Something interesting happened in the world of Arabs MMA last month. Khalid Ismail, a Moroccan mixed martial artist, who fights out of the Lions Den Gym in East London, was handed the UCMMA Welterweight belt at UCMMA 36 because no one in the division would fight him!. His 3-0 record with wins in the first round by TKOs have clearly caused quite a stir in the UK.
He recently announced on Facebook that he will be stepping down as the UCMMA Welterweight Champion:
Firstly thank you all for always supporting me in my fighting career!! I am announcing today that I am stepping down as the UCMMA welterweight champion. I have always been brought up to work hard and earn what I get and for some reason deep down inside me, even though I did all the hard work and everything right I can’t accept within myself to be a champion due to forfeit. I want to thank you all my fans and UCMMA for giving me the opportunity but I have to fight to earn that belt and I am more than happy to work up the ladder to do so.
Ismail tore both ACL ligaments in both knees and tore both meniscus ligaments almost 2 months prior to his fight this October, yet never thought of pulling out!
That alone is something! Khalid will be undertaking surgery very soon, so sadly he will be out of the cage for just a short while Inshallah!
