By:  | July 4, 2022 3:07 pm

Xavier Alaoui made history at UAE Warriors 31. The Canadian-Moroccan scored a sensational knockout victory over Fabricio Sarraff in the main event in Abu Dhabi to become the first-ever UAE Warriors Arabia bantamweight champion.

‘The Breadman’ is the former UAE Warriors Bantamweight Champion but lost the belt when he was knocked out by Vinicius de Oliveira on his last outing. That was back in March 2020, and the 30-year-old saw a pair of fights cancelled before making a successful return here.

Sarraff was coming off of a loss to undefeated Tajikistan fighter Sarvadzhon Khamidov on his UAE Warriors debut but was able to score a title shot on the back of five straight victories before that loss.

Alaoui trains out of Tristar Gym under Firas Zahabi and looked calm and collected as he stayed behind his jab in the first round before cracking the Brazilian with a big right cross with less than a minute to go. He then caught a kick and slammed ‘Bill’ to the canvas. Sarraff responded with a sharp left hook and a right uppercut late on.

Alaoui’s excellent jab work paid dividends in the second stanza as he clipped his opposite number with a right hand on the jaw.

Remarkable end

Sarraff continued to hunt for the uppercut and his aggression set up a remarkable end to the fight. The man from Para dropped Alaoui with a hammer of a right hook and it looked like the fight was on the cusp of a finish.

That was indeed the case, but the pendulum swung quickly back the other way. The man from Montreal found has feet and as Sarraff marched in for the kill he caught a beastly right hook himself that left him flat on his back.

One more shot with the right was all she wrote as Alaoui completed a raucous finish that would seal the championship and extend his record to 13-4. Sarraff slips to 29-11.

Best of the rest

In the co-main event, there was a unanimous decision win for Eslam Syaha who became the inaugural UAE Warriors Arabia Middleweight champion. after beating Bellator veteran Laïd Zerhouni by unanimous decision. The Egyptian extended his record to 13-2 while the Frenchman falls to 9-8.

UAE Warriors 31, Abu Dhabi, July 3rd
Xavier Alaoui def. Fabricio Sarraff via KO (punch), round 2, 3:42
Eslam Syaha def. Laid Zerhouni via unanimous decision
Nawras Abzakh def. Sami Yahia via submission (rear-naked choke), round 3, 3:32
Mohammad Osseili def. Yousri Belgaroui via unanimous decision
Hadi Omar Al Hussani vs. Mohammad Qwai Abzakh fight to a draw
Omar Hussein def. Mohammad El Jaghdal via submission (Darce choke), round 2, 3:32
Khaled Amr def. Rashed Dawood (3-1) via TKO (strikes), round 1, 4:23
Adam Meskini def. Jalal Al Daaja via TKO (strikes), round 2, 1:38
Mohammad Alaqraa def. Namo Fazil via unanimous decision
Wasem Anwar def. Ali Elkhatib via submission (arm-triangle), round 1, 1:42
Hussein Salem def. Nizar Ben Amara via submission (triangle choke), round 1, 2:00
Eman Almudhaf def. Rewan Yasser via TKO (strikes), round 2, 4:10
Mehdi Saadi def. Ibrahim Al-Faqih Hassan via submission (rear-naked choke), round 1, 2:47