Cape Town — Egypt-based Muhamed Juma is relishing the thought of pitting his skills against some of the toughest light heavyweight mixed martial artists in the world.
The athlete who — through his father — has South Sudanese roots has set his sights firmly on winning a potentially life-changing Professional Fighters League contract in the PFL Challenger Series starting this weekend.
The PFL Challenger Series will see athletes from across the globe compete for eight (regular season or developmental) contracts in one of the biggest MMA promotions in the world.
The inaugural series kicks off on the 18th of February with the men’s light heavyweight division at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
Branded as a brawler by the PFL, former UAE Warriors’ Juma (8-2) will take on the current Legacy Fighting Alliance’s (LFA) middleweight and light heavyweight champion, Josh Silveira (7-0) in one of four light heavyweight bouts set for the weekend.
When asked if he finds the term “brawler” an apt description of his skillset, Juma stated that the world will see exactly what he is, come fight night.
“I am not just a brawler. Sometimes you need to be aggressive in this sport, adapt an animal instinct, but this is a big fight and I will showcase all my techniques if needed, too. I will prove that I am a real martial artist,” says Cairo-based Juma who trains out of Black Bulls Team under the tutelage Ahmed Faress.
Prior to his last fight which saw him lose to Sofiane Boukichou (6-4) in the UAE Warriors last October, Juma was riding on a 8-fight win streak with 90 percent of those fights being in the Heavyweight division.
When asked if his drop down to 93 kilogram division was a tactical move for better performance considering that the 1.8 metre athlete would be facing much bigger athletes now, Juma confirmed that it was always his desire to fight in the lighter division.
“I am naturally a light heavyweight,” says Juma.
“I love fighting in this division and I am so grateful for the life-changing opportunity the PFL has given me here to fight in my preferred weight class for the PFL brand.
“Opportunities were not always available in the LHW (light heavyweight) division in most Arab countries. There were more heavyweight fights, so I chose to fight at heavyweight as it is a common division. I am now grateful to represent South Sudan and Egypt in the LHW division. It is truly a big moment for me.”
“It has been a great experience for myself and our team as we went in search of the best fighters from all over the world,” said Ray Sefo, PFL President of Fighter Operations.
“We are proud of the roster of elite fighters that will be on display starting February 18 when our light heavyweights step into the cage. I am very excited to see these amazing athletes square off for this life-changing opportunity.”
You can catch all the action on Fubo Sports Network, the live TV network from sports-first live TV streaming platform fuboTV Inc.
For more details, visit the PFL’s social media pages.
The rest of the light heavyweight fights include Taylor Johnson vs Alexander Poppeck, Joao Paulo Fagundes vs Bruce Souto and Simeon Powell vs Karl Williams.