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Fight of the Night: Lazzez Thrills With Glorious UFC Debut

Mounir Lazzez (right) defeated Abdul Razak Alhassan.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Mounir Lazzez stepped into the octagon carrying the hopes and dreams of the Arab world. The Sniper from Tunisia and based out of the United Arab Emirates opened a new chapter in the history of Arab Mixed Martial Arts when he was declared as the winner in the most exciting fight of the night.

Lazzez defeated Abdul Razak Alhassan to score his tenth victory in his professional career. The fight is praised as one of the most violent, exciting, and entertaining bouts of the night. The bout came to blows in what became a gripping, all-action, slobber knocker.

Alhassan opened the bout throwing a flurry of punches at Lazzez. But Lazzez deflected the punishment by defending the strikes. Alhassan was determined to knock the Tunisian star but failed at it costing him the power throughout the next rounds. Still, there were a number of shots that landed. The ability of Lazzez to take it with ease is indeed shocking and is a testimony for the level of conditioning and training.

It was then the turn for Lazzez. Lazzez unleashed his fury upon his opponent with lethal elbow strikes and exploding kicks that echoed the arena. The bout could have ended any moment with those powerful kicks to the head. We need to give due credit to Alhassan for absorbing such severe punishment.

Both athletes combined to throw 168 strikes. In the strike-fest, Lazzez dominated throughout the rounds. In the second round, Lazzez dominated by a greater ratio than 2:1, while completing both of his takedowns. In the third and final round, Lazzez pushed relentlessly with even more strikes racing his way to a comfortable decision win. Judges’ scorecards reflected with two verdicts of 30-27 and one of 29-28. The fight was declared as the Fight of the Night.

I love to be the underdog and to show my skill and that’s exactly what happened tonight. I came in as the underdog and I enjoy the victory. When he put me in the first round against the cage, I said, “What, this is all that you got?” I still have a lot of weapons and just step-by-step I killed his will with the kicks, moving around, high kick, low kick, I showed my wrestling, my takedown defense.

Mounir Lazzez

A victorious Lazzez has gifted the Arab MMA fans a moment to celebrate as he becomes the first Tunisian fighter to make it big in the UFC. He is also the first fighter who is from the Arab world and has trained based out of the Arab world to achieve this milestone.

I kept visualization this over and over as just another fight, don’t put pressure on yourself and just go enjoy what you do. My mental game, I’ve said it before, maybe you can be more technical, and maybe you can be more powerful, but my will and my mental game, you can’t beat it.

Mounir Lazzez

With the win, Lazzez has advanced his record to 10 wins with an impressive nine knockouts against one controversial loss which he has contested. The Arab MMA world is eagerly looking out for more news from the sniper and his career with the UFC.

About the author

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Hari Bhagirath is the former Chief Creative Officer at BRAVE Combat Federation. Currently, he heads Strategic Relations and Financial Communication for a major Fortune 100 organization. He is also the co-founder of Totem Capital, a private wealth management initiative.

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