Walking away from a fighting career is rarely an easy call, but after suffering a loss to Abdulkareem Al Selwady at Brave 1, Rami Aziz has come to the conclusion that it’s time to do just that. “Everything has a beginning and an end.” With those words, the “Ironman” hung up his gloves and stepped out of the cage for the last time.
At only 25-years old, he seems like he could just be entering his prime. Yet, a decade-long career has put unfathomable mileage on his spirits, crushing his bigger dream of signing with the UFC with a 10 winning streak record.
The Iraqi/Swede started his MMA journey back in 2009 and had put together a career to remember racking up an 8-4 record. After making waves in Scandinavia, Aziz competed for the top promotions in the Arab MMA scene, defeating the likes Elias Boudegzdame and Ali Qaisi.
Though he said in his retirement announcement that he does not have the desire to compete in the “world’s toughest sport”, Aziz’s talents extend beyond fighting into triathlon races. But that last fight at Brave Combat Federation’s first event really showed Aziz that juggling between riding a bike and fighting full time won’t do the job.
It was a crushing defeat. After Aziz’s excessive trash talk in the build-up to the bout, Al Selwady managed to rip everything away from him in the blink of an eye.
Al Selwady showed up in Bahrain, with too much will for Aziz to handle. He took him down and grinded his way to a first round win. Everyone saw how dominant the physically smaller Selwady was, but the determination to finish his fight was over the top!
This idea of retirement could have been circulating in Aziz’s head while the Jordanian was transitioning by the book, leaving no place for error, just success in the first and only round.
Following that headliner win at Brave’s inaugural fight night, Al Selwady became a target to any lightweight who plans to join the promotion. After all, it is the thrill and glory that comes with celebrating a tremendous victory that is all what a fighter wants.
The Jordanian was even challenged by Mexican TUF fighter Alejandro Martinez in a call out that triggered a big backlash in the Arab MMA community.
Now, Abdulkareem Al Selwady is set to make his appearance under the Brave Combat Federation banner at Brave 4, scheduled for Abu Dhabi on the 31st of March. All eyes will be on the Jordanian as he calmly marches on his quest to take Brave by storm.
