Representing Team USA, Palestinian- American Said Al-Hammami championed at the GAMMA Pan American Championships in Rosario, Argentina last week in the -83.9 kg men’s MMA division.
Taking place from 5 – 7 July, the amateur rules, nations tournament brought together teams from across the Americas and Caribbean, under the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) – an international federation seeking Olympic recognition for MMA. GAMMA recently introduced MMA into the African Games, and currently has member teams participating in the Olympic Council of Asia’s Asian MMA Championships in Cambodia.
Said Al-Hammami is named after his grandfather, on his father’s side. A refugee from his homeland, Said Hammami senior was appointed by Yasser Arafat as the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s first diplomat to the United Kingdom in the 1970s, where he headed their office in London under the United Nations. There, while promoting co-existence and a two-state-solution to the so-called “The Question Of Palestine”, Hammami was tragically assassinated in his office in 1978.
Twenty-seven-year-old Said (junior) was born and raised in America, where his father settled, with a mother of Prussian – Irish heritage.
“My parents divorced when I was two years old and I was raised primarily by my father and other Palestinian families in the Muslim community in Raleigh, North Carolina. I began my schooling at El-Iman school, a private Muslim school in Raleigh at the age of four by taking an exam to go into kindergarten early.
“Unfortunately, I had to leave the school when following 9/11, 2001 some people brought a wrecking ball to it, tearing it down in retaliation against the closest Arab people to them.”
Said came to martial arts as a child, “learning Wing Chun and BJJ from my father who was a fighter overseas in the 80’s. Then I did some Taekwondo before starting wrestling in my sophomore year of high school. After high school finished, I joined the United States Marine Corps and was a member of the All-Marine Wrestling Team for a year.”
However, Al-Hammami didn’t start “training seriously” in MMA until March 2021, inspired by a completely different source: “Anime’s like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, Bleach, Hitman! Reborn… and many others”.
Training out of Gym O in Belmont, North Carolina, the prospect is an HS Wrestling All American with a blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu and 4-1 amateur MMA record. He now adds the GAMMA Pan American title to his name after beating teammate Danny Zea in the finals.
By day, Said works as a massage and bodywork therapist, running his own business and working at a spa. He is also a Teaching Assistant at North Carolina massage school. Family responsibilities are currently just his cat, Sadie. Nonetheless, for Said the biggest challenge running up to the Pan Ams was “balancing work, skill/technical, strength, hard sparring, mobility, spiritual and mental health without overdoing it. I love to train but often when you’re passionate, less can be more.”
The Pan American Championships not only marked a seminal step up for Al-Hammami. It brought triumphs for the whole of the GAMMA USA team, which dominated in MMA with 7 gold and 4 silver medals, including a silver picked up by fellow Palestinian- American Joseph Hismeh in the 70.3kg division.
Talking about his first international gold medal and his experience at the Pan Ams, Al-Hammami says: “I felt incredibly blessed and still am so grateful to have had the opportunity to win gold. Fighting went exactly as I manifested it, but I learned that my hands are heavier than I thought. It was amazing getting to dance under the lights with all of the other countries and being exposed to the beautiful courageous hearts of the other fighters”.
What’s next for the Champion and what drives him?
“I intend to become a world champion and fight in my flow state against the best in the world. My best friend Lamont Burt, who passed away when I was 18, maintains my motivation when my love for martial arts and growth aren’t enough to get me going. As well as gratitude for being able to dedicate my resources, energy and time to practice something I love – while my people starve and suffer to just live.”
Said’s next international outing is the GAMMA World Championships in Indonesia, where he “will perform my best and, God Willing, I am going to become champion”.
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