- The Riyadh resident recently became the first female athlete from the Middle East to join the Professional Fighters League
The latest Saudi Arabian addition to the Professional Fighters League is a history maker. On Jan. 30, Hattan Alsaif became the first female mixed martial arts fighter from the Kingdom and the Middle East to join the sport’s fastest-growing brand.
“It feels so awesome, so exciting,” she said. “But it’s also not easy. You can say it’s a heavy (burden) that I’m carrying because I’m the first Saudi female to sign with the PFL, and maybe even the first female from the Middle East. So all the eyes are going to be on me, I have to represent my country and I have to represent all Arabs. But I’m also sure I’m good enough to represent them.”
The 22-year-old Riyadh resident took gold at the 2023 International Federation of Muay Thai Associations World Championships, an event in which she was honored with the “Breakthrough Female Athlete” award. And she followed that up with first-place finishes at the World Combat Games and the Saudi Games.
It is a lot to squeeze into career that only began in September 2021, when she first took up Muay Thai seriously. Joining the PFL has now brought her to a worldwide audience.
“For sure. PFL is a very big platform, it’s not easy to get there,” Alsaif said. “Some huge names are fighting there and this is what gets me more excited. I know myself, and I believe in myself and I believe that God would never put me there if I was not good enough. No, God has his plan, he got me there because he has a plan for me.”
She added: “I also believe in my coach, before I ever do anything or sign any contract, I always go to my coach and ask ‘do you believe that I’m good enough or ready enough?’ Only the coaches can see if their champs are really ready or not. So I went to my coach and asked ‘do you think I’m ready enough to be with PFL?’ And he said ‘Yeah, you are ready.’”
Alsaif trains with Feras Sadaa, coach of the Saudi Muay Thai national team, at Fight Club in Riyadh. She also works closely with one of Saudi Arabia’s two fighters currently participating in the PFL.
“I’m on (Saudi PFL fighter) Abdullah Al-Qahtani’s team, so I’m a member of his family,” she said.
Added support comes from the Saudi Arabian Mixed Martial Arts Federation, established in 2019.
“Mixed martial arts, even the combat sports are all very new in Saudi Arabia. We can say that only two years it started. It’s a very big thing, but it’s also new, no one knew about it, it was hard to get support,” she said. “But you can see the Ministry of Sport are trying their best to support the women and the men. And even the federations of other types of sports, they are trying their best, they are introducing championships. So everything is growing step by step.”
Alsaif is expected to make her PFL bow sometime in 2024, but says for now she is keeping her plans a “surprise.” Mostly she is looking to adding success inside the MMA cage to her impressive Muay Thai resume.
“Next for me is to have victories, always,” she said. “I always say that I don’t have any just one thing that I’ve got my eyes on. No, I see my life as a path that I’m walking through. And every day, or every year or every month, something new will jump on my path and I will take it. A medal, a belt, or whatever it is. I just want to take everything before I go away from this life.”
Alsaif says she “would love to” become a role model for Saudi Arabia’s females looking to get into MMA or other sports.
“Even before I started combat sports, I wanted to be someone that can inspire other people, can help other people,” she said. “I would do my best to inspire any other people.”
