After the original plans for the 2026 season kickoff were postponed, PFL MENA’s first event for this calendar year has now been officially rescheduled.
Per an announcement from the PFL, the first PFL MENA card of 2026 will now take place on Sunday, May 24.
For the first time, a PFL MENA card will take place outside of Saudi Arabia. This event will take place at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This is the same arena that has hosted two PFL Champions Series events in 2025, both headlined by Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes, and PFL Dubai this past February, which featured Nurmagomedov vs. Alfie Davis.
“Dubai is a key market for PFL MENA and a global hub for sport and entertainment, making it the ideal stage for our 2026 season opener, aptly titled ‘Pride of Arabia,’” PFL MENA General Manager Jerome Mazet said in a statement. “Dubai has consistently shown its passion for MMA, and we are excited to bring local stars like Mohammad Yahya and Zamzam Al Hammadi to perform in front of a home crowd.
“As the beating heart of sport and entertainment in the Arab world, Dubai offers a truly unique atmosphere, with athletes representing multiple nations, we know fans from across the region will be in the arena to support their own. There’s no city that connects cultures, fans and fighters quite like Dubai.”
PFL MENA’s first event of 2026 was originally scheduled for Friday, May 8, at the Dhahran Expo in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. PFL announced the event’s postponement in a press release on April 9.
Though PFL did not give a reason for the postponement in its cancellation press release, it is assumed the decision was made due to ongoing tensions and conflict in the Middle East. Despite this, the PFL is going forward with a PFL event in May.
The May 24 card will feature opening-round matchups in the promotion’s featherweight and lightweight tournaments.
The main event will see Mohammad Yahya face Mehdi Saadi in a featherweight tournament contest. The co-main event will be a lightweight tournament bout that pits unbeaten Salah Eddine Hamli against Ylies Djiroun.