Brad Stanton leads an all-star cast of UAE-based Muay Thai fighters at the Muaythai Night Abu Dhabi competition this weekend as competitive martial arts resumes after the Covid-19 lockdown.
Stanton is a multiple international title winner from Coventry, England, and comes up against Moroccan Mohamed El Boukhari in the featured super welterweight fight.
In the main supporting event of the 11-fight card, Brazilian Marlon Ribeiro takes on another Moroccan, Mehdi Oubahammou, in the welterweight division.
Friday's event will be held behind closed doors, and with all the necessary safety precautions, in a specially placed arena at Al Forsan International Sports Resort in Abu Dhabi.
“This event is to come out of the lockdown,” Tareq Al Muhairi, executive director and a board member of the UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation, said at a remote pre-event conference on Tuesday.
“We have assembled the best fighters available and are looking forward to put up a good show, which can be viewed live (from 7.30pm) on our federation’s digital App UAM.
“The contestants were selected from those who registered for the event and then our technical committee paired them off accordingly to ensure a balanced fight card.
“We promise an amazing evening of action for our fans following on our digital platform.
“All contestants as well as all officials involved in this event have undergone the required Covid-19 tests and quarantine period. This obviously will serve as a trial for our next competition.”
Friday’s competition will also serve as a trial to organise more competitions for the remainder of the year.
“We really don’t know how much the current Covid-19 situation can improve because the whole world is trying to get on terms with the pandemic,” Al Muhairi said.
“We were to host the Muay Thai World Championship in June and it’s postponed for 2021.”
Abu Dhabi was set to stage the global event from June 11 after the International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) picked the capital ahead of Ankara, Moscow and Bangkok. When Abu Dhabi does host the world championship next year, it will become the first city in the Middle East to stage the tournament.
