- ARAB NEWS
- 25 Jul 2026
Since 1975
Tarek Suleiman cannot hide his respect for the founder of QUINTET — Kazushi Sakuraba and his love for Japan and its adoring fans as he gets ready to roll out the carpet for the world’s most exciting grappling event – The QUINTET 5 — at the Coca-Cola Arena on Thursday (Oct. 23) night.
Speaking to Arab News Japan, the promoter of the event said, it is quite a challenge working with the MMA icon.
“Kazushi is a legend, so working with him has been a bit challenging. Overall, working with Japanese people is a bit of fun and at the same time a bit of a challenge but as the saying goes ‘nothing good comes easy’.
The Syrian-born Suleiman spoke of the time when he visited Japan to compete in Quintet 2 as a fighter.
“I must tell you that Japan is so dear to my heart. I love the country and the Japanese fans are extraordinary. They bestowed a lot of love on me. Competing in Japan has a different face to it so it was a pleasure for me. Pleasure experiencing Quintet for the first time and Quintet 2 was the reason why I thought of bringing Quintet to Dubai.”
When queried why the Quintet brand was so popular worldwide, Suleiman said, “The reason behind it is — we all know — is the legend himself, Kazushi Sakuraba, for putting this together. It is his thinking, his ideas, and his legendary career in MMA which translated into Quintet that’s why it’s so popular, and yes, I can see a lot of Japanese faces with us here in the press conference so I’m expecting to build that bridge between the two cultures and let’s hope for the best.
Regarding the future of Quintet 5, Suleiman said, “We are working to build the World Cup series where we develop each region or each country’s athletes and have them compete against each other.
“So, hoping in the future we have Team UAE representing and we will pick the best athletes from across the gyms and we will be putting them together and maybe have a World Cup Series.”
“We watched from afar how the UAE embraced jiu-jitsu and elevated it into something bigger than just a sport — a cultural and national movement. To launch Quintet here is not only symbolic, but meaningful. The people understand the art. The government supports it. And the athletes here live it.”
But for now, Suleiman says, expect an epic event on Thursday night as its going to be spectacular with the world’s best grapplers bringing a fresh twist to traditional grappling — with 5-on-5 team survival matches where submissions are the only path to victory.
This special edition will reunite four of the biggest jiu-jitsu and MMA legends — Kazushi Sakuraba, Renzo Gracie, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Bob Sapp, the captains — for an unforgettable moment in combat sports history with Thiago Sa, Team Nogueira Head Coach and Pouya Rahmani, who recently took part in PFL, among the stars to compete.
Quintet features a five-on-five team-based grappling format, eliminating points and judges by forcing all matches to end by way of submission or draw. Quintet has already held successful competitions in both Japan and the United States.
