'Ready for anyone': Ali Taleb steps up to PFL World Tournament to face Zebenzui Ruiz

Ali Taleb said he is ready to take on all comers after being promoted to the PFL's World Tournament. The Iraqi-born Swede won the promotion's Mena bantamweight title last November by knocking out Moroccan Rachid Haz in the first round in Riyadh. Taleb's performance did not go unnoticed, and the 27-year-old will make the step up in grade at the 2025 PFL World Tournament starting in April, where he is slated to meet Spaniard Zebenzui Ruiz in the newly introduced 135lb weight division. “I can’t wait for this day. I’m super excited. I have been training and preparing for this event ever since the PFL confirmed my spot in the World Tournament,” Taleb, 27, told The National in a Zoom interview. “Yeah, that’s what I have been doing all the time; training and preparing until the day of the fight. I plan to fly to the US for a camp ahead of the fight as soon as I receive my visa." Taleb has only one defeat in his 13-fight pro career while Ruiz also has 12 wins against three losses. “I don’t know much about this Spanish guy but I’m ready to take on anyone the promotion puts in front of me because if you want to be a world champ, you should be able to take on anyone to be the best,” Taleb said. The 2025 PFL World Tournament kicks off in April, with four weekly opening round events taking place on April 3, 11, 18 and May 1 at the Universal Studios Florida in Orlando. Taleb has won four of his five PFL fights with his solitary loss coming against Khurshed Kakhorov of Tajikistan in September 2023. His best win so far has been in UAE Warriors when he dethroned bantamweight champion Vinicius Oliveira – now in the UFC – in a third-round TKO. With that win under his belt, as well as crossing over to PFL and winning the Mena bantamweight crown in the inaugural season, Taleb has proven to be one of the top fighters in the region. “To win the bantamweight belt was fantastic and now to step up to the world stage I believe was a natural process,” he said. “I have gone though a lot in life. It has been a very hard and long journey for me. I’m glad about what I have achieved and where I have reached right now. But I want to go further.” Taleb has shown high-level skills and ability, including excellent boxing skills and crunching power punches. He began his professional career with two wins in the Fight Club Rush in Sweden – the first by TKO stoppage and the next by submission arm triangle choke. He went undefeated in the UAE Warriors, reeling off three wins in the Abu Dhabi promotion’s Arabia event and two in the international event that culminated with the bantamweight title triumph over Oliveira in July 2022. “Vinicius was 17-2 and I was 6-0 when I stopped him in the third round. Now he is in UFC and I signed for PFL, which was a big break for me,” Taleb said. “I was undefeated in five UAE Warriors appearances and ended up with the bantamweight belt. I enjoyed my time with the Abu Dhabi promotion but I had to move on when the opportunities opened up.” Taleb moved with his family to Sweden in 2009 where he joined a martial arts school. He won five of his eight amateur MMA fights and turned pro in 2018. “That has been my life ever since,” he added. “I spend much of my time in training and when I’m at home I spend time with my family and play around with my two huskies. “As a child, I played football and tried out a few other sports but it was MMA that I was attracted to and continued to pursue full-time. I think I have done pretty well so far in my chosen profession and obviously looking ahead for bigger goals. “I want to put up a show on my first appearance on the world stage. I want to tell my friends and fans around the world to keep supporting me and I’ll give them a good show every time I enter the arena.”

'Ready for anyone': Ali Taleb steps up to PFL World Tournament to face Zebenzui Ruiz

With two bantamweight titles in the bag, the Iraqi-born Swede aims to extend his impressive record