Athletes
Bassil Hafez Fights In Honor Of His Parents
UFC Newcomer Bassil Hafez Reflects On His Journey To The UFC And What Drives Him To Chase His Dreams.
In many instances, a UFC fighter’s first trip to the Octagon is lost on fight week.
You can hear it in their voice: the usual pre-fight nerves joined by a mountain of paperwork, photo shoots, media obligations, a weight cut, and the general whirlwind that goes along with being in the big show.
There was none of that with Bassil Hafez. Sure, he joined the roster for a Saturday fight against highly touted welterweight prospect Jack Della Maddalena, on short notice no less, but after chasing this moment for 13 years, there is a calm to the Philadelphia native that shows that he belongs.
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“It’s for a good cause,” Hafez laughs when asked how he’s dealing with the madness since he got that call asking him if he was ready to start throwing hands with the best of the best in the UFC. “I’m just super grateful and super blessed to be here. It's my dream come true, so I’m just soaking it all in and trying not to let the moment take me but take the moment.”
It’s not like he wasn’t ready for this. The 31-year-old has won four of his last five in a pro career that began in 2016. He has a win over Anthony Ivy and a draw with Jeremiah Wells, and he’s been in the equivalent of a year-round training camp, watching social media for news of 170 or 185-pounders dropping out of fights and then making the call to his manager to see if he could jump in.
“Every time somebody pulled out, I'm calling (manager) Jason (House),” Hafez said. “And I actually said yes to every single welterweight pull out, and I even said yes to (Bo) Nickal. I was down for that fight and anyone from welterweight to middleweight, really, just to get this contract. And Jack's the first one to say yes.”
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After seeing two UFC 290 bouts with Sean Brady and Josiah Harrell fall apart, Della Maddalena stayed in Las Vegas, hoping to get something booked for this weekend. He got Hafez, who has had his eye on the Aussie phenom for a while now.
“I already knew about Jack and knew he was a really tough fighter,” said Hafez. “I followed him on Instagram before and I was already a fan of his as a fighter and I liked his fighting style, his striking style. Obviously, I'd rather have a full fight camp, but I'm the kind of guy where I look forward to these moments. I really want to test myself against this guy and see where I'm at. And I really believe that I have what it takes to give it to him. So yeah, it was Jack, and I already knew who Jack was. It was still the same answer. No hesitation. Yes.”
That mindset isn’t developed over years in the gym or in fights. You either have that in your DNA or you don’t. And from early on, Hafez knew he was a fighter. Unfortunately, that willingness and need to scrap got him in trouble and left his parents with a dilemma. Even worse, they had their own wars to wage against cancer. Looking back, Hafez sees where his fighting spirit comes from.
“Both my parents had cancer, then they were in remission, and then the cancer came back viciously,” said Hafez. “And they were both tough people. We had a pizza shop, and my mom was the kind of person that would go to chemotherapy and radiation at 8am and then go right to work for a 12-hour shift at the pizza shop. And she did that every day. She taught me the value of grit, hard work, and not giving up. But I was always getting in street fights, always getting in trouble when I was younger and not making her happy, getting arrested, doing different things.”
After his mom passed away, the 18-year-old Hafez got into trouble again.
“I got into a really bad street fight right after that and then ended up getting arrested and dealing with a lot of consequences for it,” he recalls. “And I saw how it broke my dad, and all the things he had to deal with. He had to deal with this kid who might go to jail now, and he just lost his wife, my mom. So I really grew up in that moment. I realized I needed to do something with my life.”
His cousins were training jiu-jitsu with Ricardo Migliarese. They introduced him to the renowned black belt, and that was it. Life changed. Focus gained. A goal to chase.
Cancer claimed Hafez’ father three years after his mom passed away. But they would undoubtedly be proud that their son’s first step of goal chasing will end with his UFC debut against Della Maddalena. Then it’s off to set new goals in a shark tank of a weight class that Hafez is excited to swim in. Though living and training in Colorado now, he mentions the possibility of facing local Philly rivals like Wells and Brady, and after that, he’s open to anything. It’s a new day and a fresh start for the 31-year-old, and while his parents weren’t particularly fight fans, they were fans of a kid who turned it all around.
“They would definitely be proud of me for chasing my goals and my dreams and being able to achieve them,” Hafez said. “And so, for me, making it to the UFC and staying here and being successful at it is something I can die happy with, knowing that I made my parents proud.”
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