A teammate of UFC London co-headliner Luke Riley, Shem Rock returned to action at the Fight Night card on Saturday, facing Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady in lightweight action.
Rock was looking for his first victory after dropping his UFC debut; Al-Sewady had seen numerous fights fall through in his time with the company. The former Desert Force champ was 0-1, with four cancelled fights in 2024 and 2025.
The two fighters notably got into it at the ceremonial weigh-ins prior to fight day, with Shem Rock faking a handshake toward Al-Sewady and instead shoving him across the stage, forcing UFC officials to get involved. The action continued backstage, with Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady jawing at Rock following their physical altercation.
With tensions flaring come fight night, there was no touch of the gloves between the lightweights, despite Rock’s surprising offer at the start of the fight.
The Palestinian lightweight opened the striking with two body kicks, landing to the midsection of Rock. Rock, starting to eat some punishment from the quick hands of Al-Sewady, returned fire with a few low kicks and jabs from range. Shem Rock, comfortable on the feet, landed a beautiful clean head kick on his opponent, rocking Al-Sewady.
Rock, a tad overzealous in the opportunity, received a beautiful hook from the recovered Al-Sewady, knocking the home fighter to the ground. Al-Sewady, now confident, continued his kicking game once Rock returned to his feet, landing a nice jumping front kick to the face of Rock.
An action-packed round one continued as the first minute came to a close, with Al-Sewady shooting for a takedown that was successful, but quickly reversed by Rock, who was able to land some ground and pound before Al-Sewady caught the charging Rock with an up-kick from his back.
Round two opened with more action on the feet, Rock showing another high kick that partially landed to the head of Al-Sewady. Back in the pocket, Al-Sewady upped the pressure on Rock, showing a variety of feints before popping Rock in the head a number of times.
Al-Sewady followed up his strikes with a takedown attempt that was quickly denied by the lengthier Rock, who reversed position and was able to hold Al-Sewady on the cage, scoring control halfway through the round. Back in striking range, Rock started to land while fighting behind a jab-high kick combination, again denying a second shot from Al-Sewady, who seemingly had started to fade. Rock landed well in the final seconds of the round, again offering a handshake to Al-Sewady. Ignored again by his dance partner, Rock returned to his corner flipping off Al-Sewady.
With Rock possessing more energy as round three started, Al-Sewady shot another takedown that was denied by the home fighter, who followed it up with a head kick. Now flowing a little bit on the feet, Shem Rock caught his opponent with a knee to the body that got a good reaction out of the coasting Al-Sewady. Though with time slipping away and Rock starting to fade himself, Al-Sewady began taking over the fight, denying Rock’s final takedown attempt and landing some brutal ground and pound before the fight came to a close.
As the final horn sounded, Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady had a few choice words for Shem Rock following his expected victory, which was quickly returned by Rock with a post-fight backhand. Al-Sewady went after Rock before being held back by his team as the decision made its way into the hands of Bruce Buffer.
As expected from the Al-Sewady corner, the Palestinian fighter took all three rounds on the scorecards, earning a unanimous 30-27 victory. A solid performance for the 30-year-old, who picked up his first victory under the UFC banner. Shem Rock, on the other hand, will likely face a brutal reality following his pre-fight antics and two losing performances.
Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady moves to 16-4 as a professional and 1-1 in the UFC, as the lightweight hopes to make his way into the Octagon more often in 2026.
Official Result: Abdul-Kareem Al-Sewady def. Shem Rock by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
