UFC Fight Island: Mounir 'Sniper' Lazzez sets his focus on chance of a lifetime


John McAuley
  • English
  • Arabic

Call it coincidence, good fortune or even fate, but a chance meeting in a Las Vegas restaurant with one of the most prominent figures in sport could change Mounir “Sniper” Lazzez’s life for ever.

More immediately, it secured the Dubai resident his UFC debut next month.

"One of my friends in the US passed [UFC president] Dana White by chance, showed him my knockout highlight reel and said 'Listen, stop I have business for you. Look at this guy: he's the next 'Middle East's Conor McGregor'," Lazzez tells The National, surprisingly matter-of-factly.

“So Dana followed me on Instagram and put matchmaker Sean Shelby in contact with me. And Sean contacted me and then my management. So, yeah, it happened like that.”

And now it's happening. Lazzez says his friend bumped into White on Tuesday of last week. Oblivious to what had transpired, the Tunisian woke on Wednesday to a fight being sorted at the once-in-a-lifetime Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. After the initial shock – understandable, but fleeting – he composed himself and agreed.

“Sean sent me a private message on social media and asked if I was up to fight on July 15,” Lazzez says. “Yes sir. He didn’t even send me any other details.

“He asked if I can make 77 [kilograms, for welterweight], and I said ‘Easy to go, just let me know’. He spoke to my management, offered them the fight, we accepted and, yes, I’m ready.”

And there you have it. Lazzez, a former Desert Challenge welterweight champion, a specialist Muay Thai kickboxer who grew up in Tunisia before relocating to Canada and then finally to Dubai in 2012, will face Ghanaian Abdul Razak Alhassan on July 15. Alhassan has five UFC outings under his belt, but hasn’t competed since a 43-second knockout of Niko Price in September 2018.

Now he will collide with Lazzez at the second of a four-fight UFC series taking place across two weeks on Yas Island, although the card has not yet been announced.

By any measure, Lazzez's is a remarkable tale. Looking back further, his mixed martial arts story dates back more than 15 years. A “tall, skinny and ugly” teenager, he took up kickboxing only because his parents thought it would help build his confidence.

Displaying both an appetite and an aptitude, he went on to excel for the Tunisia national team, then began his amateur MMA career in Canada, where he added to his repertoire jiu-jitsu and wrestling.

In Dubai, and with the help of Team Nogueira Dubai martial arts and fitness academy – Lazzez worked as coach from 2014 and considers managing director Rafael Haubert a mentor - he eventually turned professional and committed to full-time training. At present, the 31-year-old’s pro record stands at 9-1, helped by back-to-back first-round finishes in his past two bouts.

A UFC fan “since day one", Lazzez appreciates everything that has carried him to this point. To Fight Island next month.

“To be honest, in this moment we have a lot of people losing their job and you see how all around the world it’s crazy,” he says. “People are protesting, people are losing their loved ones. So for me it’s kind of a light at the end of the tunnel.

“I just appreciate God’s plan; it’s the best and it’s humbled me. It let me appreciate more things. So this has come at the right time, the right place. It’s going to be better than this.”

A month out, he’s begun a full training camp. Typically, Lazzez studies his opponents before stepping into the cage. This time, he’s leaving that to his coach and his team. For him, the focus is July 15. No distractions.

“I will be ready and will be 100 per cent as well,” Lazzez says. “In this game, at the elite level, the technique is there, but it’s more heart.

"When they lock that cage, when you look at your opponent, it doesn’t matter if he’s world champion or whatever. If you look him in the eye and he knows he’s facing someone who’s willing to die and not give up the win, then technique is second and the first thing is heart.

“And I will tell you something, you can beat me physically, but mentally I will never give it. I’m not someone who predicts the future, and I cannot guarantee the win 100 per cent, but I will guarantee 1000 per cent that I’m not going there to lose.”

Surely, though, Lazzez grasps the magnitude of making his UFC bow at Fight Island, a most-probably one-off event created in response to the havoc the coronavirus crisis was wreaking on the world's lead MMA promotion.

He plans to steer clear of social media until then, to forget the intricacies of the deal signed with the UFC – Lazzez says he cannot disclose any details – and concentrate solely on himself.

“I’m trying to not let the event or this occasion overwhelm me or get emotional stress,” he says. “It’s just another fight. I’m doing every thing like before, but just adding some more professional stuff. But it’s simple: it’s me.

“I’ve been here on this stage for a long time. It’s just now it’s UFC and I have this light shining on me and the media and everything, but for me it’s just another fight.

“Of course, it’s very nice to be part of history and I’m super excited about it. I’ve been the first Arab to bring a belt to the UAE, the first Tunisian to sign for the UFC, the first Arab who’s born and raised in an Arab country to sign with UFC. So the fight being on an island, or wherever, it’s a fight. I don’t want to focus on anything else.”

Win on July 15, and win well, and his career could ignite. More UFC opportunities might be his reward. It’s a challenge Lazzez says, in a nod to his profession, he’ll grab “with both hands and legs”.

He recognises Fight Island could change his life. Not just for him, but his family in Tunisia, or his wife and son in Italy. And it's something he’s determined to embrace.

“Every normal human, when they see violence they run away from it,” Lazzez says. “For me, it’s a philosophy; I like to challenge myself, to get into that scary moment in front of another professional and try to control myself under that pressure, control my emotions and deliver that win.

“I feel like that moment is such glory. For a long time, I’ve wanted to be a world champion, wanted to be among the elite of the elite, not step in there just to take part. I want to be among the top five, the top three, if not champion. For me, the sky’s the limit.”

While you're here
BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

War and the virus
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

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Porsche Macan T: The Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo 

Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm 

Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm 

Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto 

Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec 

Top speed: 232kph 

Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km 

On sale: May or June 

Price: From Dh259,900  

UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA

Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi

Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser

Rating: 4.5/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

What's in the deal?

Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024

India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.

India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.

Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments

India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP

Group A

Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA

Group B

Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti

Group C

Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia

Group D

Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
THREE
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