Born 1993 8th February as Mohammed Adnan Nur Khan, my friends and family have always called me Adnan, my closest friends would call me Adnan-Baby aka. Baby because of my baby face.
I grew up in a rough suburb north of Stockholm a place called Sollentuna, I saw a lot of things growing up that young kids in developed countries are not used to seeing.
Today I am 24 years old and on my 3rd year studying a Bachelor Degree of Public Relations at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
I came to Australia as a 21 year old very overweight kid, leaving a life behind that was filled with crime, money, drugs and everything that comes with that lifestyle.
When I first came to Australia at the beginning of 2015 I moved in to the UniCentral student accomodation in Sippy Downs and I did not know what to expect of my time here.
At the start of my journey here in Australia I weighed 116kgs. After making better lifestyle choices, today I weigh 90kgs, training for my first MMA fight eight weeks from now in the middlewegiht (84kg) division on the XFC organisation (Xtreme Fighting Championship) in Brisbane.
I can tell you one thing; in this country I have had a lot of first time experiences. First time spearfishing, first time seeing cyclonic weather, first time getting drunk at the beach.
On my third day living on campus, a childhood friend of mine Rob who came to USC one year before me, he has now graduated as a Sport Scientist in 2016, took me to the USC gym where he completely smashed me with a circuit training.
I remember almost spewing, wanting to cry and scream my lungs out because of the pain but this was something I kept to myself. I was taught in a very young age never to show pain or feelings that make you seem weak, never let people know what you actually think. My sense of Self was still connected to the streets of Stockholm even though I was on the other side of the world. I came to realize one major thing after that circuit training, I am strong! I had never done deadlifts before but I lifted 160kgs on my first go.
Today I am a part of the Noke Martial Arts Fight Team in The Sunshine Coast. I see myself as a student and my teachers are Nelson and Kyle Noke. Both of my teachers have been a part of the social promotion and acceptance of MMA in Australia. Kyle Noke just retired from the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), a veteran in this game, he’s been at the highest level of fighting and is teaching us world class techniques in BJJ (brazilian jiu-jutsi), Kickboxing, wrestling etc.
MMA has changed my life! I used to smoke a pack of cigarettes everyday since the age of 17, I have not smoked in over 6 months. I used to drink to get really drunk, never able to drink just a beer or two, I have not had a drink for 2 months and I am getting the feeling that I will continue this path as long as I follow the path that MMA has showed me.
Anything and everything is possible! Practice and persistence! It’s been told that to become an expert at something one should spend at least 10.000h of practising it.
Repetition is key!
Bruce Lee stated “I do not fear the guy who practiced 10.000 kicks but I fear the guy who has practiced one kick 10.000 times.
Next time I will talk about how MMA is promoted in Social Media and how I am promoting myself for my upcoming fight. How to get sponsored using social media etc.
Thank you,
BigKhan out!
BigKhan93 