Nad Narimani

Nad Narimani
Born	(1987-04-14) 14 April 1987 (age 37) Bristol, England
Other names	Smiler [1] 1SA (One Step Ahead) [2]
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	145 lb (66 kg; 10 st 5 lb)
Division	Featherweight
Reach	70 [3]  in (178 cm)
Fighting out of	Bristol, England
Team	Team Alpha Male
Rank	Black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Pedro Bessa [4]
Years active	2011–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total	16
Wins	12
By knockout	2
By submission	5
By decision	5
Losses	4
By knockout	1
By decision	3
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Nad Narimani (born 14 April 1987) is an English mixed martial artist. He was the former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship featherweight champion and he competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Narimani started his professional mma career in 2011 and he won the Cage Warriors Fighting Championship featherweight championship against Paddy Pimblett in April 2017 ^[5] with a record of 10-2 period he signed with the UFC. ^[6]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Narimani was scheduled to make his UFC debut on a short notice on 17 March 2018 at UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov against Nasrat Haqparast, replacing injured Alex Reyes. ^{[7] [8]} The bout was scrapped on the day of the event as Haqparast was deemed unfit to fight by the medical team due to an infectious eye condition. ^[9]

Narimani's UFC debut was rescheduled on 22 July 2018 against Khalid Taha at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith. ^[10] He won the fight via unanimous decision. ^[11]

Narimani was scheduled to face Enrique Barzola on 17 November 2018 at UFC Fight Night: Magny vs. Ponzinibbio. ^[12] However, Barzola was pulled from the event and he was replaced by Anderson dos Santos. ^[13] He won the fight via unanimous decision. ^[14]

Narimani next faced Mike Grundy on 16 March 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal. ^{[15] [16]} Narimani lost the fight via TKO in the second round. ^[17]

Narimani was scheduled to face Nik Lentz at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. dos Santos on 25 January 2020. ^[18] However, Narimani pulled out of the fight citing injury and was replaced by Arnold Allen. ^[19]

Narimani faced Grant Dawson on 19 July 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2. ^[20] He lost the fight via unanimous decision. ^[21] He was subsequently released by the UFC. ^[22]

Personal life

Narimani is married with two children and is of Iranian heritage. He spent time helping in his father's Middle-Eastern restaurants in his spare time before turning to be a professional MMA fighter. ^[23]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

• Cage Warriors Fighting Championship
  • Cage Warriors Fighting Championship Featherweight Champion (One time) vs. Paddy Pimblett ^[5]

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

16 matches	12 wins	4 losses
By knockout	2	1
By submission	5	0
By decision	5	3

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	12–4	Grant Dawson	Decision (unanimous)	UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2	19 July 2020	3	5:00	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Catchweight (150 lb) bout.
Loss	12–3	Mike Grundy	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal	16 March 2019	2	4:42	London, England
Win	12–2	Anderson dos Santos	Decision (unanimous)	UFC Fight Night: Magny vs. Ponzinibbio	17 November 2018	3	5:00	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Win	11–2	Khalid Taha	Decision (unanimous)	UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Smith	22 July 2018	3	5:00	Hamburg, Germany
Win	10–2	Paddy Pimblett	Decision (unanimous)	Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 82	1 April 2017	5	5:00	Liverpool, England	Won the Cage Warriors Featherweight Championship.
Win	9–2	Daniel Requeijo	Submission (guillotine choke)	Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 76	4 June 2016	3	1:21	Newport, Wales
Win	8–2	Jeremy Petley	TKO (punches)	BAMMA 23	4 November 2015	1	2:26	Birmingham, England
Loss	7–2	Alex Enlund	Decision (unanimous)	Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 73	1 November 2014	5	5:00	Newcastle upon Tyne, England	For the vacant Cage Warriors Featherweight Championship.
Win	7–1	Benjamin Brander	Submission (rear-naked choke)	Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 64	15 February 2014	1	4:53	London, England
Win	6–1	Athinodoros Michailidis	Submission (rear-naked choke)	Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 60	5 October 2013	1	3:42	London, England
Loss	5–1	Graham Turner	Decision (split)	Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 56	6 July 2013	3	5:00	London, England
Win	5–0	Karsten Lenjoint	Decision (unanimous)	Fight UK 9	20 April 2013	3	5:00	Leicester, England
Win	4–0	Marcin Wrzosek	Decision (split)	Fight UK 8	17 November 2012	3	5:00	Leicester, England
Win	3–0	Maksym Matus	Submission (triangle choke)	Cage Conflict 14	28 August 2012	1	0:53	Manchester, England
Win	2–0	Alex Brunnen	Submission (rear-naked choke)	Tear Up 7: Murch vs. Paul	19 November 2011	2	4;28	Bristol, England
Win	1–0	Harvey Dines	TKO (corner stoppage)	KnuckleUp MMA: The New Breed 7	16 July 2011	2	4:42	Somerset, England

^[1]

See also

• List of male mixed martial artists

References

1. Sherdog.com. "Nad". Sherdog. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
2. "Nad Narimani aiming to be One Step Ahead of Dos Santos at UFC Argentina". Metro. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
3. "Nad Narimani | UFC". www.ufc.com. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
4. Daniel Vreeland (17 July 2020). "UFC Fight Island 2's Nad Narimani: Grant Dawson Brings Nothing New". cagesidepress.com.
5. "Cage Warriors 82 results: Nad Narimani upsets Paddy Pimblett to take featherweight title". MMA Junkie. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
6. "Welcome to the UFC: Nad Narimani". MMA Today. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
7. "Alex Reyes Out of UFC London, Replacements Campaigning for Fight". MMA Today. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
8. King, John (17 March 2019). "Nad Narimani in on short notice vs Nasrat Haqparast at UFC London - MMASucka.com". MMASucka.com. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
9. "Nasrat Haqparast eye condition scraps fight with Nad Narimani at UFC-London". MMAjunkie. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
10. "Nad Narimani победи Khalid Taha в дебюта си за UFC — MMA.BG". mma.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
11. "UFC Fight Night 134 results: Nad Narimani takedown attack grinds out Khalid Taha". MMA Junkie. 22 July 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
12. Head, Simon (11 September 2018). "Nad Narimani draws Argentina assignment for second UFC bout". Simon Head. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
13. "Nad Narimani v Anderson dos Santos: British fighter eyes second win in UFC". 15 November 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
14. "Nad Narimani Overcomes Late Replacement Anderson dos Santos At UFC Argentina". MMAnytt.com. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
15. Fiedel, Michael (31 January 2019). "Mike Grundy to make long-awaited UFC debut in London". The Body Lock. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
16. "UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal". Ultimate Fighting Championship. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
17. "UFC London results: Mike Grundy debuts with second-round stoppage over Nad Narimani". MMA Junkie. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
18. Peter Carroll (3 January 2020). "Nik Lentz vs. Nad Narimani booked for UFC Raleigh". mmafighting.com.
19. MMA Fighting newswire (15 January 2020). "Arnold Allen set to face Nik Lentz at UFC Raleigh". mmafighting.com.
20. Farah Hannoun (15 June 2020). "UFC adds Grant Dawson vs. Nad Narimani to July 18 event in Abu Dhabi". mmajunkie.usatoday.com.
21. McClory, Mike (18 July 2020). "UFC Fight Island 2 Results: Grant Dawson Earns Dominant Win Over Nad Narimani". Cageside Press. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
22. Simon, Zane (20 August 2020). "'This is how it works' - Dana White reminds fighters that more DWCS signings means more cuts". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
23. McDonnell, Graeme (30 March 2017). "Nad Narimani: "Paddy normally talks trash about his opponent, but he hasn't with me, he knows the score"" . Retrieved 16 January 2020.

External links

• Nad Narimani at UFC
• Professional MMA record for Nad Narimani from Sherdog