Soufian Haj Haddou had a lot of expectation on his shoulders heading into his second outing of 2017 when he was booked to fight Marcel Jedidi at GMC 13 in Dusseldorf on Dec. 16.
After a two-year hiatus from mixed-martial arts, the economics and engineering student returned to action earlier in the year, banking what he claims is the quickest knockout in German MMA history with his 14-second finish of Wandenberg Nascimento.
When he met Jedidi in mid-December, Haj Haddou found himself in a similar position to a lot of fighters who have faced confident grapplers. Jedidi – in an attempt to lure the 28-year-old into his guard – lay on his back with his hands behind his head.