UAE kickboxing champ Habibali wins unanimous decision at UAM Fight Night

ABU DHABI: UAE champion Ilyas Habibali lit up the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi after claiming a unanimous decision over three-time world champion Michael Wakeling in front of a packed-out crowd on Saturday night at the UAM Fight Night K1 Pro Kickboxing Championship.

The winners were crowned by Abdullah Saeed Al-Neyadi, chairman of the UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation, president of the Arab Muay Thai Federation and vice president of the Asian Federation.

Al-Neyadi said: “We would first want to express our gratitude and appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of the presidential court, for his benevolent support of the revival of kickboxing and muay thai, and for his trailblazing work that resulted in a quantum leap in the field of accomplishments and successes in terms of the participation of the world’s best athletes and performance by the national athletes.”

“Congratulations to all the athletes, especially Ilyas and the other winners,” he said.

“This was the first event of the new season, so it was fantastic to see not only such a strong line-up of elite athletes from around the globe, but also such a great turn-out at Etihad Arena. The UAE, and Abu Dhabi in particular, has established a combat sports legacy in recent years and we’re excited to build upon this foundation to further enhance kickboxing in the region.”

Habibali, whose record now stands at 20 wins from 22 fights, exchanged furious blows with his British opponent throughout a trio of intense and balanced rounds. Both fighters landed huge punches, yet Wakeling was arguably edging it until he found himself on the canvas midway through the third. When the bell rang to end the bout, Habibali