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

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

champion, two time

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

world champion and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

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 ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

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), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

record of 11–2 with both his losses coming at the hands of top Chinese bantamweight

Jumabieke Tuerxun Jumabieke Tuerxun ( kk, Жұмабек Тұрсын) is a Kazakh-Chinese mixed martial arts fighter and trainer. He currently fights as a Bantamweight. Early life Jumabieke is an ethnic Kazakh from the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang. ...

. 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

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

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

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 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. 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 Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (not associated with Evolve Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) is a chain of martial arts academies. Founded by Chatri Sityodtong, it opened in January 2009. The gym includes several former and reigning UFC and ONE Championship World ...

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 unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

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

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) Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) is a South African mixed martial arts promotion company established since 2009. It is the largest MMA promotion company on the continent of Africa and features on its roster professional fighters from across t ...

** 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 and the largest 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 T ...

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

Mixed martial arts record

, NC , align=center, 12–2 (2) , Demarte Pena , NC (overturned) , EFC Worldwide 66 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 4:23 ,

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, For the Undisputed EFC Bantamweight Championship. Originally stopped for strikes. Later overturned and Pena was disqualified for doping after WADA decision. Sayed had retired from MMA prior to decision, so he was not reinstated champion. , - , Win , align=center, 12–2 (1) , Tumisang Madiba , TKO (punches) , EFC World Wide 58 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:33 ,

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, , - , NC , align=center, 11–2 (1) , Demarte Pena , NC (overturned) , EFC Worldwide 55 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, For the Undisputed EFC Bantamweight Championship. Originally a unanimous decision win for Pena but failed a doping test. Sayed was reinstated the Interim EFC Bantamweight Champion. , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 , Cedric Doyle , KO (knee) , EFC Worldwide 48 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:59 ,

, Won the Interim EFC Bantamweight Championship , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Oumpie Sebeko , Decision (unanimous) , EFC Worldwide 39 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Abdul Hassan , Decision (unanimous) , EFC Worldwide 35 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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

, , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Leo Gloss , Submission (rear-naked choke) , EFC Worldwide 28 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:01 ,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

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

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The Ne ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Guobin Xue , TKO (punches) , Ruff 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:24 ,

, , - , 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 ,

, Decision (split) , Ruff 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

, , - , 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 (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Jumayi Ayideng , Decision (split) , Ruff 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Top of the Forbidden City World Combat Championship , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

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

Cotai Cotai (; pt, Zona do Aterro de Cotai) is a piece of newly reclaimed land on top of Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau, that has made two independent islands become one island, since 2005. The word (a portmanteau of Coloan ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

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 boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai South African Muay Thai practitioners Sportspeople from Cape Town South African Muslims