On December 12, 2016, a young Afghan refugee stepped into a scheduled fight against Russia’s Rustam Yusopov during a ‘We Love MMA’ event in Berlin. Despite not meeting the minimum age requirement to compete in mixed martial arts in Germany (18+), the 16-year-old Moustafa eventually stepped into the cage and suffered a severely broken jaw for his efforts.
According to reports, it was Moustafa and his coach who remained quiet about the fighter’s age ahead of the fight. It was only when the Afghan showed his passport before heading to the hospital that it became clear that he was a minor who had illegally participated in a sanctioned MMA fight.