Ilyass Habibali, left, (L) and Haroun Baka face-off after the weigh-in ahead of the K-1 Combat in Dubai. Courtesy UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation
Ilyass Habibali, left, (L) and Haroun Baka face-off after the weigh-in ahead of the K-1 Combat in Dubai. Courtesy UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation
Ilyass Habibali, left, (L) and Haroun Baka face-off after the weigh-in ahead of the K-1 Combat in Dubai. Courtesy UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation
Ilyass Habibali, left, (L) and Haroun Baka face-off after the weigh-in ahead of the K-1 Combat in Dubai. Courtesy UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation

Ilyass Habibali raring to get back in the ring at K-1 Combat event in Dubai


Amith Passela
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MAIN CARD

Bantamweight 56.4kg
Abrorbek Madiminbekov v Mehdi El Jamari

Super heavyweight 94 kg
Adnan Mohammad v Mohammed Ajaraam

Lightweight 60kg
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Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Mahmood Amin v Taha Marrouni

Light welterweight 64.5kg
Siyovush Gulmamadov v Nouredine Samir

Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Ilyass Habibali v Haroun Baka

Ilyass Habibali can hardly contain his excitement at the thought of returning to the ring this weekend in the inaugural K-1 Combat kickboxing competition in Dubai.

Nearly nine months after winning gold at the Asian Muaythai Championship in Abu Dhabi, the Emirati once again takes up the cudgels, albeit is a different martial art, when the action gets under way at Festival Arena.

“I haven’t competed in kickboxing at this level for more than eight years but to get into the ring in nearly nine months after the Covid-19 lockdown just excites me,” he said.

“It is similar martial art but muaythai involves striking with elbows and knees as well as kicks and punches whereas in kickboxing it is confined to only punches and kicks."

A gold medallist at the Muaythai World Championship in Mexico in 2018, Habibali, 29, is confident he will be competitive having spent months preparing for the event.

“It obviously is a bit hard to adapt after being out of it for so long but it’s still good for me,” he added.

“The preparations for both muaythai and kickboxing are similar, yet, I need to adapt to the four-point scoring system.

“My opponent [Haroun Baka] is an unknown quantity because he arrives as a replacement after fighter I was originally to meet had suffered an injury and forced to pull out of the competition.”

The 12-fight card K-1 Combat card will be held behind closed doors and is the second event the UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation has hosted this summer. It will be free to view from 7pm on the UAE Muaythai and Kickboxing Federation’s digital platform www.uampro.com.

Tareq Al Muhairi, executive director of the federation, said competitors had been paired by its own technical committee and that he expects an "exciting event".

“As a federation we held a successful muaythai event to come out of the lockdown and we are now consolidating it with the kickboxing competition,” he said.

“This is our federation’s first pro kickboxing competition and we are confident to build on this.”

Abu Dhabi will also host the World Muaythai Championship, although a date has yet to be finalised, after it was postponed in June due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

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2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment

2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment

2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager

 

 

 

 

The cost of Covid testing around the world

Egypt

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Information can be found through VFS Global.

Jordan

Dh212

Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.

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Dh478

Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.

Zanzibar

AED 295

Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.

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Dh85

Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.

UK

From Dh400

Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.

MAIN CARD

Bantamweight 56.4kg
Abrorbek Madiminbekov v Mehdi El Jamari

Super heavyweight 94 kg
Adnan Mohammad v Mohammed Ajaraam

Lightweight 60kg
Zakaria Eljamari v Faridoon Alik Zai

Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Mahmood Amin v Taha Marrouni

Light welterweight 64.5kg
Siyovush Gulmamadov v Nouredine Samir

Light heavyweight 81.4kg
Ilyass Habibali v Haroun Baka