Bahrain’s jiu-jitsu superstar Ali Monfaradi has added another feather to his cap, punching above his weight to bring home a gold medal at the recent 2026 Dammam Championship.

The 32-year-old Bahraini recently topped the under-94 Brown and Black adult category at the competition, alongside members of the Al Hilal Jiu-Jitsu Club in Saudi Arabia.

“It’s very competitive, and although it’s part of a closed league, it’s been just over a year since they’ve opened the door for professional non-Saudi athletes and I am the first such athlete to have been inducted through Al Hilal club,” Ali told GulfWeekly.

The competition also brought a unique challenge, as Ali usually competes in either the under-69kg or under-77kg division.

This time, to ensure his team gets points for his win, he decided to compete in the under-94kg class... two divisions beyond his usual.

“The way this tournament works, if you are found to be the sole competitor in your division, you can automatically just receive the medal, but that’s not very fun at all,” he added.

“And more importantly, your team doesn’t receive any points because you didn’t fight for your medal.

“The way this worked out was that there was nobody in the under-77 or under-85, so I competed in the under-94, and this was brown and black belts merged together because of the move-ups that happened leading up to the fights.”

Although it was a much bigger physical challenge than he is used to, Ali stepped up to the challenge drawing on past open-weight jousts.

Despite the ‘added layer of complexity’, Ali nabbed gold, beating out Ahmed Al Quradaghi who won silver, as well as Mesfer Al Ateeg and Mohamed Rajab who both won the bronze medals.

Competing alongside Ali was his fellow Elements Jiu-Jitsu Academy coach Hassan Alkhayat, who won gold in the under-62 adults division for brown belts.

In total, Al Hilal Jiu-Jitsu Club got seven gold, three silver and six bronze medals, bringing home the male adult team trophy.

More than anything, the competition gave him something to focus on, amidst the Iranian attacks in Bahrain during the last month.

“Obviously, given everything that we are going through, competing is not necessarily a priority, but I am always training and trying to stay healthy and prepared,” he explained.

“Of course there was anxiety and worry, but I found that practising gave me a lot of peace and focus, and I didn’t want to disappoint the team that has been supporting me for almost a year now.

“We drove to the tournament in the morning and came back at night, just so I could be home with my family.”

The jiu-jitsu world champion is already gearing up for more tournaments and competitions in the Saudi League, with one in the works for next month.

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@alimonfaradi on Instagram.