'I was s***ting my pants, bro:' The night Youssef Zalal ran the gauntlet to earn his UFC return

Youssef Zalal is on top of the world ahead of his first UFC co-main event Saturday against Calvin Kattar at UFC Vegas 102.

It was only 11 months ago that he clawed his way back to the Octagon with the first of three stoppage victories that led to this weekend's opportunity to solidify a spot in the featherweight rankings.

Zalal was previously cut from the UFC in 2022 after a disappointing seven-fight tenure. His first stint began with three wins in 2020 before a meeting with the division’s future champion, Ilia Topuria, sent him on a downward spiral of three losses and a draw, after which Zalal was shown the door.

“I would kill the last version of me that people saw in the UFC,” Zalal says ahead of UFC Vegas 102, casting his mind back to his first run with the organization.

“I’m telling you, that version of me would not have fun with the current version of me. We’re the same in terms of talent and hard work and things like that, but my mentality is what’s really changed from who I am today and the last version everyone saw.”

It’s been no overnight transformation for Zalal. For the Moroccan featherweight, experience has been a great teacher. His focus has switched from showcasing his ability to proving that he is elite — something he definitely had to do on his last night performing under a non-UFC banner.

'I was s***ting my pants, bro'

“The Moroccan Devil” didn’t waste any time licking his wounds after his UFC exit. He put on his work boots, and three months later he was back in the win column after competing for Colorado-based promotion Sparta. Another finish arrived two months later, and suddenly prospects in the regional MMA scene weren’t all too keen on signing on the dotted line to face him.

UFC matchmakers told Zalal that new talent would take priority over him being re-signed, but once he saw an advertisement for an Sparta tournament to be contested over one night in August 2023 with a purse of $10,000 going to the winner, it was like a red rag to a bull.

As the most established name in the bracket, Zalal was rightfully given a No. 1 seed. What made this tournament unique was each round would be contested in a different discipline. The first round would be a boxing bout, the second a kickboxing match and the final contested in MMA.

The lowest seed for the tournament, unlike the rest of the field, was a boxer.

And, well, you can see where this is going.

“The first round was f***ing boxing, and I’ve got to face him," recalls Zalal, his eyes lighting up as soon as the tournament is mentioned. "I was s***ting my pants, bro. All of the other guys got to fight kickboxers and MMA fighters in boxing, and I get stuck fighting a legit boxer in a boxing match. I had no other choice but to get after it.

“I was so nervous for that fight against the boxer — as soon as I beat him, I was celebrating like I won the whole thing. Coach was calming me down like, ‘Yo, you need to chill out, we need to get you in the back.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ Bro, I legit forgot I was fighting in a tournament!”

Zalal then claimed another victory in the semifinal kickboxing match deeper into the night before being given an elongated wait, which may have been his biggest challenge of the whole experience.

“The three-hour wait, that’s the one that sucked," he says. "The adrenaline dump happens and then you have to get it back up. You start reevaluating your whole life and thinking, ‘Well, this is where we’re at now’, but we got it done.”

A first-round submission win over Vadim Zadnipryanyi ultimately cemented Zalal as the Sparta tournament champion. He knew his teammate, Dustin Jacoby, had won the tournament previously and it led to a Contender Series call-up. He hoped his one-night heroics would leave him in a similar stead.

A second chance

Following his tournament success, Zalal was eventually offered a opportunity to tryout for an upcoming season of "The Ultimate Fighter." He made it all the way through the process, but in the end was told he would only be selected as an alternate, rather than a member of the cast.

There was an obvious disappointment, but as the famous saying goes, when one door closes another opens.

“I was like, ‘Oh great, I did all of this for nothing,’" says Zalal. "But then 24 hours later I get the call for a short-notice fight against Billy Quarantillo."

Stepping into an unexpected second chance, Zalal, 28, submitted Quarantillo to kick off one of the best 2024 campaigns for any fighter on the UFC roster. He tagged on two more submission wins over Jarno Errens and Jack Shore inside the same calendar year, both of which earned him Performance of the Night bonuses. Now, less that a year after that surprise short-notice call-up, he is eyeing a place among featherweight's cream of the crop if he can top No. 10 Kattar.

A perennial fixture in the featherweight rankings for the past half-decade, Kattar has recently found himself on a cold streak of three straight losses. Zalal knows the catalyst for his own renaissance was birthed in similar circumstances, so he remains wary of his most accomplished opponent to date.

“That’s what makes him dangerous, I have to recognize that and take it into account,” Zalal says. “There’s always confidence, I know what I’m capable of and I know the pressure that I put on myself. That’s why I said I’d be the first person to finish him and all that stuff.

“The pressure this kid [has right now] to come in and win is huge. This is a guy who has fought the best of the best, and he knows there are expectations on him coming into this. I know that mentality and I know it’s dangerous for me to go in and face a guy who has his back to the wall. I know he’s going to be packing heat in those punches, and I’m excited to try figure out that puzzle.”

Zalal fully expects to keep his career turnaround going in Las Vegas, and should he do so, he has some lofty goals for the remainder of the year.

“I want to headline in 2025. I will headline in 2025," Zalal promises. "We’re manifesting this and it will happen. If that’s not the next fight, I want the next one to be on a pay-per-view or in an arena. When me and Jack Shore fought, we woke up the entire nation of Canada. I want to do that again.”