Saudi Arabia\u2019s Zuhayr Al-Qahtani makes his ONE Championship debut next week at ONE 166: Qatar – and promises to steal the show.
\nIn a rare occurrence for ONE, the 34-year-old will compete in a boxing match against elite striker Mehdi Zatout from Algeria.
\nA true student of the sport, Al-Qahtani has dedicated his life to boxing, and mastering his art, and currently boasts a perfect 9-0 record.\u00a0
\nHaving studied in the UK, Al-Qahtani learned his trade in some of London\u2019s toughest gyms, but now, for just the fourth time in his career, he will have the opportunity to showcase his skills in front of his home fans in the Middle East.
\nOn March 1 at the Lusail Sports Arena, The Arabian Warrior will be surrounded by thousands of \u2018home\u2019 fans, and it is something he recognises and wants to repay their support.\u00a0
\n\u201cIt means a lot to represent the region,\u201d he said. \u201cIt feels like the entire region\u2019s weight is on my shoulders. I am just here to please the fans. That\u2019s my main aspiration. I\u2019m a prizefighter, I want the fans to enjoy what they see, so I need to give back to the sport.\u201c<\/p>\n
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zuhayr Al-Qahtani (@zuhayralqahtani) <\/p>\n
He is also thankful to ONE Championship for coming to the region, and giving him the opportunity to showcase his abilities by putting on their first boxing match since 2018.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a historic moment,\u201d he added. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way to describe it. First of all, I\u2019d like to say a massive thank you to ONE Championship. They have done something so amazing by creating the first big martial arts event in Qatar. And having me on the bill is something that I find hard to explain before the fight. I may be able to explain in detail after the fight.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u201cIt is a dream come true. I needed to be part of this giant. Being part of ONE can revolutionize my whole life and my whole future. It can bring me closer to goals that need to be done. This fight will be just the start, the stepping stone to something bigger.\u201d
\nIn Mehdi Zatout, Al-Qahtani faces an elite striker – but with all four limbs. He may not be accustomed to boxing, but the home favourite knows his reputation, and while he respects his previous achievements, there is no fear on display.
\n\u201cMehdi Zatout is an excellent martial artist. He\u2019s achieved a lot of good things in martial arts and Muay Thai. He\u2019s done great things for the sport. However, he\u2019s coming up against a boxer. I do believe he is in a different dimension.
\n\u201cThe fight was too good to turn it down. To compete against Mehdi Zatout is just something that I would love to have on my resume. His skills are great. I am going against a former [Muay Thai] World Champion.\u00a0\u00a0
\nAll that is left now is for the two to battle it out in a week\u2019s time, and despite an already loaded card Al-Qahtani knows which fight he thinks fans will be talking about at the end of the night.
\n\u201cIt seems that our two styles are crowd pleasers. He\u2019s pumped by the crowd, and I\u2019m pumped by the crowd as well. We\u2019re here to entertain all the fans.\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u201cAll I can tell you now is that it will be an exciting fight and will probably be the best fight of the show.\u201d
\nONE Championship returns to the Middle East on March 1 with ONE 166: Qatar at the Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail. A historic night awaits with no less than five title fights planned, and tickets are now available from Virgin Megastore and Q-Tickets.
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saudi Arabia\u2019s Zuhayr Al-Qahtani makes his ONE Championship debut next week at ONE 166: Qatar \u2013 and promises to steal the show.
\nIn a rare occurrence for ONE, the 34-year-old will compete in a boxing match against elite striker Mehdi Zatout from Algeria.
\nA true student of the sport, Al-Qahtani has dedicated his life to boxing, and mastering his art, and currently boasts a perfect 9-0 record.\u00a0
\nHaving studied in the UK, Al-Qahtani learned his trade in some of London\u2019s toughest gyms, but now, for just the fourth time in his career, he will have the opportunity to showcase his skills in front of his home fans in the Middle East.
\nOn March 1 at the Lusail Sports Arena, The Arabian Warrior will be surrounded by thousands of \u2018home\u2019 fans, and it is something he recognises and wants to repay their support.\u00a0
\n\u201cIt means a lot to represent the region,\u201d he said. \u201cIt feels like the entire region\u2019s weight is on my shoulders. I am just here to please the fans. That\u2019s my main aspiration. I\u2019m a prizefighter, I want the fans to enjoy what they see, so I need to give back to the sport.\u201c<\/p>\n
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zuhayr Al-Qahtani (@zuhayralqahtani) <\/p>\n
He is also thankful to ONE Championship for coming to the region, and giving him the opportunity to showcase his abilities by putting on their first boxing match since 2018.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a historic moment,\u201d he added. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way to describe it. First of all, I\u2019d like to say a massive thank you to ONE Championship. They have done something so amazing by creating the first big martial arts event in Qatar. And having me on the bill is something that I find hard to explain before the fight. I may be able to explain in detail after the fight.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u201cIt is a dream come true. I needed to be part of this giant. Being part of ONE can revolutionize my whole life and my whole future. It can bring me closer to goals that need to be done. This fight will be just the start, the stepping stone to something bigger.\u201d
\nIn Mehdi Zatout, Al-Qahtani faces an elite striker \u2013 but with all four limbs. He may not be accustomed to boxing, but the home favourite knows his reputation, and while he respects his previous achievements, there is no fear on display.
\n\u201cMehdi Zatout is an excellent martial artist. He\u2019s achieved a lot of good things in martial arts and Muay Thai. He\u2019s done great things for the sport. However, he\u2019s coming up against a boxer. I do believe he is in a different dimension.
\n\u201cThe fight was too good to turn it down. To compete against Mehdi Zatout is just something that I would love to have on my resume. His skills are great. I am going against a former [Muay Thai] World Champion.\u00a0\u00a0
\nAll that is left now is for the two to battle it out in a week\u2019s time, and despite an already loaded card Al-Qahtani knows which fight he thinks fans will be talking about at the end of the night.
\n\u201cIt seems that our two styles are crowd pleasers. He\u2019s pumped by the crowd, and I\u2019m pumped by the crowd as well. We\u2019re here to entertain all the fans.\u00a0 \u00a0
\n\u201cAll I can tell you now is that it will be an exciting fight and will probably be the best fight of the show.\u201d
\nONE Championship returns to the Middle East on March 1 with ONE 166: Qatar at the Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail. A historic night awaits with no less than five title fights planned, and tickets are now available from Virgin Megastore and Q-Tickets.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=370339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":370340,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370339\/revisions\/370340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=370339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=370339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=370339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}