Mohammad Alaqraa, Omar El Dafrawy trade verbal jabs before championship rematch

Kuwait’s Mohammad Alaqraa and Egypt’s Omar El Dafrawy will be standing opposite each other inside the PFL SmartCage when they duke it out for the inaugural PFL MENA Welterweight Championship on the first-ever PFL MENA Championships card this coming November 29th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Even before the two 170-pound contenders set foot inside the SmartCage for their highly-anticipated rematch, they’ve already started trading some verbal jabs.

El Dafrawy, who earned his spot in the Welterweight Finals by defeating the legendary Jarrah Al Selawe, has called out Alaqraa for allegedly committing illegal strikes during his fights.

“My issue with Alaqraa is that he strikes behind the head,” El Dafrawy said.

In the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), a strike to the back of the head is considered illegal and can warrant a warning, a point deduction, or even a disqualification.

El Dafrawy added that he won’t take kindly to being on the receiving end of such an attack.

“I hope he doesn’t do that again. If he pushes me in the face again, I’ll slap him back,” he exclaimed.

“I act. I don’t talk much, and I’ll defeat Alaqraa to win the title,” El Dafrawy added.

In response, Alaqraa suggested that El Dafrawy get himself an officiating license.

“I don’t strike behind the head as Omar claimed, and I suggest that he gets a refereeing certificate since he’s so interested in the rules.”

Alaqraa added that El Dafrawy should consider a career change after their title fight.

“After the fight, he can pursue that field because the result will be the same: Mohammad Alaqraa is the PFL MENA Welterweight Champion and still undefeated,” he concluded.

Alaqraa and El Dafrawy square off in just one of four title fights to be featured in the first-ever PFL MENA Championships. Take a look at the complete card below:

• PFL MENA Featherweight Championship: Abdelrahman Alhyasat (5-0) vs. Abdullah Al-Qahtani (9-2)
• PFL MENA Welterweight Championship: Mohammad Alaqraa (7-0) vs. Omar El Dafrawy (12-6)
• Amateur Women’s Atomweight Bout: Hattan Alsaif vs. Lilia Osmani
• PFL MENA Bantamweight Championship: Ali Taleb (11-1) vs. Rachid El Hazoume (15-3)
• PFL MENA Lightweight Championship: Mohsen Mohammadseifi (6-1) vs. Georges Eid (10-4)

Showcase Fights:

• Lightweight MENA Showcase: Mansour Barnaoui (21-6) vs. Alfie Davis (17-4-1)
• Heavyweight MENA Showcase: Slim Trabelsi (7-0) vs. Abraham Bably (5-0)
• Featherweight Global Showcase: Jesus Pinedo (23-6-1) vs. Jeremy Kennedy (19-4)
• Featherweight Global Showcase: Asael Adjoudj (8-1) vs. Jose Perez (9-1)
• Middleweight Global Showcase: Costello van Steenis (15-3) vs. Joao Dantas (7-1)

The PFL MENA Championships can be seen live on MBC on Friday, November 29th at 5:30 PM AGT. Tickets are now on sale via webook.com