5 Defining Moments: Youssef Zalal

Youssef Zalal likely has the attention of everyone at or near the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division.

“The Moroccan Devil” will put his six-fight winning streak on the line when he faces Calvin Kattar in the UFC Fight Night 251 co-main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Zalal, 28, has finished each of his past six opponents inside two rounds. A two-time “Performance of the Night” award winner, he now holds a 6-3-1 record across his 10 appearances in the UFC.

As Zalal approaches his pivotal encounter with Kattar at 145 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. First Watch

Zalal impressed and excelled in his promotional debut when he cruised to a unanimous decision over Fortis MMA’s Austin Lingo in their three-round UFC 247 prelim on Feb. 8, 2020 at the Toyota Center in Houston. All three cageside judges scored it 30-27. Lingo seemed to be a step behind on the feet and on the ground. Zalal blended together his skills beautifully, firing off leg kicks, knees and sneaky hooks, one of which bloodied his counterpart’s nose in the first round. The Marc Montoya protege struck for takedowns in all three rounds, applied his ground-and-pound in spurts and ran through a series of choke attempts, from the anaconda and the brabo to the guillotine. While his efforts failed to result in a finish, Zalal left no doubt as to who was the superior fighter.

2. Burn Notice

Ilia Topuria kept his perfect professional record intact in his first Octagon assignment, as he took a unanimous decision from Zalal in their UFC Fight Night 179 featherweight showcase on Oct. 10, 2020 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A short-notice fill-in for Seung Woo Choi, Topuria swept the scorecards with 29-28 marks across the board. Zalal played right into the Spaniard’s hands. Topuria secured multiple takedowns, achieved full mount on two occasions and made passes at a series of submissions, including guillotines, anaconda chokes, arm-triangles and rear-naked chokes. None of them stuck, but his efforts built an insurmountable lead and afforded the future champion the breathing room he needed to overcome fatigue in the latter stages of the match. The defeat closed the book on Zalal’s four-fight winning streak.

3. Too Little, Too Late

Zalal settled for a majority draw with Da’Mon Blackshear—a late-notice replacement for Cristian Quinonez—as part of the UFC on ESPN 41 undercard on Aug. 13, 2022 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Scores were 29-28, 28-28 and 28-28. Operating in the shadows of the Dominick Cruz-Marlon Vera main event, Blackshear spent the first two rounds putting some distance between himself and his Factory X-trained adversary. Likely sensing he was behind on the scorecards, Zalal upped his aggression across the final five minutes and cut loose with a variety of weapons. He dropped Blackshear to a knee with a wicked body shot late in the third round and powered into top position before unleashing a violent volley of elbows, punches and hammerfists. Zalal eventually climbed to full mount and continued to pile on the punishment—referee Herb Dean seemed to be no more than a breath away from waving it off—but ultimately ran out of time. He was released by the UFC some two weeks later.

4. Lessons Learned

A new and improved Zalal returned to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for the first time in 19 months at UFC on ESPN 53, where he disposed of former King of the Cage titleholder Bill Quarantillo with a rear-naked choke in the second round of featherweight feature on March 23, 2024 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Quarantillo bowed out 1:50 into Round 2, suffering the first submission defeat of his 24-fight career. A short-notice substitution for Gabriel Miranda, Zalal flirted with flawlessness. The Factory X rep rocked Quarantillo with a knee strike in the first round, tripped him to the canvas, moved to the back with a body triangle and threatened with a face crank. The bell sounded while the finish was near. Zalal picked up where he left off in the middle stanza, swept the Gracie Tampa South standout to the mat and again progressed to the back. This time, he snuck his forearm underneath the chin, tightened his squeeze and closed the deal.

5. High Tide

Zalal put away former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Jack Shore with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 246 featherweight prelim on Nov. 2, 2024 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Shore met his end 59 seconds into Round 2 and later announced his retirement from the sport. Zalal tested the waters with a variety of techniques in the first round, then made his move on the Welshman. He floored Shore with a devastating knee strike in the center of the cage, flurried with follow-up shots, powered into full mount and framed the arm-triangle. From there, he bit down on the choke and waited for the tapout.