“Yeah I was satisfied but there is a room for improvement, like head movement and other areas….”-Tarek Suleiman
What a better way to get info than right from the source. Our dedicated staff members interviewed Tarek Suleiman after his “Rocked” win!
– ArabsMMA: “ So Tarek, first of all mabrouk for your well deserved victory. I’m pretty curious, I bet all the fans are as well, was the punch as hard as it looked ?”
– Tarek Suleiman:” Well, this fight was a treat for me especially it being the comeback after rehabbing my leg due to the ACL injury. Thanks to my S&C coach Andrew Wood from Tiger MuayThai Phuket Thailand, my conditioning and strength was perfect; he did a great job. He was bigger than me and he is a heavy puncher the fact which shifted my game plan to avoid any punch trades. At first, I found myself a bit rusty; couldn’t find my range properly. Then, after landing two fight kicks he managed to counter with a right cross which dropped me, but I wasn’t rocked. Still conscious, i stood back on my feet and delivered him to the ground on his back.”
– ArabsMMA: “ When the champ wins his gold, he/she studies carefully his next move to protect it. So, what’s next from the great Suleiman?”
– Tarek: “ I’m receiving huge support from Sheik Nasser Bin Nawaf Al Thani from qatar to bring down the title, if everything works out as we hoped I think I’m gonna hunt down middle weight title. We are negotiating a new deal with Desert Force, hopefully all goes well between us. I think my eyes should be on the prize right now before moving down a weight class; That’s what’s next for me!”
– ArabsMMA: “ EL Sawi, being overweight due to late arrival to Abu Dhabi.. what do you think about that?”
– Tarek: “ If I had been 7.5 kgs overweight, neither I nor the team would have accepted to carry on, we are professionals and we are expected to be treated that way; its not a matter of 2 or 3 kgs. The organization should have forced him to lose weight no excuse should be valid. It is a fault to which I hold El Sawi and the organization responsible to. Yet again , according to him , he did his job but didn’t make it on time for weigh ins .. so lets just drop this issue for now ”
– ArabsMMA: “ It seems winning is in your Team Banter’s blood. Tell me about your experience in ONE FC, standing beside your coach, your mentor, Roger Huerta.”
– Tarek: “ It went smoothly, there was a lot of excitement. Got to meet new people, had more exposure, but the highlight of the trip was coming back with a disastrous win. El Matador had defeated, more specifically had destroyed his opponent in the first round. It was a huge week for Banter with more yet to come.”
– ArabsMMA: “ On behalf the ArasbMMA team we would like to thank you for this interview and wish you the best of luck yet to come, any final words? “
– Tarek: “ The entire camp and journey leading up to the fight wasn’t possible without the help of huge Team starting with Dr. Tarek Gherbal rehabbing my leg and bring me back to action so fast, coach Aly Makhzoum improved my MuayThai a lot and my striking skills, Manic Factory Gym for providing me with the best facility here in lebanon and all kind of support to come back strong, my Tiger MuayThai & MMA Training Camp, Phuket, Thailand Family including Will Elliot for making sure we as fighters receiving the best of Tiger MuayThai, Roger Huerta my brother and mentor can’t thank him enough, Andrew Wood my S&C coach without him non of this would have been possible, My Professor And Fifth Degree BJJ Black Belt Fernando Maccachero for the knowledge and hard work he did during our fight camp and I think it shows in the fight I hope I made him proud, George Hickman my Team mate friend and Coach all Team Banter’s Members also huge thanks to Sheik Nasser Bin Nawaf Al Thani for his generous support during the fight and after also Professor Fabricio Moreira they were with us all the time and they are new TMT family members last but not least Qatar MMA for the support during the event.”
I expect Tarek to hold the title next year. Although he needs to work on his striking a bit more with Ali Makhzoum, this guy produces champions when it comes to striking. Good luck Tarek