Ilyass Habibali, left, (L) and Haroun Baka face-off after the weigh-in ahead of the K-1 Combat in Dubai. Courtesy UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation
Ilyass Habibali, left, (L) and Haroun Baka face-off after the weigh-in ahead of the K-1 Combat in Dubai. Courtesy UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation
Ilyass Habibali, left, (L) and Haroun Baka face-off after the weigh-in ahead of the K-1 Combat in Dubai. Courtesy UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation
Ilyass Habibali, left, (L) and Haroun Baka face-off after the weigh-in ahead of the K-1 Combat in Dubai. Courtesy UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation

Ilyass Habibali raring to get back in the ring at K-1 Combat event in Dubai


Amith Passela
  • English
  • Arabic

MAIN CARD

Bantamweight 56.4kg
Abrorbek Madiminbekov v Mehdi El Jamari

Super heavyweight 94 kg
Adnan Mohammad v Mohammed Ajaraam

Lightweight 60kg
Zakaria Eljamari v Faridoon Alik Zai

Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Mahmood Amin v Taha Marrouni

Light welterweight 64.5kg
Siyovush Gulmamadov v Nouredine Samir

Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Ilyass Habibali v Haroun Baka

Ilyass Habibali can hardly contain his excitement at the thought of returning to the ring this weekend in the inaugural K-1 Combat kickboxing competition in Dubai.

Nearly nine months after winning gold at the Asian Muaythai Championship in Abu Dhabi, the Emirati once again takes up the cudgels, albeit is a different martial art, when the action gets under way at Festival Arena.

“I haven’t competed in kickboxing at this level for more than eight years but to get into the ring in nearly nine months after the Covid-19 lockdown just excites me,” he said.

“It is similar martial art but muaythai involves striking with elbows and knees as well as kicks and punches whereas in kickboxing it is confined to only punches and kicks."

A gold medallist at the Muaythai World Championship in Mexico in 2018, Habibali, 29, is confident he will be competitive having spent months preparing for the event.

“It obviously is a bit hard to adapt after being out of it for so long but it’s still good for me,” he added.

“The preparations for both muaythai and kickboxing are similar, yet, I need to adapt to the four-point scoring system.

“My opponent [Haroun Baka] is an unknown quantity because he arrives as a replacement after fighter I was originally to meet had suffered an injury and forced to pull out of the competition.”

The 12-fight card K-1 Combat card will be held behind closed doors and is the second event the UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation has hosted this summer. It will be free to view from 7pm on the UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation’s digital platform www.uampro.com.

Tareq Al Muhairi, executive director of the federation, said competitors had been paired by its own technical committee and that he expects an "exciting event".

“As a federation we held a successful muaythai event to come out of the lockdown and we are now consolidating it with the kickboxing competition,” he said.

“This is our federation’s first pro kickboxing competition and we are confident to build on this.”

Abu Dhabi will also host the World Muaythai Championship, although a date has yet to be finalised, after it was postponed in June due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17

At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253

Tips for job-seekers
  • Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
  • Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.

David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East

Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

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Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

Types of bank fraud

1) Phishing

Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

2) Smishing

The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

3) Vishing

The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

4) SIM swap

Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

5) Identity theft

Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

6) Prize scams

Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

MAIN CARD

Bantamweight 56.4kg
Abrorbek Madiminbekov v Mehdi El Jamari

Super heavyweight 94 kg
Adnan Mohammad v Mohammed Ajaraam

Lightweight 60kg
Zakaria Eljamari v Faridoon Alik Zai

Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Mahmood Amin v Taha Marrouni

Light welterweight 64.5kg
Siyovush Gulmamadov v Nouredine Samir

Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Ilyass Habibali v Haroun Baka