In a press release issued on Thursday, league officials revealed that the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates would play host to PFL MENA: Pride of Arabia.

Mohammad “The UAE Warrior” Yahya (12-6) faces off against Tunisia’s Mehdi Saadi (6-2) in a featherweight quarterfinal bout that also serves as the card’s main event. A three-fight UFC veteran, Yahya will be making his PFL debut in the fight.

Unlike the main PFL brand, PFL MENA continues to use the tournament format this year.

Announced for the card on Thursday are the following match-ups (bouts are subject to change, and two fighters are still waiting for opponents to be confirmed):

• Mohammad Yahya vs. Mehdi Saadi — featherweight quaterfinal
• Salah Eddine Hamli vs. Ylies Djiroun — lightweight quarterfinal
• Hamza Kooheji vs. Taha Bendaoud — featherweight quarterfinal
• Zamzam Al Hammadi vs. TBD — amateur bout
• Mohammad Fahmi vs. Assem Ghanem — lightweight quarterfinal
• Ahmed El Sisy vs. Harda Karim — lightweight quarterfinal
• Georges Eid vs. Hussein Fakher — lightweight quarterfinal
• Abdullah Saleem vs. Basel Shalaan — lightweight alternate bout
• Hamad Marhoon vs. Saher Qasmieh
• Ahmed Albrahim vs. Khaled Mahmoud
• Butti Suwaid Alameri vs. TBD — amateur bout

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Yahya was making his debut in the weight class, after losing his first two fights under the UFC banner at lightweight.

Yahya vs. Nguyen had a wild start to it, as Nguyen came out and caught Yahya as he was charging in. Yahya hit the canvas, but Nguyen nearly connected with a grossly illegal knee. Luckily, he didn’t land it, and the action would continue. Very lucky, because Nguyen would go on to put on a dominant first round, knocking down Mohammad Yahya five times, with both left and rights. Each time, a tough-as-nails Yahya returned to his feet, but if there was ever an argument for a 10-8 round, this was it.

Round two opened with Yahya rocking Nguyen! But immediately, Nguyen returned fire, dropping Yahya a sixth time! That set a new UFC record for knockdowns. and the fight wasn’t even half over. Still, the pair settled down from there, or at least Yahya managed to stop getting knocked down. Late in the round he’d even shoot for a takedown, though a massive amount of swelling had formed on the left side of his face, under his eye. Nguyen, meanwhile, knocked Yahya down one more time before round’s end. Seven total to that point.

With the swelling on Mohammad Yahya’s face continuing to grow and perhaps signaling a broken orbital, cageside officials took a look — and waved the fight off prior to the third round. And for good reason, given the lopsided beating and the obvious damage and resulting vision issues Yahya was facing. A record-setting, stunning performance by Nguyen regardless. After three appearances on the Contender Series he now has his first victory in the UFC proper.

Official Result: Steven Nguyen def. Mohammad Yahya by TKO (referee stoppage), Round 2, 5:00

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Yahya was likewise seeing UFC win number one, after losing his debut to Trevor Peek.

One man was going to get their hand raised for the first time under the UFC banner on Saturday, and it turned out to be Fernandes.

The lightweight contest opened up with some back-and-forth on the feet, with Fernandes in particular hammering away with leg kicks. Those kicks were adding up, hobbling Yahya and forcing him to be very timid on a leg that was quickly swelling, welts showing clear as day. Towards the end of the opening five minutes, Yahya was limping, and with 30 seconds to go, Fernandes connected with a two-punch combo that dropped the UAE-born fighter. A left hook then a right hand put Yahya on the floor, and a bit of follow-up ground n’ pound sent the ref in to make the save!

“I’m so happy, I trained so hard for this fight,” an elated Fernandes said following the fight, promising to do even more in future. “I need to show who I am. I want to fight at the end of this year again,” he added.

Official Result: Kaue Fernandes def. Mohammed Yahya by TKO, Round 1, 4:45

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“Last time I came up short. In third round I lost by him taking me down twice so we worked a lot on this fight and the game plan,” Yahya told reporters on Wednesday.

“Hopefully this fight’s going to be way different. Very excited for Saturday night.”

Yahya (12-4) made his UFC debut last October in Abu Dhabi at UFC 294 against Trevor Peek. The fight went the full 15 minutes with Peek taking the decision over Yahya. While many figured the ‘UFC jitters’ had something to do with it, Yahya wasn’t so sure.

“Nothing really to do with that. Just some nights you don’t really feel the way you should. No excuses, but yeah it was very close I’d say. Make you hungry to come back stronger. This time (I’m) not going to leave anything in there,” he said.

Now with a second straight home game Yahya looks to take what that entails in stride.

“It’s a bit of pressure, but obviously just try to block all that out until after the fight,” he said.

“I fought in Etihad Arena a few times now. Dealing with it.”

Facing Fernandes on Saturday Yahya feels well prepared for whatever his opponent may bring.

“I don’t know if he’s going to come out aggressive with me. It wouldn’t be a great idea,” Yahya said.

“I’m ready for everything.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Mohammad Yahya above. He takes on Kaue Fernandes at UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

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Peek, known for his wild standing hammerfists, has been must-watch TV through two UFC fights, winning ‘Performance of the Night’ for his debut knockout and going to absolute war in a decision loss in his second UFC fight against Chepe Mariscal. He looked to rebound against Mohammad Yahya, a local United Arab Emirates fighter making his debut with the UFC. Peek was able to do so in confident fashion, though he displayed less of the wild, violent style that made him a fan favorite.

Peek came forward to start the fight and landed a hard leg kick, the only strike of the first forty-five seconds. After that point, Peek landed a big shot that earned him a flash knockdown. When Yahya got back to his feet, Peek just took him down. Yahya struggled back to his feet but was still controlled in the clinch. Peek tried to use his absurd athletic ability to lift and slam Yahya, who defended the takedowns but was stuck eating short knees. Yahya finally broke free with just over two minutes left in the round. Trevor continued with the leg kicks and one knocked Mohammad off his feet at that point. Peek gave ground, an unusual path for him to take, and circled the cage for most of the rest of the round, except when he charged forward wildly while swinging hooks. He missed but went for a takedown and held onto the double leg while Yahya tried to set up a front choke. Yahya dragged Peek to the mat with a d’Arce choke locked up, but Peek gritted through and stayed conscious for the fifteen seconds he was trapped in it before the bell rang.

The second round began with forward movement from Peek again before he decided to give ground again. A bit later, Peek came forward again and got dropped to a knee from a strike, but seemed more off-balance than hurt. This more measured and calm Trevor Peek did not seem to be as effective as the other version. He got on the pressure again after that but had trouble opening up and was uncharacteristically low-volume. When he did open up with volume it was from too far out and Yahya could just slide out of the way most of the time. Still, the leg kicks of Peek seemed to be taking a toll. Yahya stumbled to his knees again with two minutes left in the round, after which Peek swarmed him and shot a takedown. He failed to land it but did land strikes on the break. Late in round two Peek began to invest in body punching, to good effect.

The third and final round began with Peek snapping Yahya’s head back and coming forward with his patented wild strikes. He entered the clinch in a strong position and tripped out Yahya’s leg, taking the UAE fighter down and getting into an awkward mount against the fence. Still, Mohammad struggled back to his feet but Trevor just tripped out his base and got onto the back. However he only had one hook in and fell off, allowing Yahya to get back to striking. Peek clinched up again thereafter and had no trouble controlling Yahya against the fence while landing knees. They got back to striking and Yahya landed a sharp jab and a step-in knee clean to the head that were among his best strikes of the fight, but Peek was unfazed and got back to the clinch. Mohammad Yahya was on the back foot for the rest of the fight, just staying alive moreso than attempting to win the fight or land significant offense. Trevor Peek tripped his legs out again and held him down for the last thirty seconds of the fight, sealing his victory.

When the judges scorecards were read there were no surprises as Peek won on all scorecards. The only surprise may have been that one judge had it scored 29-28 instead of 30-27.

Official Result: Trevor Peek def. Mohammad Yahya by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

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UAE Warriors alum Mohammad Yahya steps into the octagon for the first time at UFC 294 this weekend, where he’s set to take on Trevor Peek. The card is topped by the rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, while Yahya vs. Peek arrives on the prelims.

Mohammad Yahya
Standing at five-foot-nine
Fighting at 155 lbs (lightweight)
29-years-old
Fighting out of United Arab Emirates
Training out of JRCS
A pro record of 12-3
7 KO/TKOs, 2 Submissions

How Yahya will fare in the UFC:

I don’t understand this signing from a talent skill standpoint but I understand it for a few reasons. He is a hometown fighter and is a UAE champion. I don’t like the signing because of all the UAE Warrior’s fighters, Yahya would not come to mind to sign. He’s on a good winning streak but he has not got one good, high-level win. Even his losses are to lower-level guys.

Yahya is just a basic fighter. Nothing he does impresses me. On the feet, I’d say his hands are fine but he has a lot of flaws. Yahya holds his hands low, curls up when taking damage, and he brings his hands back to his face too slow. His striking defense is too much of a liability and his chin is concerning.

At times he will take the fight down and will tend to use the wrestling later the fights goes. I don’t rate either his wrestling and jiu-jitsu too high. He may get takedowns in the UFC but I don’t see him outclassing anywhere on the mat with his ground game. Yahya is nothing special and you can find multiple fighters at his level fighting regionally all over the world. I see him struggling to get a win in the UFC.

How he matches up with Peek:

It’s weird to say but I feel really good about Peek in this fight. Peek has some of the worst techniques you will see. What he does have is constant pressure, heavy hands, a rock-solid chin, and a valuable gas tank.

Yahya, I don’t see having any advantage in this fight. On the feet, Peek hits harder and throws more volume. That mixed in with the striking defense and chin of Yahya is a bad matchup for him. Also as long as the fight goes the pace I believe it will, it will eventually break Yahya. I don’t think we will see much grappling in this fight. I like Peek in this fight by TKO and I feel weirdly confident about it.

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At Bellator 191, airing Saturday on Spike TV, a welterweight featured bout between Mohammad Yahya and Ash Griffiths went down as the second fight in on the main card. Interestingly, Yahya came in well under the welterweight limit, weighing in at 163lbs. The action took place in Newcastle, England and aired via tape delay.

Griffiths got the bout to the floor early, muscling the smaller Mohammad Yahya to the canvas. Yahya controlled his opponent’s posture, and kept Griffiths trapped in his closed guard. Unable to pass, Griffiths looked to work in some elbows, but the pair scooted back to the fence, where Yahya worked back to his feet. Griffiths then pulled guard in a guillotine attempt, but was unable to finish. That opened the door for Yahya to land some ground and pound, then attack from the back, taking Griffiths down again.

More ground and pound followed, and before long, the ref had seen enough, waving it off. With the win, Mohammad Yahya became the first fighter from the United Arab Emirates to score a win in Bellator MMA.

Mohammad Yahya def. Ash Griffiths by TKO, Round 1, 3:26

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