Malik Basahel has extended his amateur MMA winning streak to six and did so on the biggest stage he has competed on yet.
The PFL vs Bellator card played host to plenty of professional bouts but Basahel also showcased some high levels of amateur mixed martial arts during his bout. He extended his amateur record to 18-2-1 and has been on this journey for close to four years now in terms of his in-cage competition.
The 22-year-old is an IMMAF silver medalist, a three-time amateur flyweight champion, and has an almost seventy percent finishing rate predominantly with submission victories. Malik Basahel was busy last year as he participated in both the IMMAF Asian Championships as well as the Saudi Games in 2023.
Basahel was also able to put the first blemish on the mixed martial arts record of his opponent Vinicius Pereira in what was the first fight of this new calendar year for both fighters.
Malik Basahel
A takedown was secured in the first round for Basahel but some of his attempts to pass guard and advance position were largely thwarted by Pereira. The second stanza saw Basahel on the wrong side of some grappling exchanges and he even got his back taken. Basahel was able to get into the guard of Pereira during the final moments of the round to connect on some ground and pound in the waning seconds of the stanza.
In the third and final round, Basahel was able to utilize his striking so as to create an opening for a takedown that again saw him take the fight to the mat. Though Pereira was able to eventually get back up, Basahel was able to score two more takedowns before all was said and done in the fight.
The native of Saudi Arabia showed out to the adoration of the partisan crowd in what was a perfectly placed opening fight of the night.
Basahel won via unanimous decision against Vinicius Pereira with a pair of 30-27 scorecards while one cageside judge scored the contest 29-28.
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