Omar El Dafrawy on Return to PFL MENA: ‘They Need a Star’

Omar El Dafrawy believes he has the tools and the talent. All that’s waiting is “Miller Time.”

El Dafrawy (13-5) closed as a betting underdog coming into the 2024 PFL MENA welterweight championship, and quickly silenced the doubters. Smashing Mohammad Alaqraa early in the second round, he picked up the inaugural PFL MENA welterweight tournament belt. The 30-year-old Egyptian now returns to this same organization knowing that he has what it takes to prove he can be the next star out of PFL, and the first superstar representing the Middle East and Northern Africa regions.

Speaking to Sherdog ahead of his showcase main event matchup at PFL MENA 2: 2025 First Round against Daniele Miceli (13-6, 1 NC), El Dafrawy discussed returning to PFL MENA, his goal with the promotion and what to expect against Miceli.

When he started the 2024 PFL MENA tournament, El Dafrawy envisioned his championship from the very beginning. Reflecting one year later on his accomplishments, he is not remotely surprised that he achieved championship greatness.

“I felt very blessed, I felt very thankful, and I felt that God was on my side,” the Cairo native explained. “I did everything in such a way that people will not understand. People don’t see how I live, they don’t see how I recover, how I eat or how I sleep. I’m very, very detailed with everything to the extreme. I’m so OCD about it that it’s hard to believe that I won’t get the results that I set out. I do my part and the rest is on God, and when I do my part, I do it to my maximum potential.”

Always looking to improve on his skillset, El Dafrawy says he plans on pushing the pace even harder—the welterweight sports a finish rate of 77% as a pro with knockouts accounting for five of his last six victories—coming into his first fight of 2025.

“I think I’m more feisty now, more aggressive. I feel like if I’ve done what I've done in the last couple of fights, now it’s time to take these people’s heads off, straight up. I feel I’m very confident I will be able to take this guy in the first round, very confident,” El Dafrawy remarked.”

After winning the PFL MENA championship, El Dafrawy was given an opportunity to join the PFL World Tournament, but did not wish to be involved in another tournament format. For El Dafrawy, he also saw an opportunity to become a star for PFL MENA as a headliner.

“They wanted me to do the tournament, but I don’t want to do tournaments anymore,” El Dafrawy, 30, stated. “My title fight was my 10th fight in under two years. I’m getting older and my body needs time to rest and recover; I’m doing it like a pro now. I want to take fights that make sense to me, I want to take fights that make my career bigger. I want to enjoy my time, I became the champion, there’s no need for me to rush anything. Coming back to PFL MENA, I’m not the one who came back. PFL MENA wanted me to come back and do a showcase bout. They need a superstar and they needed a showcase short-notice fight, and I was ready. It doesn’t put any pressure on me; it’s just an indicator of where I’m going.”

El Dafrawy wasted few words in giving his prediction about his upcoming main attraction against Miceli.

“He’s gonna get knocked out in the first round,” the welterweight declared. “Watching his fights and watching how he fights, he brings it all out in the first two or three minutes, and you can’t do that against a guy like me with the power in his hands. He’s explosive, he’s strong, but he’s got a different animal here.”