Ali Al Qaisi and Ahmed Faress fight for Arabian crown in UAE Warriors triple-header

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Arena will host a packed weekend of MMA action

Ali Al Qaisi, second left, will take on Ahmed Faress, right, in a Arabia featherweight title match; while Badreddine Diani, left, takes on Abdullah Boushehri in the Arabia welterweight section of UAE Show more

The UAE Warriors will stage their second triple-header at the Etihad Arena this weekend as their 2023 calendar of events rolls on.

The weekend’s action opens with the UAE Warriors Africa edition 5 (6pm) on Friday followed by the International card on Saturday and the 10th Arabia edition on Sunday (4pm on both days).

Headlining the triple-header are two title fights in the Arabia edition as featherweight champion Ali Al Qaisi defends his title against Ahmed Faress while Badreddine Diani and Abdullah Boushehri clash in a welterweight bout.

Al Qaisi, who holds the promotion’s featherweight belts for both Arabia and International divisions, takes on Egyptian Faress in the rematch just under a year after their first meeting.

Jordan's Al Qaisi regained his International featherweight belt last September from Canadian Jesse Arnett, who he is set to meet in a third rematch in May.

The “Royal Jordanian” fighter won an unanimous decision over Faress in their previous clash, and he is confident of replicating that result in Sunday’s main card.

“There is a good side and a bad side of Ali, but I wish to bring out my better side for this fight on Sunday,” Al Qaisi, 13-6, said during the pre-fight presser on Wednesday.

“This fight was arranged on short notice but I’m ready to take on anyone. I also think it’s a good idea to have a go before the fasting month of Ramadan, and obviously the third meeting with Jesse.”

Faress is sure of putting up a better show than he did a year ago. He arrives in UAE following victory over Cedric Doyle of South Africa in the promotion’s Africa 4 series three weeks ago.

“I’m into my 25th professional fight. Aside from my defeat to him [Al Qaisi], I have done a lot of work which he is going to learn about me,” Faress, who has a 17-7 record, said.

Diani (5-2) will defend his Arabia welterweight title against the man he originally beat to win the belt, Boushehri (9-3) of Kuwait.

The Africa edition that kicks off the weekend’s card is headlined by the contest between the former EFC champion and UAE Warriors title challenger Sylvester Chipfumbu (8-5) and submission specialist Imad Bouamri (6-5). Comoros’ Kevin Oumar (8-4) takes on Egypt’s Abdul El Wahab Saeed (7-3) in the co-main event.

The International card sees two newcomers in the promotion, with Austrian featherweight Mochamed Machaev (12-1) meeting Kazakh Bagdos Olzhabay (13-3).

The co-main event has two of the top bantamweights going head to head as former UAE Warriors champion Vinicius de Oliveira (17-3) clashes with former ONE and Rizin fighter Hikaru Yoshino (12-2).

Also on the card are UFC veterans Mark Striegl (18-4) and Alex da Silva (21-4). Both are making their UAE Warriors debut.