Newly signed Nadia Kassem will make her UFC debut on November 19th when she takes on fellow Aussie Alex Chambers at UFC Sydney.
The 4-0 striker was originally scheduled to make her debut back in June versus JJ Aldrich but was forced to pull out due to an injury.
Although she prefers not to disclose her injury, it was an agonising decision for her to have to pull out.
“It was a new injury not a reoccurring one,” Kassem explained. “It was all well and fine until it happened, I tried to push through and once I got my scans and everything it was pretty evident that I shouldn’t be walking around.”
Now fully healed and ready to go, Kassem will look to put on a memorable performance at home. Despite the fact that Chambers is also Australian, she is excited to compete in front of the Australian crowd.
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“It’s kind of surprising that we’re both Aussies fighting each other but she’s training out of American Top Team so technically this is like my city,” Kassem laughed.
“I’m used to being the crowd favourite so we’ll have to wait and see what happens. I know I’m not as big as she is but it doesn’t really bother me in that sense.”
She spent several weeks at Tiger Muay-Thai sharpening her striking skills as well as her grappling and is now back home at Australian Top Team completing her camp.
She will take on Alex Chambers who hasn’t competed in the octagon in 2 years. Quite familiar with her, Kassem has nothing but respect for her fellow Aussie and is just there to do business.
“It’s an interesting match-up. I trained with her once, I don’t really know her style or anything but I watched a couple of her fights previously in support of her so no bad blood there. I’m just going out there to make some money and get out of there.”
And with all 4 wins on her record coming by the way of knockout, Kassem will look to do more of the same come November 19th.
“I know she’s got a good guard, she’s got good jiu-jitsu, pretty decent boxer as well,” Kassem said. “She’s probably more advanced than me in jiu-jitsu and more technical but sometimes it doesn’t just take technique to win.”
“I’ve got a pretty high aggression rate, that’s what wins me my fights and I’m smart too. I don’t just run in there like a bull head down, I think about everything before I do it. It’s like a game of chess, you got to know what you’re doing.”
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Originally Lebanese, Kassem also takes pride in her roots. MMA is slowly growing in the Middle East and she’s happy to be representing a minority of Arab females partaking in combat sports.
“My grandparents migrated here in the 70’s so my mum is Aussie born,” Kassem said. “Culture wise it’s not very common, I don’t think there are any other Lebanese Muslim females that fight MMA.”
“It’s very different, it’s not exactly condoned but I’m here to break the stereotype and show that it’s a sport. It is brutal at times but it’s an art, we have to study it to be where we are.”
And during her time in Thailand, she was able to meet multiple Middle Eastern fighters who were preparing for their upcoming fights in Bahrain with Brave Combat Federation.
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“I think it’s awesome,” Kassem said on representing the Middle East as well. “When I was at Tiger, a couple of guys had upcoming fights at Brave so it’s awesome. I don’t have that much exposure to the Middle East MMA scene but it’s good to see that it’s a growing sport and that it’s becoming more accepted in the society in general.”
At only 21 years old, Kassem is one of the youngest fighters on the roster. She will get an opportunity to introduce herself on the big stage with plenty of family and friends watching.
With her aggressive nature and finishing instincts, she will look to add another knockout to her resume.
“I’m looking to keep it standing. I know she’s going to try and take me down but if you try and take me down you might get kneed to the face.”
