Cab Driver to World Champion in MMA: Mahboob Khan recalls his journey so far

Indian MMA fighter Mahboob Khan is someone that has his own place in the history books. He was the first Indian fighter to win a Gold Medal for India at the IMMAF World Championship and the Hyderabad-based fighter has been a force to reckon with in the domestic circuit as well.

However, to reach where he is now, he has gone through a lot of struggle which he recalled recently during an interview with Official Humans of Hyderabad.

Mahboob noted that he did not know about MMA back in 2014 when he started and credits his coach Shaik Khalid for turning him into an MMA Fighter.

“Honestly, I never knew about Mixed Martial Arts until 2014. I joined the MMA training along with my friend as he was getting trained under our coach, Mr Shaik Khalid sir. Within a few days of my training, he noticed something unique with my approach that he asked me to train under him full time in MMA. I was doubtful about myself initially. However, I went ahead with the full-time training, and honestly, it was a life-changing decision in my life,” he noted to Official Humans of Hyderabad.

The Young prospect further went on to add that he used to be a cab driver and worked part-time in a cloth store to support his training.

“I was a cab driver in the past and also worked part-time in a clothing store to support my family. My father is a lorry driver and my mother, a homemaker. I am the oldest among our five siblings and had to take the family's responsibility at a young age. However, when I joined the MMA, I discontinued my previous job to start focusing on my training full time,” he added.

It was in 2018 that Mahboob Khan won the Gold Medal for India at the IMMAF World Championships which was held in Bahrain. He won the Gold in the Junior Strawweight category and did so in style by knocking out Bahrain’s Ebrahim Darwish in the finals.

Mahboob then returned to action for the IMMAF Senior World Championships in 2021 and secured a win over Australia’s Troy Fumo in the opening round. However, his progress in the tournament was hampered after missing out on the weigh-ins by a mere margin of 0.2 pounds.

Though the global pandemic hampered the training a bit, Mahboob made a strong return in 2021 when he picked up the Gold Medal in the MMA India National championship which was held in Lucknow.

Despite his success, Mahboob is still looking for support and hopes that he will be getting support from the Government one day.

What do you think of the story of Mahboob Khan? Let us know in the comment section of the article below.

You can check out the complete story from Official Humans of Hyderabad here. 

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