Youssef Zalal: Cut To Contender (Inspirational Post)



At the time of me writing this post, UFC Vegas 102 ended about 2 hours ago, which featured Youssef Zalal getting the biggest win of his career over the ranked Calvin Kattar. In recent memory, I can't think of a fighter who has had a bigger career turnaround than Zalal. Getting signed to the UFC in 2020, Zalal went on a 3 fight win streak, with all fights going to a decision. He was a relatively unremarkable fighter which led to him not getting massive amounts of promotion or high billing on cards. His first loss also came in 2020 to the current featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, which started a streak of losses for Zalal. He lost his next 2 fights by decision and had a draw in 2022.

At this point Zalal was 3-3-1 in the UFC, with every fight going the distance and none being very memorable. This likely was the reason why shortly after his last fight where he went to a draw, he was cut from the promotion. For some fighters, being cut from the UFC spells the end of their career, or at least the end of their run at the top level. But Zalal was still young, and had tons of room to improve, which is exactly what he did. He had 2 fights outside of the promotion and got dominant first round knockouts, and in March of 2024 when the UFC needed someone to step in on very short notice to replace an injured fighter, Zalal got the call. In his return to the promotion, he put on his best performance yet submitting his opponent in the second round. He fought 2 more times in 2024, where he won both fights by submission. And now just hours ago, he took a major step up in competition against Calvin Kattar and won by decision.

Since his last fight before being cut in 2022, Youssef Zalal is now 7-0, with six of those wins coming by finish. For a fighter who was once not known for anything and was criticized for not ending fights, he has completely evolved and improved into the fighter he is today who has ended nearly all his fights dominantly. His career has taken a complete 180, as he is now likely a few wins away from a title opportunity, which as of now would be against Ilia Topuria, the same man who started his losing streak. It is always great to see a fighter turn their career around when it looks like they may never last at the top level, and Youssef Zalal is an incredible example of this in action.

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