Mostapha Al-Turk is dealing with visa issues, and may not be able to travel to Las Vegas for his UFC 109 fight with Rolles Gracie next weekend. The UFC will apparently have a replacement opponent for Gracie if Al-Turk cannot resolve the issue in the next few days.
about 2 years ago
Scott Haber
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If they're worried about underpants bombs...
…just tell him the weigh-ins are early and he has to strip…
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Jan 29, 2010 10:17 PM EST reply actions
Does anyone know what is at fault in these cases
Do fighters just not get their paperwork done correctly or on time, or is it that the US just randomly messes with people trying to get visas?
Don't foreign fighters have enough notice?
I’m curious as to what the “issues” are when it comes to visas.
I finish beers at 1:55.
by ihateemo on Jan 29, 2010 10:24 PM EST via mobile reply actions
There is probably someone hiding in a cave in Pakistan named Mostapha Al-Turk and that probably puts our guy here on the CIA watch list.
Keep firing Assholes!
Mind numbing, tedious and ultimately self defeating.
Al-Turk = Turkish. That’s about as far away from Pakistani as you can get without being a white boy with a tan.
Sure glad Lesnar got his shit straightened out.
by judonerd on Jan 29, 2010 10:39 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
It’s the CIA we’re dealing with here.
Keep firing Assholes!
Mind numbing, tedious and ultimately self defeating.
Yeah,
I saw this happen the last time I went to the US…The guy was screaming at the airport officials for not allowing him to take the flight because of a guy with the same name I think..
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 29, 2010 11:25 PM EST up reply actions
God help you if you want your name taken off the list.
Keep firing Assholes!
Mind numbing, tedious and ultimately self defeating.
it would help having two first names right?
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 29, 2010 11:32 PM EST up reply actions
I have a friend named Chris Smith, he gets stopped at immigration every time he travels because his name is generic! I am not even joking
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Jan 29, 2010 11:39 PM EST up reply actions
good thing there's not much Tabuena's around.
even better that there’s no terrorist Tabuenas hiding in some cave. haha.
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 29, 2010 11:50 PM EST up reply actions
Al-Turk means the Turk, but it is actually a common nisba (surname) in Arabic Syria and Lebanon.
by John Nash on Jan 30, 2010 1:38 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Al-Turk is in fact Lebanese, not Turkish.
He trains n lives in Britain though.
Ground n Pound fighter vs. Rolles Gracie: the member of BJJ Dynasty.
Both of Gracie via. Submissions including Renzo submitting Matt Hughes
You have to beat the legend, in order to become the LEGEND
-Melvin Manhoef (after his destruction of Sakuraba)
Ugh, seriously?
This is so amateurish of the UFC. The can they get to fight this marketable guy drops out and now they have to scramble for a replacement…
Yes, the above is me being sarcastic. Don’t take me seriously.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
Don’t worry, nobody takes anything you say seriously. =p
Tough luck for Al-Turk, again. I wonder who they have on tap to replace him.
by sadface on Jan 30, 2010 3:26 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Haha, nor should they!
Al Turk’s days in the UFC are numbered. It’s better that he go out on a loss to somebody bigger than a 3-0, even if it is a Gracie.
Outside of Renzo, Roger, and Kyra, the name means very little these days. Kron is yet to impress, and Rolles needs a lot of development still. That said, holy shit, a six foot four, 240 lbs Gracie! Where is your god now?!
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
I wonder if someone like Schaub will be ready if they need someone to step in on short notice, I want Gracie to face off against a semi-legit guy and Al-Turk really isn’t.
I’d bet dollars to donuts that it’s Tim Hague. He’s nearby (in Canada) and is a very similar fighter.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
This is retarded, nothing more and nothing less.
Where the hell is the guy responsible and why isn’t he at work? Bureaucracy is SUPPOSED to be the greatest tool of governance but for some reason they make a point of recruiting incompetents.
If he doesn’t get in, someone needs to get fired at whatever bureau fixes UK to USA visas.
Although Al-Turk is a UK resident, he *might* not hold UK citizenship (and passport)
This is what has no doubt muddied the waters. If he holds a passport for one of the non VWP countries then that’s likely at the heart of the issue.
What strikes me as odd, though, is that Al-Turk was able to travel to the US for UFC 92… so I can only wonder what the problem is this time around?
by VikingPhotography on Jan 30, 2010 7:44 AM EST up reply actions
Could be anything. Maybe his passport expired between applying for the visas and he didn’t realize it. It can take a while to get a passport, even if it’s rushed, and that could cock everything up. Or maybe he’s a material witness to a crime, or hasn’t paid his taxes, or something, and isn’t allowed to leave the UK. It’s so complicated and so much can go wrong.
Travel has become so easy that people forget how hard it can be to travel for work or study in another country and how much has to go perfectly right for everything to happen on a set schedule.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
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