Dubai-based Mounir Lazzez makes his return to the UFC this weekend, after almost a year out and against an unbeaten opponent, but the latter in particular doesn’t concern him. If anything, he takes extra motivation from it.
“Every dog has his day, so his day is coming,” Lazzez tells The National from Brazil, ahead of his clash against home hope Gabriel Bonfim at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro Paulo on Sunday morning. “I love to defeat the undefeated.”
Lazzez is looking to make up for lost time. The Tunisian, who has called Dubai home for the past decade, has endured a stop-start time in the world’s lead mixed martial arts promotion since excelling on debut at the inaugural Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, way back when, in July 2020.
Then, he secured a Fight of the Night bonus for his unanimous decision win against Ghanaian Abdul Razak Alhassan, but the instant spark to his UFC career soon fizzled.
A former Desert Force champion at welterweight, Lazzez has competed only once in the company in each of the past two years, and not since last April.
Nine months ago, he defeated Swiss Ange Loosa by unanimous decision in Las Vegas to rebound from a first-round stoppage defeat to Warlley Alves in early 2021 – again, in Abu Dhabi – when he concedes he was unwise to accept the challenge on short notice and following a lengthy recovery from Covid-19.
Since, there have been confirmations and cancelled bouts, for a myriad of reasons, including visa issues, illness, injury or opponents’ pulling out. For instance, Loosa was a late replacement last time around.
However, Lazzez has spent the interim honing his skill-set in Dubai. Significant improvement, the 35-year-old says, has been made. All round, too.
“I spend more time in the lab, in the gym and with the coaches working on differentthings, focused on filling all the gaps,” Lazzez says. “I feel better as a fighter, as a person.
“I was supposed to fight in Abu Dhabi [at UFC 280 last October], but the fight fell off. Now, this is the right time. Time to go. As always, I’m excited.”
Part of the UFC’s big return to Brazil – the promotion last staged an event there in the early days of the pandemic – and on a card that includes two world title bouts, Lazzez understands the magnitude of the occasion.
He takes his slot on the bill as the kick-start to the prelims, long before flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo meets interim belt-holder Brandon Moreno for a historic fourth time, or Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill face off in the headline act for the vacant light heavyweight crown.
Regardless, UFC 283 represents a huge pay-per-view event. Yet, true to form, Lazzez cuts a considered and contented figure.
“Normal,” he says. “This is just another fight for me. I don't want make it that big of a deal.”
Still, for a man who deadpans that he retains ambitions of becoming UFC champion, a win no matter what against Brazil's Bonfirm, the 13-0 graduate of the 2022 Dana White Contender Series, is important.
Even if a statement made this weekend, with the eyes of the MMA world and the UFC’s top brass watching on also, could have considerable – and welcome – consequences.
“Every fight is a statement,” says Lazzez, whose pro record stands at 11-2. “And every fight is the first and last fight for me, so I'm going for it all.
“Honestly, I just want to focus on the win and then everything will present itself. You know, maybe top 15. We'll see. We'll take it from there.”
No doubt, Lazzez feels the backing from Dubai all the way there in Brazil. Unsurprisingly, then, he’s looking to repay that faith in spades on Sunday morning UAE time.
“Tune in,” Lazzez says in a message to his fans. “You are always supporting me in my up-and-down career. So tune in this time. I’m very confident that I’m going to knock some Brazilian out here – and make a statement.”
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UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
Men’s squad: Faisal Al Ketbi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Kathiri, Thiab Al Nuaimi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Mohamed Ali Al Suwaidi, Farraj Khaled Al Awlaqi, Muhammad Al Ameri, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, Saeed Al Qubaisi, Abdullah Al Qubaisi and Hazaa Farhan
Women's squad: Hamda Al Shekheili, Shouq Al Dhanhani, Balqis Abdullah, Sharifa Al Namani, Asma Al Hosani, Maitha Sultan, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Maha Al Hanaei, Shamma Al Kalbani, Haya Al Jahuri, Mahra Mahfouz, Marwa Al Hosani, Tasneem Al Jahoori and Maryam Al Amri
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
The years Ramadan fell in May
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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Price: From Dh590,000
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.”
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
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