took a lot of convincing to get my family to accept that I want to become a professional fighter," said Ahli.

"They were against it at first, but when they saw how much I loved the sport and training, they slowly began to accept it. I think that inshallah when I win my fight that will be the final step to them accepting my dreams," says they youngest of eight children.

"I started watching UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] over a year ago and I really liked the sport. I like the competitiveness of the fighters, the fact that they don't give up till the end."

"I started training Muay Thai as a hobby, and then my coaches saw that I was good enough to fight at a professional level."

Ahli went to Thailand where he gained experience by having three exhibition fights.

"Nothing is impossible; anyone who trains hard enough can make it to the professional level, it just takes discipline, perseverance but mostly you have to love the sport."

Ahli says he's never met Hassan Al Rumaithi, the UAE's first professional MMA fighter, but he would like to get to know him,

"I've watched ADFC Round 1, Hassan is a very good fighter. He represents Abu Dhabi, I want to represent Dubai."

With a 20 year MMA veteran for a coach, Ahli is the first fighter in the Mirdiff based Shark Attack Gym to turn pro, "I may be the first but there is a lot of potential for the guys at my gym, don't be surprised to see some of them at ADFC Round 3."

"I think Ali has a very big opportunity here," says his coach M.J.

"He has very good conditioning and he has been undergoing a unique kind of training, he has everything he needs to win on Friday."