There was a certain irony that Abdul Hussein's victorious UFC debut came in Abu Dhabi.
Last June, he delivered a crushing first-round KO of Sami Yahia at a UAE Warriors event at the Space42 Arena and celebrated by walking around the edge of the cage, showing the crowd the lock screen of his phone. The screensaver? A picture of Dana White.
It was clear where he felt he belonged, and maybe word got back to the UFC boss, because 13 months later Hussein was back in Abu Dhabi, only this time inside the octagon and up the road at Etihad Arena.
Still, though, that promotion didn't come easily. Not much ever has for Hussein. After being picked up by UFC scouts, he was put forward for The Ultimate Fighter TV series, in which retired stars Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping each select a squad.
Neither man chose Hussein, something he was eager to remind Cormier of when interviewed by him in the cage after his win on Saturday.
"You remember me, DC?" Hussein yelled into the microphone at Etihad Arena.
Little did he know that the former heavyweight champion had spent much of the broadcast purring over his performance. It was well-earned praise, even if Hussein is his own harshest critic.
"I'd give myself a 7.5/10," said the 28-year-old when asked by The National to mark his performance out of 10. "I wanted to showcase more of my striking, because I'm a really, really good striker, and yeah, my arms felt a bit heavy, so 7.5/10.
"The beginning wasn't so good, because I knew he was going to shoot eventually, but I threw my left straight way too hard, and he shot under.
"After I scrambled from the submissions, I felt the fight turning to me, and yeah, even when he took me down in the third round, I knew I'm going to get up, he's dead tired."
Hussein has established a reputation as a road warrior, fighting in several different countries as he climbed his way to the top. His resilience is hardly a surprise given he was born into adversity, to Palestinian parents in a refugee camp in Lebanon in 1997.
He moved to Finland as a child and MMA became his everything, rising through the ranks and winning gold at both the IMMAF world and European championships in a national team vest.
As a professional, he has had setbacks, but has always pushed through, even when getting a 'No' from one of the UFC's most famous faces.
"I was on the Ultimate Fighter, season 34, and there was Daniel Cormier and [Michael] Bisping coaching," he explained. "I told DC, do you remember me, because they didn't pick me. He told me he wanted to pick me, but his team was favouring some other fighters or something.
"But yeah, that's why I told him, do you remember me, and he was laughing, and he told me congratulations, so I'm not really mad, I was just teasing him a bit."
That only tells a fraction of the story, though, with Hussein's trip to the US proving a personal nightmare, with him missing out on both the Ultimate Fighter and Contender Series and seeing not one but two short-notice fights fall through. In the end, he returned to Finland with nothing but a promise they'd find a spot for him on an international card.
As chance would have it, that ended up being in Abu Dhabi, 13 months after his impromptu UAE Warriors celebration had foreshadowed his victorious UFC debut.
"I went back to Finland, I slept for like 25 hours, I was so dead from all the stress, it was crazy, the craziest two weeks of my life," Hussein said of his unsuccessful trip to UFC headquaters in Las Vegas.
"But today was the happiest day, one of the happiest days of my life, for sure."
UFC Fight Night Abu Dhabi - in pictures
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Magomed Ankalaev in action during the light heavyweight bout against Bogdan Guskov at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi on July 25. All pictures by Victor Besa / The National -
Magomed Ankalaev goes for a crank against Bogdan Guskov at UFC Fight Night. -
Magomed Ankalaev, right, and Bogdan Guskov at UFC Fight Night. -
Bogdan Guskov, left, in action against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi. -
Ramazan Temirov in action during the flyweight bout against Steve Erceg. -
Ramazan Temirov goes after Steve Erceg. -
Ramazan Temirov celbrates his win. -
Magomed Zaynukov, right, in action during the lightweight bout against Damien Rzepecki. -
Magomed Zaynukov lands a big elbow on Damien Rzepecki. -
Magomed Zaynukov in action at UFC Fight Night. -
UFC fans at Etihad Arena. -
UFC fans at Etihad Arena. -
UFC fans at Etihad Arena. -
Valter Walker gets the submission win over Thomas Petersen. -
Abdul Hussein in action during the bantamweight bout against Cody Gibson. -
Abdul Hussein celebrates after his victory.
Given the role Abu Dhabi has played in his career, it is unsurprising that Hussein is eager to come back as soon as possible.
Asked what's next for him, he said he'd love a spot on the big UFC 333 card heading to the UAE capital on October 24.
"I heard there's an event here in October," he said, adding that a show in Europe would also be appealing as it would allow the Finnish fans a chance to travel.
It's a country he represents with pride - as he does Palestine, the home of his parents.
"Stay strong brothers and sisters," he added when asked if he had a message for the UFC fans there. "We're going through hard times, stay strong. God is with us."
