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Bassil Hafez Is Here To Stay
Welterweight Bassil Hafez Can't Wait To Remind People That He Is The Next Big Thing
As a Philadelphia native, Bassil Hafez’ formative fighting years were spent on the ultra-competitive east coast circuit, and whether as an amateur or a professional, someone finds out pretty quickly whether they’re going to make the cut for the next level or not. How long that takes varies, as Hafez soon found out.
“I always had a belief in myself that I would've gotten to the UFC about five to seven years ago,” said Hafez, who would have been 3-1 and coming off a 79-second submission win over Chauncey Foxworth in June of 2017, seven years ago. It was a good start, but life often gets in the way.
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“Things happen, man,” he said. “I've had tragic car accidents, I've had injuries, I lost a fight that if I would've won I could have got signed. So I definitely had a whole array of things that kept me from being able to get there. And I think that speaks to my resilience. I believe so deeply and in persevering and being resilient because, at the end of the day, if you're not going to get what you want right away, there shouldn't be a reason to quit or give up. And so I believe that I'm the epitome of that because there's so many times that maybe people spoke about me in my hometown or my area or people met me as like, ‘Oh, that's the guy that should have been in the UFC but he never made it.’”
Spoiler alert, Hafez is in the UFC, but getting here didn’t happen the way he pictured it.
After a draw with current UFC fighter Jeremiah Wells in October of 2017, he ran off three consecutive wins before dropping a split decision to Evan Cutts in April of 2021. The loss devastated Hafez and had him wondering if he would ever get his shot in the big show, but in February of last year, he got his rematch with Cutts, knocked him out in the third round, and when Jack Della Maddalena needed an opponent on short notice five months later, he got the call.
That’s the good news. The bad was losing a ton of weight, fighting a hot prospect on short notice, and doing it with the most iconic three letters in MMA on his gloves.
Bad? Not to Hafez.
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“I'm going to show up when I need to show up,” he said. “I showed up, I told them I was going to make weight, and I showed up and I fought my heart out and I did what I said I was going to do.”
A Fight of the Night war ensued between the two welterweights, and while Della Maddalena won the split decision, Hafez won the crowd, cementing his place on the roster in the space of 15 minutes.
“It changed my life,” he said. “It changed my life from thinking about my dreams to now finally being able to chase them. I get a little emotional talking about it, still. Something I think about every day is, man, I'm finally in the UFC and I'm finally able to work my ass off and it has much more meaning now. I've dreamed of being here for 14 years and now I'm finally here. And it feels amazing. I know that I have so much more to do and so much more to accomplish, and it empowers me to continue pushing forward and even more than it did before I ever got to the UFC.”
The 32-year-old Hafez, who now makes his home in Denver, is back on the east coast to face the returning Mickey Gall on the UFC 302 card at Prudential Center. Again, that’s the good news. The bad is that it’s been nearly a year since his first trip to the Octagon thanks to injuries. But he’s here now, and appreciative that he made such an impression on fans the first time that they’ve been waiting to see what he does for an encore.
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“I definitely can feel that because of the fact that who I fought is thriving,” said Hafez. “That fight is in people's minds and I'm grateful for that. I got the opportunity to prove myself against one of the best guys in the division, and a lot of guys don't get that opportunity. So I'm grateful to be in the UFC and that I got the call over somebody else to go in there and prove that I am as tough as I say I am. And whether people forgot about me or not, I'm excited to remind them come June 1st that I'm here to stay. I'm not just going to be creeping the door open; I'm kicking the door down every time I fight. And you're only as good as your last performance. So my goal is to make sure that I go out there again and I do everything I can to impress the fans, but make sure I get a win and hopefully earn a bonus again. I want to keep that reminder in people's minds that this guy Bassil is not a joke. He's a top-level fighter and he's going to work his way up.”
And who better to do that against than the popular Gall, who Hafez actually beat in a grappling tournament over a decade ago.
“Fighting Mickey has a lot meaning to it because we're from the area,” said Hafez. “We've competed in a lot of the same promotions. I actually beat him in a Grapplers Quest absolute final 11 years ago. So I have history with Mickey. Ge got signed when he got signed and I didn't get signed. We both made our pro debuts months apart and he's had, I think, a lot easier path and he's been making good money and living his life. And I've had a really long, hard path that almost stopped me from getting to the UFC. And so, I have a lot of that in my mind where I feel he's been spoon-fed a little bit, and I'm excited to really rip that spoon out of his mouth and beat him with it.”
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Hafez chuckles, perhaps taking in the fact that he can talk about fighting in the UFC and it being a reality. He’s earned everything he’s got over the years, has weathered several storms, most notably the loss of his mother and father due to cancer, and while he’s dead serious about his job, he’s also taking it all in.
“It's a blessing to breathe air,” he said. “It's a blessing to be able to fight because not everyone could do this. It's a blessing that my body still works at 32 years old after 14 years of training, that I can still compete at the highest level in the UFC. And so, the trauma that I've been through in life has an effect on that. I think the biggest thing is, don't allow the trauma that you go through to dictate your future life. Allow yourself to put that stake in the ground and change the direction you're going to go. And, for me, the biggest thing is realizing the truth that life could end at any moment. And sometimes, things aren't as great as they seem, but you have the power to change it. And as long as you work your ass off and you show that you're working your ass off and you gravitate towards the right people, things are going to work out in your favor eventually.”
UFC 302: Makhachev vs Poirier took place live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on June 1, 2024. See the Final Prelim and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses, and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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