UAE Warriors has been nominated in the Best Promotion category alongside other leading companies including the UFC and Bellator in the annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards.
It is the first time the Abu Dhabi-based promotion has been selected for an international award which also includes Legacy Fighting Alliance and Brave Combat Federation on the shortlist.
Mixed martial arts was one of the few sports to continue in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic.
UAE Warriors successfully staged 10 events during the crisis, which included flying in a number of overseas fighters all while adhering to the country's Covid-19 safety measures.
“We have been nominated as one of the best promotions especially for our commitment to the game during the coronavirus pandemic,” Fouad Darwish, managing director of Palms Sports that manages the UAE Warriors, told The National.
“We were able to complete 10 successful events during this period. Not only that, we were able to bring fighters from 43 countries during the pandemic.
“The fact we have been nominated for an award in itself is a recognition of our abilities, dedication, strategies, deployment of our fighters and the talent pool we have gathered.
“To add to this, more than 15 of our fighters have been signed by UFC, Bellator or Titan. There is not a month that we don’t see one of our fighters going to a bigger MMA organisation.”
UAE Warriors began under the banner of Abu Dhabi Warriors in 2012 but held only four fight cards in six years before Palm Sports took over the promotion in 2019.
Since then the promotion has grown into one of the region's most productive launchpads for fighters looking to climb the MMA ladder.
“We did start with an ambition to become a regional organisation but today we are seen by many as an international pool of talent we have assembled in such a short period of time,” Darwish said.
“At the time of our taking over the promotion, we never thought Palms Sports would be able to convert the UAE Warriors into a world organisation. And here we are.”
Other award categories include 'Fighter of the Year', 'Knockout of the Year', 'Fight of the Year’, and the recently added ‘Fighting Spirit Award.’
Fighters Only magazine gives fight fans the power to vote for their favorite fighters, which knockout and submissions amazed and shocked, and which nominees impressed them the most over the past year to determine who takes home a World MMA Award.
Fans can cast their votes at worldmmaawards.com. Voting concludes on September 8.
The venue and the date for the annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards ceremony will be announced in the coming weeks.
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Results
Male 51kg Round 1
Dias Karmanov (KAZ) beat Mabrook Rasea (YEM) by points 2-1.
Male 54kg Round 1
Yelaman Sayassatov (KAZ) beat Chen Huang (TPE) TKO Round 1; Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) beat Fahad Anakkayi (IND) RSC Round 2; Qais Al Jamal (JOR) beat Man Long Ng (MAC) by points 3-0; Ayad Albadr (IRQ) beat Yashar Yazdani (IRI) by points 2-1.
Male 57kg Round 1
Natthawat Suzikong (THA) beat Abdallah Ondash (LBN) by points 3-0; Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Ahmed Al Jubainawi (IRQ) by points 2-1; Hamed Almatari (YEM) beat Nasser Al Rugheeb (KUW) by points 3-0; Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) beat Yu Xi Chen (TPE) by points 3-0.
Men 86kg Round 1
Ahmad Bahman (UAE) beat Mohammad Al Khatib (PAL) by points 2-1
Men 63.5kg Round 1
Noureddin Samir (UAE) beat Polash Chakma (BAN) RSC Round 1.
Female 45kg quarter finals
Narges Mohammadpour (IRI) beat Yuen Wai Chan (HKG) by points.
Female 48kg quarter finals
Szi Ki Wong (HKG) beat Dimple Vaishnav (IND) RSC round 2; Thanawan Thongduang (THA) beat Nastaran Soori (IRI) by points; Shabnam Hussain Zada (AFG) beat Tzu Ching Lin (TPE) by points.
Female 57kg quarter finals
Nguyen Thi Nguyet (VIE) beat Anisha Shetty (IND) by points 2-1; Areeya Sahot (THA) beat Dana Al Mayyal (KUW) RSC Round 1; Sara Idriss (LBN) beat Ching Yee Tsang (HKG) by points 3-0.
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
