4 Arab wrestlers participated in the Qatari version of the “One” Championship (Al Jazeera)
Lusail -
An exceptional entry of wrestlers, accompanied by dazzling and exceptional organization of the first edition of the “One” Championship in the Arab world, organized in Qatar.
A fantastic atmosphere was experienced by the fans who were present in the Lusail Hall, and even the champions who used to participate in previous tournaments said: What is happening is fantastic.
Before the huge event, the Arab fans had high hopes for the four Arab wrestlers in their various fights using the rules of Muay Thai, submission wrestling and boxing. With the exception of the victory of the Algerian-French Mehdi Zaatout, the rest were defeated, whether by submission, knockout, or unanimous referees.
In the press conference hall, Al Jazeera Net met Osama Al-Maroui, and signs of grief and disappointment were evident on his face, but the jiu-jitsu star tried to hide that with a slight smile and words that mitigated the blow of the loss, saying: “Winning and losing are part of the game, and the most important thing is that we learn from the loss... in the four minutes.” “The first time in the fight, I felt like I was able to win, and I was close to achieving that, but the Brazilian is special in evading attacks.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by ONE Championship (@onechampionship)
Al-Maroui justified the bitter defeat with fatigue and exhaustion, without denying the toughness and strength of his Brazilian opponent: “The wrestler Souza continued the attack and intense pressure, and as a result I felt extremely exhausted and exhausted, which affected my performance and caused my defeat with the arm hold move.”
A black belt holder in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the Middle East, he stressed that the defeat against Souza will not stop him from continuing to put in effort and work in the training that he will resume in the coming days after taking a break to overcome the fatigue of the preparation camp for this tournament.
At the conclusion of his conversation with Al Jazeera Net, Al-Maroui sent a message of thanks to the State of Qatar for organizing this great martial arts event, and said: “I was surprised by the large public attendance in Lusail Hall, and this indicates the success of this tournament in its first edition in Qatar and the Arab region.”
The Saudi Al-Qahtani is defeated against an Arab opponent
Al-Qahtani was defeated by the Algerian-French Zaatout (Al-Jazeera)
Based on his specialization in boxing, those present thought that the way for the Saudi champion Zuhair Al-Qahtani would be open to victory in his fight against the Algerian-French Muay Thai star Zaatout, who had returned from retirement, but the surprise was that Zaatout emerged victorious by unanimous consent of the judges after a fight that extended for 3 rounds.
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net, Al-Qahtani considered that the reason for the defeat against Zaatout was due to not being accustomed to fighting a fight of only 3 rounds, and he explained: “I am accustomed to fighting a fight of 10 or 12 rounds, but my fight today of 3 rounds forced me to change my way of playing in order to Keeping up with Zaatut's playing style.
Regardless of the defeat, Al-Qahtani stressed that his participation in this global tournament, in front of fans of different nationalities who attended the Lusail Hall, is a good and motivating thing, and he hopes to fight other fights in the “One” Championship.
He said: “Qatar hosted a historic event, and I hope to show a better face in the future, especially if the fight is held according to the rules of world boxing and not the One Championship system.”
For his part, Zaatout, 40 years old, expressed his happiness with the victory, coinciding with his return from retirement: “I enjoyed the fight very much. For these moments and to participate in the tournament in Qatar, I decided to come back from retirement and fight the fight with Al-Qahtani.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by ONE Championship (@onechampionship)
Regarding whether he will continue to compete, Zaatut confirmed to Al Jazeera Net: “I don’t think this is my last match. I will not compete in the future... I have a family to take care of and I manage my business in Thailand, where I live and train at the Phenium Club.”
Moroccan Zakaria Jemari was unsuccessful in his first participation in the One Championship after losing by knockout to Russian Ali Salduyev.
In the main event of the “One” tournament, Russian heavyweight and light heavyweight king Anatoly Malykhin made history when he defeated Reinier de Ridder in a rematch, and captured the world middleweight championship in mixed martial arts (MMA).
These are the full results of the 10 fights in the One Championship in Qatar:
World title in mixed martial arts (middleweight):
Anatoly Malkhin defeats Dutchman Reiner de Ridder by technical knockout.
Mixed Martial Arts World Title (Featherweight):
Tang Kai defeats Tan Li by TKO.
World title in mixed martial arts (strawweight):
Filipino Joshua Pacio defeats American Jared Brooks for violating the rules of the game.
Mixed martial arts (heavyweight):
Iranian Amir Ali Akbari defeats Indian Arjan Bhullar for violating the rules of the game.
Boxing (unrestricted or open weight)
: Algerian Mehdi Zaatout defeats Saudi Zuhair Al-Qahtani by unanimous decision of the judges.
Muay Thai (unrestricted or open weight):
Russian Vladimir Kuzmin defeats Turkish Zafer Saik by unanimous decision of the judges.
Submission Wrestling (Flyweight):
The Brazilian Clebersoza defeats the Yemeni Osama Al-Maroui by submission.
Muay Thai (unrestricted or open weight):
Russian Ali Salduyev defeats Moroccan Zakaria Jemari by knockout.
Muay Thai (bantamweight)
: Japanese Shinji Suzuki defeats Chinese Han Zi Hao by unanimous decision of the judges.
Mixed martial arts (strawweight):
Japanese Keito Yamakita defeats Filipino Jeremy Miado by submission.
Source: Al Jazeera