Mostafa Rashed Nada ends 10-year trilogy with guillotine at PFL MENA 11

The
Professional fighter league returned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the semi-finals of its MENA branch tournament.

Mostafa Nada takes on Osama Elseady in the second round of their PFL MENA trilogy rubber match

The
PFL MENA 11 headliner featured a rubber match between the 205-lb Mostafa Rashed Nada and Osama ElSeady (9-4, 0-2 PFL). Elseady returned to the cage after a nearly three-year hiatus, showing some cage rust in his takedowns and trying to stop the action on the canvas whenever he could. Nada (10-4, 3-1 PFL) in turn landed a right hand on his opponent’s chin on various occasions, with Elseady easily falling to the canvas as Nada connected.

In the second frame, Nada found more success with her strikes as the former Desert Force titleholder, Elseady, repeatedly tried to take down. After Elseady’s umpteenth takedown attempt, Nada sprawled and countered with a guillotine choke. After adjusting her position, Nada forced Elseady to tap at the 2:33 mark of the 2nd round. With the win, Nada ended a 10-year trilogy and earned the third performance win of his career.

At the joint main event Badreddine Dian (12-4, 5-1 PFL) presented by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation medalist Hazem Kayyali (3-1-2, 1-1 PFL) and earned a spot in the 170-pound tournament finals on Dec. 11. Former UAE Warriors defending champion Diani was on the receiving end of his foe’s initiative in the opening frame, where he had to fend off several submission attempts. In round 2, Kayyali landed a well-timed jumping kick and a guillotine choke, but Diani weathered the storm and followed up with her own: a solid arm-triangle choke that forced Kayyali to tap at 3:05 of the second stanza.

In the second semi-final on the card
A brave fighting alliance veteran Abdelkrim Zouad (9-2, 2-0 PFL) rose Omar Hussein (12-8, 1-3 PFL) on all scorecards (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).

At 155 lbs Ylies Djiroun (26-9, 2-2 PFL) broke the perfect record Assem Ghan (7-1, 1-1 PFL) and made it to the finals of the tournament. “Broly” stopped an ill-advised takedown attempt by Ghanemi, pinned his opponent against the cage and landed a series of punches that forced the referee to stop the match at 3:06. Ghanem entered the fight on short notice Basel Ahmed Shalan the previous day the scale was missing.

In December, Djiroun will lock horns with the 2025 finalist Mohammad Fahmi (7-1, 3-1 PFL), who reached the tournament finals for the second year in a row after defeating Egypt. Ahmed El Sisy (8-3, 1 NC; 2-2 PFL) en route to a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

In the card’s only 145-pound semifinal Mehdi Saadi
(8-2, 2-0 PFL) easement Shadi Kabbani (5-1, 1-1 PFL) by a narrow split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). The Tunisian fighter came close to finishing his opponent with a kneebar in the opening frame. Former
Ares Fighting Championship will face the title challenger Saadi
Elias Boudegzdame (21-9, 2-1 PFL) in the tournament final.

Boudegzdame was to be located Islam Youssef event, but his opponent was forced to withdraw due to visa issues. Youssef’s replacement, Brice Picaudwas unable to compete due to weight cut issues, allowing Boudegzdam to advance to the tournament finals without a fight.

In the only WMMA action on the card Fatima Al-Ammari stopped Aya Lounes
with a knee followed by punches at 1:05 of the second frame.

In the first fight of the event Alridah Alnemar brought out Ali Alshowakh by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in their amateur heavyweight clash.