In its most recent event in Egypt, two titles were earned at Evolution Fighting Championship Fight Night 32. Egyptian Mixed Martial Arts veteran, Mahmoud Salama, grabbed a hard fought first round TKO victory against Kamal Elkhanbouni to become the Middleweight champion of the promotion. Also, upcoming women bantamweight fighter, Hassna Gaber, had a beautiful back and forth action packed rematch against Donia Mohamed which ended in a split decision victory in her favor pronouncing her as the current queen of her division.

Still competing at 41 years of age, Mahmoud Salama made quick work of Elkhanbouni in the first round. Salama came in strong and showed some impressive stand up skills, constantly feinting and throwing unpredictable kicks. After dropping his opponent early with a haymaker left hook, Salama gained head and arm control and attempted to go for a guillotine choke. Though his opponent fought it out, Salama was able to reverse the position by getting the sweep and landed into mount. From there, Salama rained down bombs that forced the referee to step in and put a stop to the action, declaring Salama the bout winner and the EFC champion.

“I deeply cherish winning this Middleweight title. I’ve been preparing for this fight for a long time with my coach Mohammad Abdel Hamid, improving both my stand up and ground skills. I knew that my opponent was well rounded in MMA and I felt that he wanted to take me down in the beginning of the fight. I kept throwing a front kick and instantly following it up with an uppercut just in case he was attempting a shot. He was a little hesitant which opened up my striking. I caught him and dropped him with a good punch. Though he reversed the position, I managed to sweep him, get to mount and finish from there. Thank God for the victory. – Mahmoud Salama

Happy for Salama’s recent achievement, coach Mohammad Abdel Hamid also gave his opinion about the fight as well as Salama’s impressive performance, which was especially noticeable in Salama’s developed grappling skills.

“Both Salama and Kamal delivered a great fight. Salama made a huge leap forward to enhance his ground game and it was evident in the fight even for the fans who are watching. Kamal put up a big fight. He is fast and still young, but Salama managed to grab the TKO and the title in the end.” – Abdelhamid

Though proud of Salama’s achievement, coach Mohammad Abdel Hamid knows that there’s still a lot of work for Salama to do, especially now that he has become the EFC Middleweight champion.

“After this victory, I expect Salama to be called out by a lot of fighters for the title. He will get back to training as soon as possible and keep developing himself in order to defend his belt.”

In her rematch, Hassna Gaber was once again able to defeat her opponent Donia Mohamed, this time by split decision after a 3 round battle. Though Donia had her share of successful moments, the most notable of which was in the 2nd round where she was able to catch one of Gaber’s kicks, take her down and maintain mount position for almost 3 minutes while repetitively landing strikes, Gaber put on constant pressure on her opponent throughout the fight, pursing Donia with powerful punches and kicks, even dropping her with an overhand right in the 3rd round. After a closely contested contest, Hassna Gaber walked out again as the bantamweight title holder.

“Training for this fight was tough because I was away from my team and coach Abdel Hamid. Nevertheless, they kept supporting me every day and helped me get the win against a familiar opponent. I felt that it was a really good fight and I’m honored to earn the belt in one of the best and most professional promotions in the region. I’m going to learn from my mistakes and come back even stronger to defend the belt. I have a great team here at Egyptian Top Team and I fully trust must coach Abdel Hamid to keep helping me rise up the professional ranks.” – Hassna Gaber

Coach Mohammed Abdel Hamid also had a few words to say about his Moroccan fighter at Egyptian Top Team who fought her heart out in a closely contested contest to become win her first well deserved title.

“Hassna Gaber proved that she is a great champion, earning both her second victory and the ladies Bantamweight title at EFC. Though she lost to Hassna in their first match, the promotion gave Donia the opportunity to fight for the Bantamweight title because she had previously accepted to fight her on only a 2 day notice period. Hassna is a fast learned and I’m sure she will keep improving herself and reach a different level before her next title defense.” – Mohammed Abdel Hamid