Jesse Arnett and Ali AlQaisi

Ali Alqaisi “Doesn’t Think Jesse (Arnett’s) Going to Have Anything for Him”

Ali AlQaisi and Jesse Arnett battle in a rubber match that is being hailed as the biggest fight in company history. This tiebreaker bout for featherweight gold transpires at UAE Warriors 42 on May 20th.

AlQaisi appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts, through the help aid of an interpreter, to touch on the rhetoric around this being the biggest fight in UAEW history, the machinations of this trilogy match up/ general recollections of the first pair of fights, and more. Excerpts from the chat are below.

Ali AlQaisi

This being hailed as the biggest fight in UAE Warriors history and how AlQaisi feels about the magnitude of this contest in his overall career so far

“So for Ali, he definitely thinks that this a hundred percent the biggest fight in UAE Warriors history. It’s definitely the most anticipated. For himself, he does not see this as the biggest fight of his career. For him, Jesse is just another step to get to the larger goal of where he wants to be. So that’s his feelings towards this fight.”

AlQaisi competing since the Arnett rematch whereas ‘Big Cat’ has not and if this might provide ‘The Royal Fighter’ a discernible advantage heading into this trilogy affair

“Absolutely I think it’s an advantage. For Ali, a fighter who stays active is a more dangerous fighter and is always better prepared. Ali likes to stay active and even his fight in between his last Jesse one and this one, he fought Ahmed Faress who is a tricky opponent to figure out. Fights in a very unique way and it’s hard to emulate.”

Ali Alqaisi continued, “But he’s found that with it being a rematch of Ahmed, he was able to study him better. Implement more things in the rematch and finish him much more decisively the second time around. So definitely for him, staying active in between his last fight with Jesse and this one, he thinks are gonna be a major advantage in his favor.”

UAE Warriors 42

The preparation heading into this third Arnett fight and a general overview of their first two fights

“It’s funny, he feels that a lot of people ask him what’s your motivation for this fight? Because in Ali’s opinion, a lot of the fans who know MMA, for them it was pretty clear that he was winning the first fight and he decisively won the second. But at the end of the day, it is one-one. So he knows what Jesse is feeling now. He knows the feeling that Ali had after the first fight was stopped due to the cut. He’s sure that now Jesse is using the loss from the second fight as motivation to really, really train hard.”

“Having said that, Ali has been preparing like crazy. He doesn’t think Jesse’s going to have anything for him in the striking, in the grappling, and in the wrestling this time. He thinks he’s really going to surprise him again. Also, he’s preparing for Jesse as if he’s fighting the very best fighter in the world. He’s putting absolutely everything into this preparation.”

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Dylan Bowker
I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.