Professional Kurdish MMA fighter seals first-round KO at UK main event

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A professional Kurdish Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter was victorious on Saturday as he headlined the main event of a fight card in the United Kingdom.

Mario Saeed defeated opponent Patrick Blight in the first round of the main event bout at the Caged Stand & Strike event organized by World Total Full Contact Association promotions.

Saeed put in a dominant performance to beat Blight in the first round via a knockout (punches).

The win puts the Kurdish fighter in a promising position as he seeks to continue to grow his impressive professional MMA career.

Saeed, who fights out of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in the UK, told Kurdistan 24 in a January interview that he wants to compete in the UFC and has his eyes set on a fight with two-division champion Conor McGregor.

The 28-year-old Kurd, who now holds a professional fighting record of 11 wins and four losses, is considered a ground specialist with eight of his 11 victories coming via submissions.

Saeed told Kurdistan 24 that he is one of the only Kurds from Kurdistan who holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which indicates an expert level of skills in the fighting style.

He began his fighting career as a boxer before moving on to kickboxing. Due to the rules in boxing and kickboxing, which prevented him from fighting his opponent on the ground, Saeed decided to pursue MMA.

“I hope that in 2019 I can fight in the UFC,” Saeed told Kurdistan 24 in January.

“I also hope the Kurdistan Region continues to support me so I can open training facilities here and share my experiences, and instead of visiting once every 20 years, I can come back to Kurdistan every year.”