PFL Unveils MENA Tourney Lineup Starting May 9 in Saudi Arabia

بطاقة نزالات وزن اللايت ويت من الموسم الثاني لبطولة "PFL MENA" 🔒

من سيحصد اللقب؟

Advertisement

بطولة "PFL MENA" | الجمعة، 9 مايو | جدة، المملكة العربية السعودية | مباشر على منصة "STARZPLAY"#نصنع_التاريخ #السعودية pic.twitter.com/ePKvh06IWL

— PFL MENA (@PFLMENA) April 4, 2025

The Professional Fighters League is doubling down when it comes to developing lightweight talent.

The tournament-based organization released on Thursday the complete lineup for its May 9 event in Saudi Arabia. PFL MENA 1: 2025 First Round will take place at the Onyx Arena in the nation’s second-largest city of Jeddah, with 145ers and 155ers on tap. The champs of these two single-elimination brackets will receive a belt for winning the tournament as well as a potential opportunity to be called up for the $500,000 Global season.

Fighters only get one shot! Watch the PFL World Tournament LIVE Friday, April 11 at 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2..

In sister tournament PFL Europe, it will be lightweight and bantamweight that have main focus. While it is unclear if two other divisions will compete in the next PFL MENA First Round event in June, it is likely that it will continue the same path as 2024. In the inaugural season for Middle Eastern and Northern African combatants, the PFL ran four concurrent brackets of bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight. The 135- and 170-pounders may serve on that June card, assuming the divisions have not shifted. It is also uncertain whether the promotion will proceed with $100,000 prizes for the victors.

Headlining the evening’s festivities will be a 145-pound quarterfinal tilt between Abdullah Al-Qahtani (10-2) and Islam Reda (12-1). Due to card restructuring, Al-Qahtani reached the finals despite a loss to Abdelrahman Alhyasat last year, and he knocked out Maraoune Bellagouit to claim the throne at his division. Reda was initially booked in the finals, but he had to withdraw due to injury.

Additional matches on the marquee include a lightweight quarterfinal pitting Mohsen Mohammadseifi (7-2) against Ahmed El Sisy (6-1, 1 NC), another at 155 pounds between Salah Eddine Hamli (8-0) and Abbas Khan (8-3), and an additional quarterfinal pairing between 145-pounders Izzeddine Al Derbani (15-5) and Yanis Ghemmouri (12-3). Eight participants from each weight category will win and advance over the course of three fights to determine the winner. The semifinals event is on the books for Sept. 19, while the finals will play out on Nov. 28—and not as part of the year-end finals for the Global season, which will be held in August.

PFL MENA 1: 2025 Opening Round Lineup:

Abdullah Al-Qahtani vs. Islam Reda – featherweight quarterfinal
Ahmed El Sisy vs. Mohsen Mohammadseifi – lightweight quarterfinal
Abbas Khan vs. Salah Eddine Hamli – lightweight quarterfinal
Izzeddine Al Derbani vs. Yanis Ghemmouri – featherweight quarterfinal
Malik Basahel vs. Mountassir Boutouta – flyweight
Taha Bendaoud vs. Abdelrahman Alhyasat – featherweight quarterfinal
Hussein Salem vs. Assem Ghanem – featherweight quarterfinal
Georges Eid vs. Mohammad Fahmi – lightweight quarterfinal
Ahmad Makki vs. Hasham Elnamer – lightweight
Abdullah Saleem vs. Souhil Tairi – lightweight quarterfinal
Youssef Al Housani vs. Nader Jeffal – featherweight
Abdulaziz Bin Moammar vs. Fares Hamdani – 166-pound amateur catchweight