MFC 33's Sabah Fadai: Dental Student by Day, Fighter by Night

2011 wasn’t the best year for MFC lightweight prospect Sabah “Persian Warrior” Fadai.

A loss in Fadai’s only fight of the year, against Mukai Maromo, was a definite setback for someone who was quickly rising through the promotion’s ranks.

“What I learned from the loss was to not get kicked in the leg and check those kicks,” joked Fadai. “Mukai was good, man, but I think that I just wasn’t mentally there. That was a big part of it.

“I was underestimating my cardio. I was trying to pace myself and was trying to be relaxed, and was way too relaxed. That was my limit. It is what it is. I lost, but I’m going to be back on May 4 and I’m going to tear this guy apart.”

As Fadai mentioned, he will be returning to the MFC for the first time since his loss to Maromo on May 4 against fellow up-and-comer Diego Bautista in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at MFC 33.

With both fighters having a similar aggressive style, Fadai feels it will be more than just brute force that could determine the outcome of their fight.

“Mentally I’m going to be a lot tougher than him,” Fadai told MMAWeekly.com. “He’s a well-rounded guy, his stand-up is good and his ground game is good, but mentally I’m going to break him.

“Break him mentally and stay physical, those are the key ingredients that have to be done. I want to stay him on him and make him feel that pressure. I’m not going to give him any breathing room.”

A third-year dental student away from MMA, Fadai isn’t sure what could lie ahead for him after this fight, but he does know he wants to change people’s perceptions of fighters if at all possible.

“Right now, my life is all over the place, so I don’t know what my plans are for the future,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be fighting as much as I want to, but going back to dentistry is a huge idea. I just want to get better as a person every day, not just as a fighter, that’s the goal.

“We have to change up this whole view on fighters. Everybody thinks they’re crazy, mental tough guy bar fighters and this and this. It’s not all about that. There are a lot of educated people in this sport, and that’s what I’m here to show.”

In any case, don’t expect Fadai to get caught looking ahead of what looks to be one of the toughest fights of his career. As he said, “I’m not thinking for a title shot, fighting in the UFC or being in anything. I’m only thinking of this fight, taking it one fight at a time and that’s the way it is.

“A lot of people who just go in there for the W; they grind you out, take you down, and hump your leg and they run around the ring. I don’t like it. This fight will truly show what a finisher is: a tactician versus a brawler. He’s a brawler; he’s going to come in there and throw heavy-handed shots. I’m going to be real tactical, pursue my game plan, and be really, really precise.”

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