‘When I fight, I can feel my soul alive,’ says Hattan Alsaif, Saudi Arabia’s groundbreaking MMA star

CNN - Hattan Alsaif has grown accustomed to sparring with men. Rarely shy about confronting heavier, stronger opponents, she knows what it’s like to absorb blow after blow until tears begin to shine in her eyes, her face red and hot from crying.

As one of the few women at her gym in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – and the only woman hopeful of fighting at an elite level – Alsaif had little choice but to train with and against her male counterparts when she first took up martial arts. But ahead of her MMA debut, she credits her sometimes brutal introduction to the sport as one of the reasons for her success.

“I was the only girl doing it day and night, day and night, day and night,” Alsaif tells CNN Sport. “I always spar with guys, I train with guys, I’m always with the guys in the gym.

“It’s not an easy thing, so when it comes to the cage, when I get a hit from a girl, I feel like, ‘Whoa, is this all you’ve got?’”