Zaid Mirza has confirmed qualifiers for Abu Dhabi’s World Pro Jiu-Jitsu championship will be held in Jordan. The event will take place November 26 and 27 at Baccaleureate School in Amman, and is open to all practitioners from white to purple belt.
Jordan has become a strategic point, for its location on the Mediterranean sea providing easy access for athletes from Europe and Africa disputing airfare and board for ten days in Abu Dhabi for the event paying out a total of nearly two million dollars in prize money.
But the news doesn’t end there. During the weekend following the qualifiers, the inaugural Desert Fighting Championship will take place, on December 3 at the Orthodox Club, also in Jordan’s capital.
This event will feature around ten MMA fights, mostly involving fighters from Middle Eastern countries.
“We want to appreciate and provide incentive to fighters in the region. There are some very promising fighters and we cannot miss out on providing these new talents with opportunity,” relates Mirza, also reporting he has arranged for the young fighters to get the exposure they deserve: “We are working side by side with Abu Dahbi Sport TV to cover our events live, which is a great achievement for the sport.”
The event was nearly canceled due to the sudden death of Ambassador Azmi Mirza, Zaid’s father, a well-known figure in Middle Eastern politics.
“My father was a great appreciator of Jiu-Jitsu and would surely have insisted that I hold the event. It’s a way of paying tribute to him and honoring the countries he loved so dearly,” said the Cássio Werneck black belt.