Juscelino Ferreira has insisted on a UAE Warriors Mixed Martial Art title fight after knocking out their light heavyweight champion Tarek Suleiman with a crushing left hook to the jaw.
The Brazilian, 34, returned to the octagon for the first time in more than a year but didn’t show any rustiness as he caught his opponent off guard to end the contest with a minute and 25 seconds left in round one at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
“I’m back and I want to get a title belt,” Ferreira yelled after ending the Syrian’s unbeaten record in his third appearance in the UAE Warriors 11 main fight in the catchweight 90-kilogram.
Ferreira’s last appearance was in UAE Warriors 6 on May 2019 in which Suleiman, 30, defeated Britain’s UFC veteran Oli Thompson in the title fight for the light heavyweight belt.
He is now undefeated in his last four fights and is hoping he would get that opportunity to fight for a UAE Warriors title belt.
“I’m ready and I’m asking the UAE Warriors for that opportunity,” Ferreira said. “I have worked very hard for this and the result has made me hungrier, and above all a title fight.”
The most exciting contest on the night, however, turned out to the be the main supporting contest between Cameroonian Jaures Dea and Brazilian Andre Pinheiro in the featherweight 66kg.
Dea won a unanimous points decision in only the second fight that went the full distance of three five-minute rounds.
The result stretched the Cameroonian’s record in the UAE Warriors to three in three appearances and his overall tally to 6-2 (win/loss).
Dea dominated the contest from the outset by scoring consistently with punches and kicks while avoiding his opponent’s take down attempts for ground fighting.
Emirati Youesf Al Husani made a winning debut when he stopped Egyptian Mohamed Allam with a rear naked choke in 1m 37 seconds in round one.
Al Husani made full use of his jiu-jitsu skills on his successful MMA appearance. And having begun his new journey in MMA, he’s already looking ahead to face his next opponent.
“I have to thank the Warriors for providing me with this opportunity and after this result I’m now looking forward to take my new adventure to the next level,” he said.
“This obviously was a perfect start. You always dream this kind of result and I’m really glad I managed to do that. I was also confident from the outset. I have been training very hard for this moment and so happy.
“I will always celebrate and cherish this moment. It wasn’t an easy fight as it may have appeared to look as it was because of the quick finish. It was far from that.
“I managed to get at him early and use my jiu-jitsu skills to good effect. Perhaps, I was also lucky tonight.”
Al Husani's more experienced compatriot Ahmed Al Darmaki took his record to 6-2 with another first round win over Ugandan Kagimu Kigga, stopping the contest with a guillotine choke in 3m 25s in round one.
The UAE Warriors 11 was staged without an audience. It was the first sporting event to take place in the country after the Covid-19 lockdown but braodcast live on television and YouTube.
Fouad Darwish, general manager of Palms Sports that oversea the UAE Warriors, said to accomplish the first sporting event at such time was multi-facetted and multi-purpose.
“We want to bring sporting events back to the UAE by adapting and facing challenges, and leaping over the obstacles,” he said.
“For the last few years we have been accustomed Abu Dhabi as a city to host international mega events. And we hope one day, the home-grown warriors in Abu Dhabi can make to those mega events.
“We always strive hard to bring the best possible fight card in the UAE Warriors and more MMA excitement to the UAE.”
The UAE Warriors 12 is slated for July 31 soon after the historic UFC Fight Island’s four fight nights on 11, 15, 18 and 25 of that month.
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
'Gehraiyaan'
Director:Shakun Batra
Stars:Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday, Dhairya Karwa
Rating: 4/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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