ABU DHABI // Arab ears may not be accustomed to translations for brutal fight moves such as the "triangle choke hold", the "clinch" or the "arm-bar technique".
Come April 10, Mohammed al Housani, a 25-year-old Emirati, will announce those and other combat manoeuvres on Arabic-language television for the first time at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in Abu Dhabi.
As the sport's first Arabic-speaking commentator, for the Orbit Showtime Network telecast of the event, Mr al Housani will sit alongside the event's official play-by-play analysts, the Americans Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg.
The distinction of being selected to take "the best seat in the house", inches from the combatants in the caged Octagon, was not lost on Mr al Housani. He has followed mixed martial arts (MMA) events for more than a decade.
"Really, it's like a fairy tale for me because I've been watching Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg do it for a long time, and now I'm an announcer," he said yesterday.
He said no one already inside the rough-and-tumble sport could fill the Arabic-language role.
"I feel that the English-language population is more familiar with the sport than the Arabic speakers, so it's important for me to develop the sport of MMA in the Arabic region by speaking the language," he said.
Finding his voice should not be an overwhelming challenge; Mr al Housani is an experienced jiu-jitsu analyst. He has broadcast in Arabic for Abu Dhabi Sports TV matches as well as for last year's inaugural World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup.
"I'm direct. I call it down the middle," he said of his style. "A lot of people are calling me the Joe Rogan of the UAE, or even the 'Mohammed Rogan', but hopefully I'll be myself with my own style and bring something different."
He expects the most challenging aspect of his work will be explaining the mechanics of what MMA fighters refer to as the "ground game", when fighters take each other to the mat.
"As soon as the fighters go to the ground, if you show that to any casual viewer, they either make fun of them because of the position or they're completely clueless because they think they're just stalling," Mr al Housani said.
"People understand kickboxing and boxing, but I'll need to explain the ground game." A student of jiu-jitsu for three years, Mr al Housani has trained with MMA pros like Royce Gracie, Rolles Gracie, Daniel Gracie, Jean Jacques Machado and Rafael Mendes, the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Champion.
UFC and its promoters, Flash Entertainment, selected Mr al Housani as the Arabic analyst after he auditioned and submitted a recording of interviews and commentary from jiu-jitsu tournaments.
Apart from introducing the UFC's first Arabic announcer, the event known within the sport as UFC 112: Invincible also makes history by being the first open-air UFC event and the first in the Middle East.
Arabic is not the first non-English language for the sport; commentary has been conducted before in Spanish and French.
"Hopefully I'll represent my people well, the region well, and get people exposed to this sport," Mr al Housani said.
UFC 112: Invincible will take place at a custom-built arena outside Ferrari World on Yas Island. Tickets are available from www.boxofficeme.com and the UFC stand at Marina Mall.
mkwong@thenational.ae
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Autumn international scores
Saturday, November 24
Italy 3-66 New Zealand
Scotland 14-9 Argentina
England 37-18 Australia
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
