![](\"http:\/\/a323.yahoofs.com\/ymg\/ept_sports_mma_experts__16\/ept_sports_mma_experts-360351533-1264901999.jpg?ymvNnmCD90uUsHqG\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Strikeforce: Miami is off and running with three American Top Team fighters featured in the opening bouts. ATT went 1-2 in the three fights, with Hayder Hassan picking up the only win.<\/p>\n
Hassan, in the tradition of ATT, is a thickly muscled welterweight. The son of Iraqi immigrants picked his spots against Ryan Keenan in the opening round, dropping the Orlando native in the middle of the first and then finishing the fight in the second with a huge right. Keenan got slugged by a left on the way down, but he was already out cold at 2:42. <\/p>\n
"The whole first round I wanted to feel him out," Hassan told Showtime’s Lucia Rijker. "I have a lot of respect for his camp. I’m real happy. ATT is best camp in the world." <\/p>\n
Hassan’s journey to MMA is pretty amazing. His father, a doctor, escaped Iraq in the mid-’70s. However, the fears from the family’s homeland are still present. In recent years, Hassan (above left<\/em>) told MMAJunkie that some of cousins had to escape as well. <\/p>\n "They had to escape because the coaches would work in the Green Zone where the Hassan and his older brother, Mehdi, were into football and wrestling. Mehdi, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound linebacker, eventually landed at Georgetown for football, while Hayder gave up the game and attended Florida State.<\/p>\n As an Arab, the 27-year-old wants to be a trailblazer.<\/p>\n "Culturally, fighting is not really accepted," Hassan said. "Arab sons are Hassan is especially excited that the United Arab Emirates is hosting a UFC event in April. <\/p>\n In another fight, Sabah Homasi out of ATT didn’t have the same luck. He was taken down easily and mounted in the first round by John Kelly. In the second, Homasi scored a takedown but was reversed. Kelly took control, working toward a choke as Homasi tried to get to his knees. Kelly worked for about 30 seconds before he locked on a rear-naked choke. Kelly (4-0) got the victory at 2:48 of the second. <\/p>\n In fight No. 3, Pablo Alfonso seized the moment from ATT fighter Marcos DaMatta. DaMatta (7-1) was inside Alfonso’s guard and got lazy. Alfonso (6-1) slapped on a nasty armbar and the fight was stopped immediately at 1:47 of the first. <\/p>\n David Gomez (1-2) picked up the first win of his career in a three-round decision over Craig Oxley (0-3). Gomez took all three rounds. He cruised at the end of the fight as Oxley looked like he tweaked his knee at the end of the second. <\/p>\n John Clarke won in a battle of new pros. Clarke hurt John Ray from the get-go. A huge punch and knee stunned Ray just over three minutes into the fight. Clarke got top control, quickly converted it to the mount and finished Ray with strikes at 3:14 of the first. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Strikeforce: Miami is off and running with three American Top Team fighters featured in the opening bouts. ATT went 1-2 in the three fights, with Hayder Hassan picking up the only win. Hassan, in the tradition of ATT, is a thickly muscled welterweight. The son of Iraqi immigrants picked his spots against Ryan Keenan in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4012,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-252492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nAmerican soldiers were," Hassan explained to MMAJunkie. "But because al-Qaeda viewed that as
\nassisting the U.S. troops, their head coach was actually killed. They sent a
\nhitman at him and they killed him. My cousin was told that if he doesn’t leave,
\nhe was next. He got a death threat, so he had to leave the country, too."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\neither engineers, doctors or lawyers. Culturally, they say it’s not good to fight because your body is a tool
\nof God, so you’re not supposed to punish what God has given you. But I think if
\nGod has blessed you with athletic skill and you’re good enough to do what you
\nwant to do, then more power to you."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n