Having moved to the US in 2019 to study, his exposure to high level training and ultra competitive team environments made him a hot property in the grappling world, with ONE immediately giving him a shot at divisional champion Mikey Musumeci, but more on that later.
For now, Almarwai is focused on Sousa, and a return to the Middle East, and a chance to show the world the talent, hunger, and passion that exists in the region.
“First of all I want to represent my region well. The fact that ONE Championship is doing an event in the Middle East shows you that the martial art scene is growing,” he said. “Whenever I talk to people in the Middle East, they’re big fans of martial arts and grappling specifically. So going to the Middle East and being in Qatar – I’m very excited to be a part of the event.
“I want to put the Middle East on the map. Especially now ONE Championship has trust in Middle Eastern athletes. I really want to do well. I wanna put on a show and excite the fans.
Hopefully then we’ll have more events in the Middle East from ONE Championship.”
As mentioned, Almarwai debuted in ONE with a match against current flyweight submission grappling champion Mikey Musumeci. A generational talent, Musumenci has swept all before him but Almarwai was only a couple of minutes away from going the distance and now he his sights on a rematch – and a world title.
“Honestly, that match has made me grow as an athlete and as a person,” he said. “I knew Mikey was going to be a tough fighter, but now, I have fought him, I feel like I’m used to that environment, and I feel my performance would be way better, especially in a cage. I have known Cleber for a while and he’s a seasoned competitor, but when I beat him I’ll get another shot.
“This year is all about putting the Middle East on the map, but hopefully I will get another shot at the belt and I’ll become the champion of the 135lbs division.”
ONE Championship returns to the Middle East on March 1 with ONE 166: Qatar at the Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail. A historic night awaits with no less than five title fights planned, and tickets are now available from Virgin Megastore and Q-Tickets.
