Brave’s Al-Selwady among MMA fighters helping Hurricane Harvey survivors
Lightweight Kareem-Abdul Al-Selwady has been caught up in a war of words against Mexican Alejandro Martínez, with both men looking to fight each other in upcoming Brave Combat Federation events. However, Al-Selwady has paused his rivalry with “Pato” to help in the relief efforts of Hurricane Harvey, in Houston, Texas.
Originally from Jordan, the Lightweight prospect has called Dallas a home for the past years since relocating to train at Fortis MMA. And, under the tutelage of head coach Sayif Saud, has blossomed into one of Brave’s biggest stars, with two promotional wins under his belt. And, according to Al-Selwady, who had his training camp prior Brave 4 in Houston, it is Saud’s leadership that has prompted members of the gym to help out others in need at the nearby town.
“Coach Sayif is the one who started this movement and Fortis MMA is like a family gym. When Coach says something we all do it. It’s not a place to just train and come home. Everyone there cares about each other, and we also care for the people of Houston and want them to be safe. Personally, Houston has been very good to me, I have a lot of friends there and I know a lot of good people that live there. So now that it is been hit with Hurricane Harvey, everyone at Fortis MMA is lending a hand in helping our brothers in Houston. We’re doing a food drive, and picking up food and clothes along the way to give to people in need, so that’s kind of our way of going in there and helping out in the way we can”, says Al-Selwady.
However, Fortis MMA is also going a step further. According to Kareem-Abdul, fighters from Houston that have found themselves without a gym to train for upcoming fights will be welcome at Dallas free of charge.
“MMA fighters fight for a living. If they can’t train, they can’t fight, they’re not working. So we’re offering a place to come stay and train at Fortis MMA. Especially for jiu-jitsu and MMA training. Fortis MMA is very supportive of everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey and we’re just trying to help out”, offers Kareem-Abdul, who is looking to get back in the Brave cage sooner rather than later after piling up wins over the likes of Rami Aziz and Michael Deiga-Sheck.
Hurricane Harvey
The Hurricane Harvey is a tropical cyclone that is causing massive floodings and destruction in the southeastern Texas, USA. Harvey is the first major hurricane of category 3 or higher intensity to make landfall in the United States in the last 12 years.
So far, the hurricane has caused at least 30 confirmed deaths in the United States, in addition to one more casualty in Guyana. Preliminary estimates of economic losses have been ranging from US 10 billion to US$ 50 billion in damages due to the storm.
