Mahmoud Sebie has arrived.
On Saturday, Sebie (1-0) partook in an athletic competition for the first time since a 2018 wrestling grand prix in Bulgaria. This time, it was in MMA instead of wrestling.
Sebie finished Jarell Murry (0-2) with ground-and-pound from the mount at 1:52 of Round 1. The fight took place on the prelims of XMMA in Palm Beach, Fla.
From the opening bell, Sebie came out aggressive. He tossed Murry to the mat on multiple occasions, displaying his suplex abilities. From there, Sebie moved to the mount and resorted to a flurry of punches to finish the fight.
The performance was flawless for a professional debutant, but his post-fight celebrations will need work. When stomping the mat after his victory, Sebie appeared to injure his left knee.
Mahmoud Sebie TKO's Jarell Murry #XMMA1 pic.twitter.com/UCHCDcUZy8
— Streetfight Banned-cho (@streetfitebncho) January 31, 2021
The 28-year-old Egyptian Olympian enters mixed martial arts with a decorated wrestling background including participation in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a four-time Arab wrestling champion, a five-time African wrestling champion, and a handful of other medals in international tournaments.
Following a viral video he posted on Facebook, in which he called out corruption in the Egyptian wrestling program, Sebie moved to the United States. After deciding to end his pursuit of representing the United States in the next summer Olympics, he began training MMA in late 2020 at MMA Masters in Miami.
XMMA took place Saturday at the Palm Beach Convention Center in Palm Beach, Fla. The event streamed on the promotion’s website.
