Jordanian raised in Brazil,  Zaid Mirza is a BJJ black belt under World Champion Cassio Werneck. He is the man who has developed BJJ and MMA in the kingdom of Jordan for the past 10 years. He has a chain of successful BJJ/MMA schools, homegrown black belts, a succesful MMA promotion called Desert Force, and has succeeded in including BJJ in Jordan’s police and army. Zaid Mirza is married to Princess Iman bin Hussein, who is the sister of His Majesty King Abdallah II who is a big fan of MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and is a key player in the peace process and stabilization policy in the troubled region. After Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi, Jiu-Jitsu now has a prince in Zaid Mirza!

In an exclusive interview with BJJ Eastern Europe, Zaid talked about his BJJ story from Brazil to Jordan, how he developed BJJ in Jordan and much more:

-Please tell us about you started training BJJ. You were living in Brazil at the time?

Like most children i grew up training in traditional Martial Arts such as Judo, Karate, Tae Kwon Do at a very young age. I really didn’t get attached to any of them. I started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA in 1993-1994 in Brasilia, Brazil under World Champion Master Cassio Werneck and never stopped.

-How were the beginings of BJJ in Jordan?

It was very hard. We had to build everything from scratch. Besides Abu Dhabi, BJJ didn’t exist in the entire Middle East. There was different styles of Jujitsu (Japanese, Amercian.. etc) but not the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we all know. After moving back to the Middle East i went ahead and set up the first ever Braziian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts Federation of its kind in the World under the Olympic Committee umbrella. This gave the sport a lot of weight and support in the country.

Zaid Mirza and Cassio Werneck

-How is the BJJ scene in Jordan nowadays?

BJJ is still relatively new and will keep on growing in Jordan as the rest of the world. The Federation is doing a great job in organizing multiple local tourneys throughout the year as well as sponsoring a Jordanian National Team to compete abroad. Most importantly we have BJJ centers outside the capital city. This was His Majesties’ King Abdullah II vision to diffuse and introduce Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA in the Kingdom. Today we have world class competitors in all categories for Children, Adult, Masters and Senior, both male and female. I hope that soon we will have the first ever Arab World Champion in the Black Belt Division Adult category.

-What are some of the opportunity and threats for the growth of BJJ and MMA in Jordan?

In my opinion, i think Its great to have the UAE as a relatively neighboring country. For Americans and Brazilians its so expensive and far away to come and compete in Abu Dhabi. For Arabs its just a jump
away. You got to take your hats off to what is happening in the UAE BJJ scene. The Sheikhs are taking BJJ to a completely different level. This indirectly stimulates our athletes into training and competing more. In some cases It gives these athletes a mean of making a living. In Jordan we have a few championships a year but we do lack the Prize money offered in the UAE. Unfortunately people in jordan still tend to believe more in the Hollywood, WWE action fighting scenes. It will take some time, but for sure it will change!

-Please tell us about your BJJ academy(ies)

We have recently re-branded Team Mirza to Desert Force Training Centers. We will also be focusing on rolling out Desert Force Training Centers all over the region. Our goal is to make DFTC  the McDonalds of Fitness and MMA in the region. We are currently developing a new state of the art sports facility unprecedented in the region with the intention to breed Professional Athletes. The facility will consist of a Gym, Dormitories, Olympic Swimming Pool, Soccer Fields and a Multipurpose Sports Complex Arena. A Desert Force Citadel!!

-What’s next for you and for desert Force?

2015 we will be touring 4 new countries (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Morrocco). We will be catering to TV’s in different regions hence contracting fighters from all over the world.
Desert Force is open to fighters from all nationalities leaving Desert Force Academy as a grassroot organization building and breeding for Arabs precisely through its reality show.

-Thank you Mirza for this interview and all the best.

Thank you www.bjjee.com for your efforts in always keeping up with BJJ/MMA news around the world. Your site is amazing and you have many followers in the Middle East. Lets keep rolling!