Debut Card Reshuffled on Eve of Combat

The first
Professional Fighters League card for its MENA branch has
changed significantly on weigh-in day.

PFL MENA, a venture that will serve as the brightest stage for
fighters from the Middle East and North Africa region competing in
the PFL Season format. May 10’s debut will go down at The Green
Halls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the card’s lineup has been
reshaped to 10 matchups on weigh-in day. Multiple fighters missed
weight, resulting in a transformation of the main event.

The card is set to ignite a new wave in the region’s combat sports
landscape and features fighters in the featherweight and
bantamweight divisions squaring off in the organization’s win and
advance format. The main event was supposed to feature Abdullah
Al-Qahtani (145.6) against Taha
Bendaoud, but the latter missed weight by an undisclosed amount
to force him off the lineup. Instead, preliminary competitor
Yazeed
Hasanain (146.6) has stepped up to the headliner spot, although
he missed weight by .6 pounds.

Additionally, Maraoune
Bellagouit (145.8) was expected to fight Motaz
Askar, but Askar failed his medical clearances. Facing
Bellagouit will now be Ahmed “Mido
Mohamed” Raouf (145.2), who remains on the lineup despite his
previous pairing against Hasanian getting switched. Finally,
Tariq
Ismail (136.4) exceeded the bantamweight limit by .4 pounds
before battling Jalal Al
Daja (135.6). PFL has not stated whether the heavy fighters of
Hasanian and Ismail will receive fines from their purses or an
automatic point deduction during their respective bouts like PFL
Europe.

All four PFL MENA Season events will be broadcasted live on MBC
Action and on Shahid for fans across the region. The lineup will
also stream live on Dazn across Europe and Asia at 4:30 p.m.
GMT.

Full PFL MENA Weigh-in Results:

Abdullah
Al-Qahtani (145.6) vs. Yazeed
Hasanain (146.6)*
Ali
Taleb (133.4) vs. Nawras
Abzakh (135.4)
Xavier
Alaoui (135.6) vs. Rachid El
Hazoume (134.8)
Islam
Reda (145.6) vs. Adam
Meskini (145.8)
Tariq
Ismail (136.4)** vs. Jalal Al
Daja (135.6)
Elias
Boudegzdame (135.8) vs. Hassan
Mandour (135.8)
Hattan
Alsaif (104) vs. Nada Faheem
(105.8)
Maraoune
Bellagouit (145.8) vs. Ahmed “Mido
Mohamed” Raouf (145.2)
Ahmed
Tarek (145.4) vs. Abdalrahman
Alhyasat (146)
Malik
Basahel (125.4) vs. Harsh
Pandya (125)

* Hasanian missed weight by .6 pounds.
** Ismail missed weight by .4 pounds.