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PFL MENA announces fight card for 2025 opening event in Jeddah

PFL MENA announces fight card for 2025 opening event in Jeddah
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PFL has announced the fight card for the opening event of the 2025 PFL MENA season in Jeddah. (PFL MENA)
PFL MENA announces fight card for 2025 opening event in Jeddah
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PFL MENA Season 2 Lightweight Fight Card. (X/@PFLMENA)
PFL MENA announces fight card for 2025 opening event in Jeddah
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PFL MENA Season 2 Featherweight fight card. (X/@PFLMENA)
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Updated 11 April 2025

PFL MENA announces fight card for 2025 opening event in Jeddah

PFL MENA announces fight card for 2025 opening event in Jeddah
  • Featherweight champion Abdullah Al-Qahtani faces Islam Reda in main event
  • Strong featherweight and lightweight matchups in quarterfinals

JEDDAH: The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced the fight card for the opening event of the 2025 PFL MENA season, which will take place in Jeddah, ŗ£½ĒÖ±²„, on Friday, May 9, 2025.

Headlining the card is a highly anticipated featherweight quarterfinal bout, as Saudi champion Abdullah Al-Qahtani faces Egyptian star Islam Reda, known as ā€œThe Egyptian Zombie,ā€ in a rematch of their 2018 contest, which ended in a win for Al-Qahtani.

Reda reached the featherweight final last season but was forced to withdraw due to injury, with Al-Qahtani stepping in and ultimately claiming the title.

The card will also feature the PFL MENA debuts of several top talents from the Middle East, including Salahdine Hamli from Morocco, Ezzedine Dourbani from Jordan, Yanis Ghemmouri from Algeria, and Hussein Salem from Iraq.

In addition, exhibition bouts will include the first appearances of Abdulaziz Bin Moammar, champion of the 2024 Saudi Games, and Yousef Al-Hosani, the Emirati jiu-jitsu champion and a strong candidate to become one of the region’s breakout stars.


Sudan’s RSF agrees to US proposal for humanitarian ceasefire

Updated 9 sec ago

Sudan’s RSF agrees to US proposal for humanitarian ceasefire

Sudan’s RSF agrees to US proposal for humanitarian ceasefire
Trump’s administration has said it was working toward ending fighting in Sudan
ā€œThe Rapid Support Forces also looks forward to implementing the agreement,ā€ an RSF statement said

WASHINGTON: Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreed to a proposal from the United States and Arab powers for a humanitarian ceasefire and is open to talks on a cessation of hostilities, it said on Thursday in a statement.
Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have agreed to various ceasefire proposals during their two-and-a-half-year-old war, though none have succeeded. US President Donald Trump’s administration has said it was working toward ending fighting in Sudan.
The announcement, which the Sudanese army did not immediately respond to, comes less than two weeks after the RSF took over the famine-stricken city of Al-Fashir, consolidating its control over the vast, western region of Darfur.
ā€œThe Rapid Support Forces also looks forward to implementing the agreement and immediately commencing discussions on the arrangements for a cessation of hostilities and the fundamental principles guiding the political process in Sudan,ā€ an RSF statement said.
Earlier this week, the army-led Security and Defense Council met but did not give a definitive answer to the proposal, though influential leaders and allies within the army have expressed their disapproval.
A US State Department spokesperson on Thursday said the United States continued to engage directly with the parties to facilitate a humanitarian truce.
ā€œWe urge both sides to move forward in response to the US-led effort to conclude a humanitarian truce, given the immediate urgency of de-escalating the violence and ending the suffering of the Sudanese people,ā€ the spokesperson said.
The United States, ŗ£½ĒÖ±²„, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt called in September for a three-month humanitarian truce in Sudan to be followed by a permanent ceasefire.
Witnesses say the RSF killed and abducted civilians during and after its capture of Al-Fashir, including in summary executions, leading to international concern.
Its leader called on fighters to protect civilians and said violations would be prosecuted.
The war between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted in April 2023 when the two forces, then partners in power, clashed over plans to integrate their forces.
The conflict has devastated Sudan, killing tens of thousands of people, causing hunger to spread across the country and displacing millions of people.