LAS VEGAS – After watching numerous teammates receive the UFC call, Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady finally got his time to shine.
A big underdog against highly touted Cage Warriors champion George Hardwick, Fury FC champ Al-Selwady (15-3) upset the oddsmakers Tuesday with an impressive unanimous decision win to win a UFC contract in the featured bout of Dana White’s Contender Series 58.
The Fortis MMA fighter has helped his teammates prep and even cornered him during their UFC fights, as he patiently waited for his turn. He finally got it, and was handed no layup when he drew Hardwick – but Al-Selwady had other plans.
“It feels great,” Al-Selwady told MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight at DWCS 58. “It feels great and as crazy as it sounds, from what I’ve been hearing, all the media hype that I’ve been seeing, that this is the biggest Contender fight, like non-UFC, how could these two be fighting on the Contenders? Right now, I’m just listening to coach’s (Sayif Saud) words, man it’s been such a long ride to get in here. I believed that I deserved to be in here since forever.
“But that doesn’t matter because we’re here today, we’re here now, and I believe that God put me through everything, through the trials, through the losses, through the wins, through the injuries. Everything I went through, the good and the bad, to make this moment count as my moment. The hype, everything. I’m just blessed right now to be a UFC fighter, and I just can’t wait to bring this performance on the biggest stage in the world because now I’m motivated more than ever to get even better and better.”
UFC 294 on Oct. 21 in Abu Dhabi would be nice for Al-Selwady to make his promotional debut, but “The Pride of Palestine” is just ready to continue riding the momentum he built from an impressive showing at DWCS 58.
“I’ll just be excited to fight and build my way up,” Al-Selwady said. “I want to build a nice name for myself, I want to collect performance bonuses each event because my style I believe is very exciting, and I just want to win in nice, dominant fashion.”
For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s event hub for Dana White’s Contender Series 58.