LAHORE: Under the bright lights of the DHA Phase Six Sports Complex, the Pakistan Open MMA Championship culminated on Sunday with a night of dramatic finishes and a controversial main event that saw local hero Rizwan “The Haider” Ali preserve his undefeated record via a razor-thin split decision over Egypt’s Adham Mohamed “Warrior.”
The fights served as an official qualifier for the IMMAF World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September, offering fighters a chance to display their talents to even wider audiences.
The lightweight title bout headlined an electrifying main card, in which all Pakistani fighters triumphed, that showcased both local and international talent.
The highly anticipated clash between Rizwan, who predicted a knockout finish, and Adham was a tactical, if sometimes stalled, affair.
The Cairo-born Adham, who has 11 wins in his MMA career, demonstrated superiority in the clinch, accruing significant control time, though he inflicted little significant damage.
Rizwan, who walked to the octagon accompanied by Pakistan MMA Federation president Omar Ahmed to roaring cheers from the crowd, displayed stout takedown defence, stuffing multiple attempts.
The fight was briefly halted when a takedown by Adham forced both fighters through the octagon door and outside the cage, though neither was injured.
Adham repeatedly stalled the action by pressing and holding Rizwan against the cage. In the final seconds, Rizwan landed several sharp punches from the back before Adham secured a last-ditch takedown as the bell sounded.
Though Adham appeared to have done enough to win on control, two of the three judges scored the bout in Rizwan’s favor, awarding him the victory via split decision.
The Egyptian fighter and his corner were disappointed with the decision as they felt they had done enough.
“Not the kind of performance I wanted to deliver,” said Rizwan in his post-fight interview.
The main card opened with a flyweight contest between Zubair Khan and Ismail “The Volcano” Khan.
Zubair, who had taken the fight on one day’s notice, faced a formidable challenge in Ismail, who has only lost one fight in his career with nine wins.
After a cautious start, Ismail landed a takedown 90 seconds into the first round. A second successful takedown followed, and this time Ismail secured control, finishing the fight with a D’arce choke with just over one minute remaining in the round.
The bantamweight clash saw Zia Mashwani defeating Saman Moradmand of Iran in a dominant display of wrestling throughout the fight.
Zia “The Mashwani Warrior” entered to a traditional Pakhtun song and fervent chants from the crowd.
Fighting from a southpaw stance, Zia faked an overhand left to shoot for a successful takedown in the first round. He secured a half mount and finished the round with strong ground and pound.
The 26-year-old, fighting after a year-long layoff, dominated the second round with another takedown and relentless pressure.
In the third, he traded strikes with a visibly fatigued Saman “The Werewolf”. After ducking a wild overhand right, Zia secured a full mount and sealed his dominant performance with another D’arce choke submission.
Emaan “The Falcon” Khan of Karachi solidified her status as the circuit’s most dominant fighter in a bizarre and emphatic victory.
She took down her Tunisian opponent, Maha Houmiel, and pounded her out, prompting the referee to stop the fight. Houmiel protested the stoppage as premature, and in an unprecedented move, the bout was restarted.
Unfazed, the 30-year-old Emaan immediately pushed forward and ended the contest for a second time in under a minute, this time via armbar.
Aqib “The Alpha” Awan made easy work of Egypt’s Mohamed Abo Ali (6-7) in their flyweight bout.
After a competitive first round where the Egyptian found success with varied kicks and a takedown, Aqib, born in Mansehra, surged forward in the second.
Aqib, who has the record for fastest submission in Pakistan’s history, unleashed heavy ground and pound, wearing his opponent down with a series of hammer punches and short lefts until the referee was forced to stop the contest, awarding Aqib a TKO victory.
The final bout of the evening featured Babar “Flogger” Ali, who put on a grappling clinic against Azerbaijan’s Serkhan Valili.
After a first round that saw Babar land a takedown and damaging punches that cut his opponent under the right eye, he dominated the second round with superior grappling control, securing his opponent’s back for nearly the entire five minutes.
The third round was more of the same, with Babar securing another takedown and unleashing vicious ground and pound until the referee intervened, cementing his victory via TKO.
“I wanted to polish my striking skills. If I had wrestled from the start I would have finished him in the first round,” Babar said.
Earlier, the preliminary card of the championship featured a series of thrilling finals that concluded in submissions, decisions and the crowning of new national champions.
In a tightly contested bantamweight final, Sidiqullah of Islamabad emerged victorious via split decision to dethrone Asghar Khan.
The featherweight bout between Ayyan Hussain (Team Champion) and Tanzeel Abbas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa saw the former emerge victorious while Shahab Ali of Islamabad needed little time to claim lightweight gold against Sindh’s Jibran.
“I knew I was a level above my opponent,” Shahab, who won a silver medal in an Asian IMMAF event, told Dawn. “I was always confident that I could sweep my division. I had a good training camp for this fight.”
Shahab, like every other fighter, dreams of competing in the US-based promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
“We are competing in IMMAF amateur events and other international events,” said Shahab, who follows Russian fighter Islam Makhachev. “Given a little support from the government and sponsors we can definitely reach the UFC.”
Sajid Qutoushi of Islamabad used his grappling expertise to secure a unanimous decision victory over Sindh’s Asif Khan Achakzai in the welterweight decider while the middleweight final saw Punjab’s Mohammad Sami trump Mohammad Hasan.
Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2025
