Marcos Oliveira and Shamil Abdurahimov will battle for a Dh1 million prize in Round 3 of the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship (ADFC) tonight at the Abu Dhabi Tennis Centre at Zayed Sports City.
But money is not the only thing at stake tonight, with the winner being crowned the inaugural ADFC champion and being the first recipient of the ADFC Title Belt.
Oliveira, an Abu Dhabi resident, is an imposing figure standing at 1.85 metres and weighing in at 120kgs.
He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and holds several world and national championships in various grappling arts including jiu-jitsu, wrestling and judo.
In progressing to Round 3, the fighter, who currently works as a jiu-jitsu teacher in the Abu Dhabi government school system, got the better of Neil Wain in Round 2 after seeing off the challenge of Johan Romming in Round 1.
His opponent Abdurahimov, stands at 1.9 metres and weighs 105kg and is five-time Russian Wushu-Sanda Champion (a sporting offshoot of Kung Fu).
He beat UFC legend Jeff Monson in Round 1 and made light work of widely-recognised journeyman Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in Round 2 on his way to tonight's bout with Oliveira.
There is a busy under card leading up to the main event with both MMA (mixed martial arts) fighters and exciting local and international prospects.
Headlining the under card will be former NFL player and part-time actor Bob Sapp, who stands at an imposing 1.95 metres and weighs 150kgs.
Sapp made his name fighting in K1, Dream, Pride and the Strikeforce promotions. But he will not be having it easy though as he is set to face English-Cypriot knockout artist Stav Economou, who has lost only once in 12 professional fights.
Also on the card will be Ali Ahli, the youngest Emirati MMA fighter, who faces the Russian Malik Omarov.
