Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady: Bolaji Oki's aggressive style will help with bonus at UFC Saudi Arabia

Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady thinks Bolaji Oki will make for an exciting fight at UFC Fight Night 250.

Originally scheduled to face Jordan Leavitt, Al-Selwady (15-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will now face Oki (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a lightweight bout Feb. 1 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Al-Selwady sees Oki as an opponent who will bring out the best in him.

“I like the matchup. He’s an aggressive style kickboxer, striker,” Al-Selwady told MMA Junkie of Oki. “He’s very athletic, strong, but guess what? So am I. I think he’s going to help me get a UFC bonus because of his aggression and my aggression. We both don’t step back. We both don’t give up. So, one of us is going out, and I can tell you one thing: I’m really hungry for this, and it’s not going to be me.”

After upsetting former Cage Warriors champion George Hardwick to earn a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, Al-Selwady lost his promotional debut to Loik Radzhabov by third-round TKO in March. It was a back-and-forth battle, where Al-Selwady was starting to rally before getting stopped.

The Fortis MMA fighter took many valuable lessons from that fight.

“I’m happy from everything that happened in that fight, except just frustrated at myself because I kind of let go,” Al-Selwady said. “I saw the finish line, and I knew I was winning the fight – even though it was scored 1-1 in rounds, the way he kept looking at the clock, the way that he was tired, I knew I had him. It let me let go of the gas just a little bit, just enough for him to catch me in that one exchange. It’s just another one of those really hard lessons that you just have to remind yourself that the fight isn’t over until it’s over.

“I’m really happy with the adversity that I had to overcome. It was back-and-forth in the beginning, and then the second round was all mine. Even the first round, he was being really aggressive, but I also rocked him towards the end of the first round. It was pretty back-and-forth, but me, mentally, I’m really happy with the things that I went through in that fight, and I just know that I can beat that guy again, and again, and again.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Saudi Arabia.