PFL’s Road to Dubai Sees Prelim Fighter’s Arm Snapped by Front Kick

Haider Khan and Mostafa Neda, PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai
Haider Khan and Mostafa Neda, PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai Credit: PFL

The PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai had a cracking start, with apologies to Mostafa Neda.

Paired up with Haider Khan in a middleweight bout that was second in (and the first pro fight) on the card at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, UAE, Neda went down in obvious pain after a front kick connected in the opening round.

While what exactly had felled Nada wasn’t immediately clear, replay showed the Saudi Arabian fighter attempt to block the kick with his arm (or at least get it in the way of the blow), with the limb snapping like a twig as a result. Neda, looking down at the mangled limb, then attempts to align the bone, probably running off sheer adrenaline at that point.

Moments later, he was splayed out on his back in pain. Thankfully, both the ref and Khan were aware the fight was over, and no unnecessary damage was delivered.

Fight fans have seen plenty of broken legs in recent years – Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman, and Conor McGregor to name a few. While Frank Mir snapped a couple of arms off submissions during his time in the sport, it’s been a while since we’ve seen an arm break off a kick at a major MMA event. Cung Le breaking Frank Shamrock’s arm back in the day comes to mind.

Haider Khan improved to 9-1 with the TKO victory, while Mostafa Neda dropped to 9-4, and will likely be on the mend for a while. PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai is headlined by a lightweight title fight as Bellator champ Usman Nurmagomedov takes on Paul Hughes.