Saudi Arabia's Hattan Al Saif wants to be 'the greatest' after finding true calling in MMA

On first impression, Hattan Al Saif does not strike you as a majorly talented mixed martial artist.

The diminutive Saudi Arabian with the huge smile, cropped hair and modish attire, speaks with a childlike enthusiasm for what has become her vocation. Her words are wonderfully expressive, the sentiment sincere.

So you’d never guess, initially at least, that Al Saif is a gold medallist from the International Federation of Muay Thai Associations World Championships, where last year she was named its “Breakthrough Female Athlete”.

Aged 22, she has claimed gold, too, at both the World Combat Games and the Saudi Games. And having transitioned to MMA, last month she signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), making Al Saif the first Saudi female to be taken on by a global MMA promotion.

Not that, upon meeting her, that’s particularly obvious.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm a whole different person outside of the cage,” Al Saif tells The National. “I'm the loveliest and the cutest and the nicest person you can ever meet.

“But we come to the cage, then no, I'm not the cutest and not the loveliest at all.”

Having taken up Muay Thai in 2021,Al Saif concedes the conflicting characters even took her a while to get used to. In fact, it still surprises.

“Literally, it does,” she laughs. “In my first competition in the World Muay Thai Championships, after my fight I went out of the ring, and I started talking to my coach.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, I felt something weird. I felt there was someone else who was fighting and having a big, big, big aggressive feeling and big anger feelings’.

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“I felt like there was someone inside me that doesn't just want to fight but that would literally eat her