Emirati kickboxer Ilyass Habibali headlines UAM's first event of the year

Emirati is confident to stop the Briton within the distance of the three-round contest

Ilyass Habibali of UAE (Red) defeats Artiom Livadari of Moldova during the finals match of Male Elite 81 kg division IFMA Muaythai World Championships at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi on June 4, 2022. Victor BesShow more

Emirati kickboxing champion Ilyass Habibali's lightweight clash with Michael Wakeling headlines the UAM Fight Night Pro Card’s opening event of the year at the Etihad Arena on Saturday.

Both combatants are also skilled in muaythai but Habibali says he and his team are confident in their game plan to beat the Briton.

“I watched a few of Michael’s fights with my trainers and have my game plans ready to take him on,” Habibali said at the pre-fight conference at Yas Rotana on Friday.

“It’s best of three rounds but I have no intentions of taking the fight into the full distance. I have prepared well and feel in great shape to take anyone at this point of my career.”

Habibali has a kickboxing record of 17 victories, including five knockouts, and two defeats.

“I want to win this contest for Abu Dhabi and in front of my fans,” he said. “I have been competing in both muaythai and kickboxing, which isn’t easy, but with good planning by my trainers, I have been able to adapt very quickly from one format to the other.”

In kickboxing, using clinches and elbows aren’t allowed unlike muaythai. And returning from three muaythai events isn’t the ideal preparation for Habibali, despite his claims of adapting quickly.

Habibali has had a run of three successful outings in muaythai, winning gold at the 2022 IFMA Muaythai World Championship in Abu Dhabi in June.

He followed up that success by taking bronze in the World Games in the USA in the following month and the title belt at the King’s Cup Super-8 in Thailand in December.

“Since then, I have trained in my kickboxing for over four weeks and feel I’m 100 per cent ready to take on Michael,” Habibali added.

“After the UAM fight night I go back to muaythai preparing for the Arab Championship in March and the World Championship in Bangkok in May. For now, the focus is on the fight against Michael.”

Wakening has similar beliefs of stopping Habibali on his Abu Dhabi debut.

“He’s a tough bloke but I’m here to win and that’s what you will see, come tomorrow,” he said.

In the co-main contest, Turkey’s Vedat Hoduk, 28, hopes to bring some relief to his people who suffered from the recent earthquake.

“It’s very difficult to focus in a fight when lives were lost following the devastating earthquake, but I wish I can bring some relief to them with a win here,” Hoduk said.

He meets Moldovan Lilian Porceireanu, 24, who makes his first appearance outside Europe in the super middleweight.