Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor Amir Marouani recovers from Polaris show defeat with back-to-back wins

Brazilian jiu-jitsu youngster Amir Marouani has bounced back in style from the first defeat of his career.

Marouani, 17, lost to fellow prospect Ethan Weston on a packed-out Polaris show in Croydon at the start of June, with the bout shown on TV via UFC Pass.

But the Tunbridge Wells sixth-former put that out of his system by winning an Alpha Grappling show the following weekend in London, coming from behind to take the win and earn a performance bonus.

And he followed up with gold at a tournament in Brighton.

“It’s been pretty positive since his first loss,” said dad Ramzi. “He’s bounced back well.

“Polaris was thrust on him, it’s one of the biggest grappling events in the world, and it was his first one.

“There was a big difference in weight and experience between Amir and his opponent. I was a bit worried it would affect him mentally, having such a big stage, but overall he performed pretty well.

“Watching it back, it was more a case the opponent was bigger, stronger and more experienced.

“You learn from defeat and that’s why I was so proud that he came back the following week and won the Alpha, which is combat jiu-jitsu, involving open-palm striking.

“It’s not on the scale of Polaris but it’s well-respected within the community.

“It was a real tough back-and-forth fight. Amir got submitted in the first round, then the guy was on top of him, striking him, and he absorbed quite a few hits to the head.

“He then came back and started attacking his opponent and ended up getting rounds two and three.

“It was a great comeback performance and everyone said it was the best fight on the card.”