After viral video changed everything, Olympian Mahmoud Sebie turns attention to MMA
One million Instagram followers later and an MMA career on the horizon, Mahmoud Sebie thinks he made the correct call.
The Olympic wrestler from Egypt couldn’t stay quiet, so he spoke out in 2018. As he recorded a selfie video, he relayed his message looking at himself on the screen – 3 minutes and 45 seconds that would change his life forever.
“I’m letting everyone know that I’m quitting sports in Egypt, and I’ll no longer compete there,” Sebie says. “No matter how hard you work, someone else will take your place. I’m telling everyone not to play sports in Egypt.”
As he looked down at his phone, the upload finally went through. There was a sense of relief. There was an interest in the future. But there was no fear, none – surprising given the subject matter and the people involved.
He waited. Slowly but surely, the comments started to roll in. Then, more and more. Likes and shares came flying in left and right. Before long, Sebie was trending in Egypt. The video had gone viral. New followers flocked to his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Within the next day or so, Sebie had gathered close to 500,000 new followers – all for speaking out. The message was not only received by viewers but admired, too. Sebie had admirers prior to his message but not like this.
Sebie competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a Greco-Roman wrestler. His whole life had revolved around his dream to medal in the Olympics.
Unfortunately, Sebie came up short, losing to Elvin Mursaliyev in the opener. Like most young Olympians, he immediately flipped a switch. Mentally, he was focused on the next one: 2020 in Tokyo.
In the four years between Olympic Games, Sebie had a full schedule of other tournaments to participate in. Smaller goals were set. Sebie traveled the world competing, readying himself for the next Games until he was obstructed from doing so. That’s when he spoke out.
“At the time, there was some corruption from the federation,” Sebie told MMA Junkie. “They kind of took my name out of the national team, and they suspended me because I talked about that. I spoke up and mentioned every single person who was involved in that thing. That’s why my video went viral and was trending in the country. That’s why I became really big in the country.”
In his viral video, Sebie pointed to corruption. The revelation was that he and a fellow wrestler were supposed to compete in trials to determine who the Egyptian committee would put forth for bigger opportunities. When the matches were canceled, the other wrestler was selected – despite the unofficial head-to-head tryout never happening.
Sebie accused the Olympic committee of folding to pressure from an Egyptian businessman who was close with the other wrestler. This wasn’t a one-time incident. According to Sebie, it had happened on numerous occasions without explanation. When he reached out to the Egyptian wrestling committee, he received no answers.
In the United States, social media can be a powerful tool. It gives the voiceless a platform. However, in Egypt, it’s less culturally acceptable to speak up against those in power. That’s what he was up against.
“They are not used to having it where anyone can talk about anything,” Sebie said. “Not everyone can speak out about everything. It’s not democratic like here in the U.S. where you can talk or speak up about things. The thing is I’ve mentioned every single one of them, and they’re really high in the government. They are the board of the federation. There are some of them in the Army or the police or stuff like that. They have really high positions in the country.”
(Photo courtesy of Mahmoud Sebie.)
Despite the stakes, and putting his name and reputation on the line, Sebie wasn’t worried about the repercussions. His moral compass was pointing in the right direction. Silence would only cause more damage – to himself and others.
“I’m fearless,” Sebie said. “I’m not scared of anybody. Whatever I see, I’m going to talk about it – especially when you see your career and all you’ve planned to do and some people literally put you down. I was falling down, you know? At the time, I was sad. I had done all that for the country. I was with the national team for almost 12 years. That’s not what I deserved.”
Coming to the U.S. was already on his mind when he dropped the video. A new beginning awaited him. The wheels turned, and Sebie moved to America with the hopes of representing Team USA in 2020 – all the while building a massive social media following as a fitness influencer.
The decision to represent the U.S. received some criticism from back home. Don’t get it twisted: Sebie never soured on Egypt. It wasn’t the country that hurt him, no. He never felt disrespected by Egypt or his fellow countrymen. It was just a handful of powerful people – and Sebie wants that to be known.
“I love my country,” Sebie said. “I love the land where I’m from. I’m literally in love with everything there, and I’m grateful for the sport. … I’m going to represent Egypt. I’m not going to represent the national team, though. I’m just representing myself. I’m Egyptian. It’s in my blood. I’m Egyptian and American, but (Egypt) is my country. Egypt is my life.”
MMA journey begins
After the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the Tokyo Olympics were delayed, Sebie, 28, made one of the toughest decisions of his life – a major pivot. He decided to walk away from wrestling altogether.
“Somethings didn’t go as I wanted,” Sebie said. “Long story short, I had a really tough time about five months ago. I was sitting in the parking lot, really sad. … I’m done with wrestling. It was pretty tough because my love for wrestling is unconditional.”
That’s when a friend convinced him to try MMA, and his trajectory changed forever. Sebie contacted First Round Management CEO Malki Kawa, who flew him to Miami.
After testing a prominent gym in South Florida, Sebie liked the vibe, but something was off. Everyone was nice and knowledgeable– and the talent in the gym was stupendous. But the gym lacked personal attention.
The search resumed and at Kawa’s suggestion, Sebie tried MMA Masters. It was a perfect fit. Sebie now trains with UFC talents Miguel Baeza, Danny Chavez, Rafael Alves, and Ilia Tapouria on a daily basis under coaches Daniel Valverde and Cesar Carneiro.
“They are the best,” Sebie said. “I love them as humans. They are really knowledgeable coaches. From my experience in wrestling, my whole career, I’ve trained in every single country in the world with all the national teams from all over the world. I can tell who the coaches are that are good with me.”
On Saturday, Sebie will fight for the first time inside the cage when he makes his professional MMA debut against Jarell Murry at XMMA in Palm Beach, Fla. It will mark his first competition since a 2018 wrestling grand prix in Bulgaria.
With his striking already leaps and bounds ahead of schedule, Sebie promises to make a good first impression – despite only having a two-week training camp for the bout.
“I feel like this is one of the best versions of myself, even better than when I was preparing for the Olympics,” Sebie said.
Sebie has goals – both short-term and long. He hopes to dominate the regional scene and go to the UFC one day. Perhaps he’ll have title gold wrapped around his waist, the usual stuff MMA up-and-comers dream of. But promotions and title belts aren’t what he’s after. More than anything, Sebie would like to propel MMA in that same fashion.
When Sebie was growing up, wrestling was not a well known sport in Egypt. By the time he departed his country’s wrestling program, that had changed – and Sebie likes to think he had a lot to do with that.
“There are some Egyptian fighters that no one knows in the country,” Sebie said. “I feel sad and bad about that because there’s a lot of talent. I feel like I’m one of the athletes who can put Egypt on the MMA map. That’s literally one of my missions. I have a region behind me.”
After viral video changed everything, Olympian Mahmoud Sebie turns attention to MMA