Irshaad "The White Tiger" Sayed (born 30 March 1989) is a South African national

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

champion, two time

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

world champion and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

champion who is currently signed with EFC Worldwide: Extreme Fighting Championship and is the Interim EFC Bantamweight Champion. He is a former 135 lbs Chinese National MMA Champion.

Biography and career

Sayed was born in Cape Town and has two sisters and one brother. At school he loved sports participating in soccer, rugby and cricket before taking up kickboxing at the age of 15. He began competing in amateur competitions in South Africa running up a record of 9-0 but at the age of 17 he wanted to compete professionally and decided to move to Thailand to fight. He won the WPMF Lightweight belt in Thailand in 2007 and returned home to win the South African National Kickboxing Championships the same year. In 2008, at the age of 18, he won the WMC I-1 Asia Championship title in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and was invited to move there permanently to work at the Impakt MMA Academy. In 2010 he won the WMC Lightweight title by defeating Australia's Phillip "Flip" Street at Planet Battle in Hong Kong.

Mixed Martial Arts

Sayed has a professional

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

record of 11–2 with both his losses coming at the hands of top Chinese bantamweight Jumabieke Tuerxun. He made his MMA debut against Ngoo Ditty and stopped him by first-round KO at Fury 1 in Macau. His second fight was against Jumabieke Tuerxun at Top of The Forbidden City Championship and he lost by unanimous decision. Sayed subsequently signed for Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation (Ruff) and made his debut at Ruff 2 against Jumayi Ayideng, winning by split decision. he was then called up to replace the injured Ngoo Ditty to fight top Filipino bantamweight Jessie Rafols at ONE Fighting Championship: Battle of Heroes. Sayed's aggressive approach paid off quickly when he downed Filipino Jessie Rafols with a short left uppercut 1:49 into the first stanza. His next fight was a rematch with Jumabieke at Ruff 3 and this fight was even closer than the first with Sayed only losing by split decision. He went on to win his next two fights for Ruff submitting Ayideng in the first round of their rematch at Ruff 4 and beating Guobin Xue by TKO in the first round of their fight at Ruff 6. On 2 February 2013 Sayed will fight Jumabieke Tuerxun for the third time for the opportunity to win the RUFF 135 lbs belt and be crowned the first ever Chinese National Bantamweight Champion. The fight is set for the Inner Mongolia Indoor Stadium. On 29 January it was revealed that Jumabieke Tuerxun had withdrawn from the fight with several articles suggesting that he had refused to sign a new Ruff contract and was on the verge of signing with the UFC. Another Chinese fighter, Yuan Chun Bo, stepped in to replace him.Asian MMA: Top Chinese fighter Jumabieke Tuerxun declines extension for RUFF's 1 Million RMB Super-Fight – Bloody Elbow
/ref> Sayed stopped Yuan Chun Bo by TKO (strikes) in the second round to become the first ever Ruff bantamweight champion and the first ever bantamweight champion of China. Sayed is a member of the fight team at Evolve MMA in Singapore. Sayed is currently signed to EFC Worldwide: Extreme Fighting Championship, based in South Africa (formerly known as EFC Africa). He holds wins over Leo Gloss, Charlie Weyer, Abdul Hassan and Oumpie Sebeko. On 22 April 2016, Sayed fought Cedric Doyle for the interim EFC Bantamweight Championship in Cape Town at EFC 48, which was originally scheduled on 23 April. Sayed won via KO with a knee at the last second in round 3. On 11 November 2016, Irshaad fought Demarte Pena at EFC 55 for the Undisputed EFC Bantamweight Championship in a heated rivalry in Cape Town. He lost via unanimous decision. On 15 February 2017, Demarte Pena failed a doping test from SAIDS (South African Institute For Drug Free Sport). SAIDS overturned the result to a no contest and Sayed was reinstated the Inaugural EFC Bantamweight Champion. On 20 September 2018, WADA have found Pena to be guilty of doping after EFC 66 and sentenced him to a four-year suspension, minus time already served. The second fight between himself and Sayed has been disqualified, and thus ruled a No Contest.Doping ban, retirement muddies EFC bantamweight scene. Sport 24
/ref> Sayed coached the first season of EFC's new

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show, The Fighter, which is EFC's own version of UFC's

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

and is opposing rival Demarte Pena.

Titles

* Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) ** Interim EFC Bantamweight Champion *Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation (RUFF) ** RUFF Bantamweight Champion / Chinese National Bantamweight Champion *South African Kickboxing Association (SAKA) ** SAKA South African Champion (Kickboxing) *World Professional Muaythai Federation (WPMF) ** WPMF Lightweight Champion (Muay Thai) *

World Muaythai Council The World Muaythai Council (WMC) is one of the oldest professional sanctioning organizations of Muaythai in the world for the sport. The organization was set up in 1995 by parliament resolution, and is incorporated by the Royal Thai Government a ...

(WMC) ** WMC I-1 Asia Champion (Muay Thai) ** WMC Lightweight Champion (Muay Thai)

Mixed martial arts record

, NC , align=center, , Demarte Pena , NC (overturned) , EFC Worldwide 66 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 4:23 ,

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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, , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Charlie Weyer , Submission (rear-naked choke) , EFC Worldwide 30 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:45 ,

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Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Chunbo Yuan , TKO (punches) , Ruff 8 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:22 ,

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China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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, , - , Win , align=center, 4–2 , Jumayi Ayideng , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Ruff 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:40 ,

, , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2 , Jumabieke Tuerxun , Decision (split) , Ruff 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Jessie Rafols , KO (punch to the body) , ONE FC: Battle of Heroes , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:49 ,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

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, , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Jumabieke Tuerxun , Decision (unanimous) , Top of the Forbidden City World Combat Championship , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Ngoo Ditty , TKO , Fury 1: Clash of the Titans , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

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Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

References

External links

* * http://www.ruffchina.com/us/fightersprofiles/item/irshaad-sayed.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Sayed, Irshaad 1989 births Living people South African people of Malay descent South African male kickboxers Bantamweight kickboxers South African male mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai South African Muay Thai practitioners Martial artists from Cape Town 21st-century South African sportsmen