Zamzam Al Hammadi secured a unanimous decision victory over Egypt’s Abeer Mansour on Sunday night in her historic debut at PFL MENA: Dubai – Pride of Arabia at Coca-Cola Arena.
The 18-year-old became the first Emirati woman to compete under the PFL MENA banner, earning the win in a women’s strawweight amateur showcase bout in front of a vocal home crowd. Judges scored the contest 29-28 across all three scorecards.
Speaking after the fight, Al Hammadi said the atmosphere inside the arena stood out as she made the walk to the cage.
“When I stepped into the cage, I was hearing everyone cheering for me,” she said. “I was like wow, this is a huge audience.”
The emotional moment of the evening came after the decision was announced, when Al Hammadi’s mother entered the cage to celebrate the victory with her daughter.
“She was screaming my name. She was so happy. I saw her crying,” Al Hammadi said. “It was her first time watching my fights from all my career.”
Al Hammadi also addressed those who had underestimated her ahead of the fight.
“They were like, ‘Zamzam, you’re not able, you have no experience in that,’” she said. “But after all, I got the win.”
The Dubai event marked the opening of the 2026 PFL MENA season, with Tunisia’s Mehdi Saadi defeating the UAE’s Mohammad Yahya via split decision in the featherweight tournament main event.
Throughout the event, PFL MENA also heavily promoted its upcoming “No Fear, No Mercy” event in Jeddah on 19 June, headlined by Hattan Alsaif, Saudi Arabia’s first professional female MMA fighter.
In a recent conversation with PFL MENA General Manager Jerome Mazet, he told The Mettleset that when Alsaif competes in the Kingdom, women make up around 20 per cent of the crowd, believed to be among the highest percentages of female fans at any MMA event globally.
