It was one of the many nights that Desert Force made history hosting its first ever featherweight title defense in the octagon, with the current champion Abdul Kareem Al Selwady making his first title defence against the challenger Hussein Salem. This was not a one sided fight by any means with Salem attempting to out strike the current champion and at one stage almost turning this fight into a brawl. Al Selwady battled through and defeated Salem with his first submission victory in his career!
Al Selwady was slated to fight Aziz Julaidan, the original challenger from Saudi Arabia yet 2 days before the event, it was announced that Jualdain is injured and Desert Force have found the perfect replacement.
“I loved my last fight so much because all the hard work towards being a complete fighter was finally showing, even though there was a lot of stuff that I could not show, still was as happy with the outcome and that i was able to add a submission win to my record.”
Abdulkareem And Hussein had previously fought in the Finals of the Arab Muay Thai championship in 2012 , with Al Selwady coming up short, so this fight had a grudge to it!
“I was happy to face Salem since this was revenge.I always wanted to see my self Vs a good striker and this guy was the perfect match with his undefeated Muay Thai and MMA record.”
But now that the first title defense is off his back, Al Selwady still has to give Julaidan another shot to make things straight as the Saudi is still the number one contender in his division. It’s just a matter of time before Desert Force schedule a new date for this battle.
“I was pissed that Aziz didn’t show up because he did the challenge and he trash talked and in the end he didn’t show up for the fight, and after that he still continues to talk. I can’t wait for the rematch to happen, if it was this week even better and better.”
