Ali Al Qaisi puts on a show to beat Jesse Arnett in UAE Warriors trilogy bout

Ali Al Qaisi produced a dominant performance over Jesse Arnett to see out their trilogy with his second win over the Canadian and retain his UAE Warriors featherweight title in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Having submitted Arnett in their second meeting to regain the belt last September, this time it went to the judges scorecards, with the Jordanian awarded a unanimous decision at the Etihad Arena.

“This fight could have ended early if not for my fans who had requested me to put up a show by going the distance,” Al Qaisi said.

“My preparation for Jesse was great and that reflected on the fight tonight. I’m glad with the show I put up. I love to compete in the UAE because I have lots of fans behind me.

"Also by winning, this featherweight belt remains in Abu Dhabi and in the Arab World.”

Arnett avoided most of Al Qaisi's offensive moves in the first two rounds. The champion suffered a bloody nose in the second but that only fuelled him to come back stronger.

Al Qaisi produced a fine all-round performance, scoring consistently through punches, high knee strikes and his spinning arm in a standing battle throughout the five rounds.

Al Qaisi landed 56 scoring shots to Arnett’s 16. He was also successful with his kicks and high knee blows, coming out 23 against two.

“I would have finished him off even if I had to fight with a broken arm,” Al Qaisi said after improving his career record to 15 wins against six losses.

“I’m going to celebrate this win with my team, family, friends and many of my fans tonight and then get ready for a title defence on whoever the promotion would bring next.”

Iran's Amir Fazli, left, clinched victory over Brazilian Juscellino Ferreira to win the vacant middleweight title. Photo: UAE Warriors

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