Jordanian bantamweight Ali Al Qaisi made quick work of his opponent last Friday.
Perhaps this was a little bit under the radar, but the bantamweight fight between Ali Al Qaisi and Philippe Massoud had a significant importance on the Phoenix 4 Dubai fight card which took place at the Dubai World Trade Center.
Two things were especially interesting about this fight.
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The first piece was that the winner of this battle will become a more established competitor in the Arab bantamweight rankings. Second, both Al Qaisi and Massoud have primarily come from a striking background before making their transition into professional Mixed Martial Arts competition. So, it’s kind of surprising that this fight actually ended in a slick arm in guillotine curtesy of Al Qaisi, submitting his Lebanese opponent by mid-round 1.
Initially, Massoud came into the fight confident and comfortable, throwing multiple kicks to the head to keep Al Qaisi at bay, and guessing what Massoud was up to due to his constant movement and switching of stances. Later on in the round, Al Qaisi finally took the chance and came rushing in to force the action. A scramble lead Al Qaisi to grab Philippe’s head and arm from the standing position. As Massoud attempted to escape, Al Qaisi adjusted and pull guard, squeezing as hard as he could on his opponents’ neck, resulting in a deep and nasty 1st round submission victory for the Jordanian via guillotine choke.
“Massoud came into this fight saying that my skills are not something to worry about, and I promised him that I will finish him in the first round. And as you saw I kept my promise.”
Now, with this kind of victory and fight finish, Ali Al Qaisi climbs up the ladder, opening up multiple possibilities and opportunities of making several interesting match ups happen in his journey under Phoenix Fighting Championship.