Video: Noah Ali explains decision to change coaches and origin of his nickname

Noah Ali was scheduled to fight for the vacant Unified MMA bantamweight title against Michael Hay on Friday at Unified MMA 33. However, the fight card was officially canceled on Wednesday afternoon by the promotion (statement below) following the city of Edmonton placing a temporary ban on combat sports in Edmonton.

Before this fight card was canceled, Ali (9-5-1) spoke with The MMA Report about his scheduled fight against Hay. Along with talking about his previously scheduled title fight against Hay, Ali explained his decision to change coaches in the middle of his training camp for this fight and the origin of his nickname, “The Chosen Defender.”

Unified MMA Statement on Unified MMA 33 being canceled?
We at #UnifiedMMA have had the privilege and honour of promoting professional mixed martial arts events in our hometown of Edmonton for eight years, and we’re very grateful for everyone’s continued and gracious support.

After months and months of working alongside the Edmonton Combative Sports Commission for Friday’s Unified MMA 33 event in Edmonton, handling and submitting all requested paperwork as per the commission’s longstanding protocol, on Dec. 8, we were informed by the City of Edmonton that they were issuing a moratorium on combat sports in the city, and that no new licenses would be granted for combat sports events in the city from Dec. 9, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2018.

We were blindsided by the news, as we had been working on the event with the ECSC for many months.

After continuous discussions with city council, we were today informed that Unified MMA 33 could not be sanctioned by ECSC.

As the event can’t be sanctioned by ECSC, we’re unable to continue with Unified MMA 33, as planned. We’re now in the process of trying to secure a sanctioning body very close to Edmonton so we can reschedule the event in the near future.

Refunds may be made at point of purchase.

We would like to once again thank all of our supporters for their continued, gracious support, and sincerely apologize for inconvenience this event’s cancellation may cause.