‘My biggest opponent has always been myself’ — Bahrain’s Hamad Marhoon is ready for PFL MENA 9

DUBAI: Bahraini flyweight Hamad Marhoon is just days away from the biggest fight of his young professional career, something of which he is very aware.

The 22-year-old KHK MMA Team product will face Jordan’s Saher Qasmieh (2-0) on the preliminary card of PFL MENA 9: Pride of Arabia, due to be held on May 24 at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena.

The event marks the PFL MENA 2026 season opener and brings together fighters from 11 nations across the region. For Marhoon, who submitted Oualid Gounaine by guillotine choke in the first round of his December 2025 pro debut, it is his first fight in front of a Dubai crowd and a chance to build on an opening act that took fewer than two minutes to wrap up.

“Representing Bahrain on a global platform like PFL means a lot more to me than just stepping into the cage and fighting,” Marhoon said. “Every time I compete, I feel that I’m carrying the dreams, ambitions, and pride of an entire nation on my shoulders. I’m not fighting only for myself, I’m fighting for everyone back home who believes in me, supports me, and wants to see Bahraini athletes succeed on the world stage. That responsibility motivates me every single day and pushes me to work even harder.”

He enters this camp with more on his mind than just his record. Marhoon comes into the flyweight showcase bout with a background stretching well beyond one pro win. He is a three-time national MMA champion in Bahrain, a 2021 IMMAF World Championship bronze medalist, a Saudi Arabia Combat Sambo champion, and a two-time ADCC Kuwait title holder. He also claimed gold at the 2022 Khalid Bin Hamad MMA Open Championships. That amateur resume put him on the PFL MENA radar before he ever turned professional.

This preparation cycle, he says,