Finally, after 15 months and cancelled bouts and replacement rivals, Mounir Lazzez is back competing in the UFC.
The road to his return has been long, with a succession of bumps along the way, but on Sunday morning the Dubai-based welterweight takes on Ange Loosa at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Understandably, what’s gone before - Lazzez's US debut last July was scuppered by visa issues, while Loosa was an 11th-hour stand-in this week - has only added fuel to the fire.
“It gives you more hunger, it gives you more appreciation for the opportunity you get after a long time, for sure,” Lazzez tells The National from his hotel room Stateside. “It feels good, man. It’s been a long journey and I’m so grateful and happy to get the opportunity to be here in Las Vegas.
“Different place, different atmosphere. New energy.”
Lazzez’s last appearance in the UFC – his second – came in January last year, when he lost to Warlley Alves at Eithad Arena in Abu Dhabi after accepting the fight on short notice. A Dubai resident since 2012, the Tunisian was returning from a troublesome bout of Covid-19 that forced his withdrawal from a scheduled clash at a UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi the previous October, and he was beaten by first-round TKO.
It snapped his three-fight win streak, a significant setback following his triumphant Fight of the Night debut in the promotion during the inaugural Fight Island in July 2020.
Predictably, lessons were learnt.
“That I have to listen to my management,” Lazzez says with a smile. “Short notice, came after Covid. I’m not making excuses - I take the win and the loss the same. But I was big-headed, even when my management said 8-10 days isn’t enough. I said, ‘No I can do it’. And reality hit me.”
Thankfully, though, it did not take long for Lazzez to come to terms with the defeat.
“One week,” he shrugs. “Don’t be overly happy with the win, don’t be overly sad with the loss. Life goes on. It’s part of the journey; it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.
“The journey is the sport. I love competing, I love challenges. This is part of the game. And this isn’t a game, it’s fighting. It can go either way sometimes.”
On Sunday, Lazzez says he will do everything for it to go his way. He was originally slated to face Elizeu Zaleski, but the Brazilian withdrew earlier this week reportedly citing personal reasons. Cue a frantic few days with the UFC trying to salvage a bout, before Loosa was eventually, and belatedly, booked.
“For three days I was super stressed, because it was five-six days [out from the fight] and two days unknown,” Lazzez says. “It made me a little bit out of my head. But I kept calm, said whatever’s going to happen will happen.
"You can’t control anything, only what’s in your hand. Maybe it happened to someone else last time, with me. This is combat sports, it’s not dancing. Anything can happen.
“They always say, ‘The higher the destination, the greater the difficulty to climb’. We’re in Las Vegas, in the combat capital of the world, I’m going to fight one of the best killers in the sport. It’s what you expect. You never know.
"I just focus on the positive side, perform the Fight of the Night and that’s the most important. Whenever, wherever, whoever. Just keep focused on myself and everything I can control.”
Lazzez, 10-2 in professional MMA, has watched a few clips of Loosa, who comes into the contest on the back of victory two weeks ago at XMMA 4 in Louisana. Boasting a pro record of 8-2, this weekend represents the Swiss athlete’s UFC debut.
Having made his bow only two fights back, even if it feels an eternity since, Lazzez knows how dangerous that can make a man.
“They’re always dangerous,” he says. “Every fighter, I expect he comes to swing for his life. This is the chance he gets, and he will try to grab it. I know it.”
Yet Lazzez feels in good shape, steady and sharp. He has been in the US since the beginning of last month, training at the UFC’s Performance Institute in Las Vegas in the mornings, and in the evenings mixing it with the likes of Khamzat Chimaev, Darren Till and Sean Strickland at the Xtreme Couture MMA gym.
Although he is reluctant to go into specifics – “what happens in practice room stays there” – he is both thankful to the UFC and Xtreme Couture, not to mention hugely impressed by Chimaev, the surging welterweight who resides now among the most popular fighters in the sport.
Evidently, for Lazzez, the time in the US has helped hone the former Desert Force champion’s skill set.
“When you are at home always you are the superstar, you are the top dog in the gym and in the region,” Lazzez says. “But then when you are surrounded by 20-25 fighters from a top promotion like the UFC, you spar with them, wrestle with them on daily basis, it’s not like back home.
“There, you win all the rounds. Here you get adversity. It’s been nice for me, a nice challenge and a nice adjustment. To feel in the pack and I belong here, that’s what I like. This is my place and this is my level, too."
Lazzez says he has largely turned off his phone during fight week, such has been the deluge of supportive messages from back home. He plans on repaying them by returning to the UAE with another UFC win under his belt.
“Super proud moment,” he says. “It cannot get better, leading the region and being the hope for my people and represent them in the best way I can – that’s more than enough. I love this sport. I do it for myself first, and then when you see your friends' support and for the region, it’s nice.”
As for what to expect this weekend, after the 15 months and the fallout fights, Lazzez says simply: “Fight. The hunger is there, the focus is there. I leave everything in Allah’s hands, and everything is going to be alright.”
