Categories: Sport

Arab News | ‘Indescribable feeling’: Local hero Nada conquers decade-long rival El-Seady at PFL MENA 11 in Riyadh



RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Mostafa Rashed Nada ended his decade-long feud with Egyptian light heavyweight Osama El-Seady with a victory via submission at PFL MENA 11: Last Man Standing on Friday night at Boulevard Riyadh City.

“Its an indescribable feeling, fighting a world champion like this,” Nada told Arab News.

“Everyone was waiting for this fight; this fight has history, it’s not something people just casually hear about. And the champion Osama, is not easy, but praise be to God, God granted us success and we knew how to win against him,” he added in front of delighted home crowd.

The main event of PFL MENA 11: Last Man Standing saw Nada force his Egyptian opponent to tap out at the 2:33 mark of Round 2, finally resolving a rivalry that has persisted for 10 years.

The two fighters had gone head-to-head twice in 2016 at Desert Force 21 and Desert Force 25, with Nada winning the first by split decision before El-Seady answered with a TKO victory. Nada now can look ahead to the PFL MENA finals on Dec. 11 in Alkhobar.

PFL MENA 11 also saw finalists emerge across the welterweight, lightweight and featherweight tournaments.

In the co- main event of the night in the welterweight semifinal division Badreddine Diani submitted Hazem Kayyali  after 3.05 minutes of Round 2, earning a spot in the 170-pound tournament final on Dec. 11.

The first fight of the night, in the bantamweight division, had seen Alridah Alnemer defeat Ali Showakh after Round 3.

The catchweight division and the second fight of the night was taken by Fatima Al-Ammari against Aya Lounes via a knockout in Round 2 at 1 minute, 5 seconds.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment, I mean from when I first started. my dream was to be in a cage like this playing and representing (the Kingdom) and enjoy the moment,” Fatima Al-Ammari told Arab News.

She said that “it wasn’t my best fight.”

“I could have done a lot better. But honestly I faced some difficulties, I didn’t prepare the preparation that I wanted to prepare, but I knew I was gonna win,” she said.

“It’s been two years since I came to my first event, (as an observer). But I’ve been fighting for four-and-a-half years. I started as a Muay Thai fighter, and then I switched to MMA,” Al-Ammari told Arab News,

In the lightweight semifinal division, Mohammad Fahmi beat Ahmed El-Sisy in round 3, while the welterweight semifinal saw Abdelkrim Ziyad beat out Omar Hussein also by decision after round 3.

In the featherweight semifinal, Mehdi Saadi defeated Shade Kabbani by split decision after Round 3.

In the lightweight division Ylies Jiroun ended Assem Ghanem’s perfect record by a knockout after 3 minutes, 6 seconds of Round 1, taking him to the PFL MENA 12 Finals.

PFL MENA 2026 season will come down to one final night as the region’s top fighters step into the cage for the PFL MENA 12 Finals on Dec. 11 in Alhobar.



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