Amir Khan, 25, currently shares the record for the most knockouts in ONE Championship history.
PHOTO: EVOLVE MMA
You may know Amir Khan as one of Singapore’s top professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters in ONE Championship. In fact, the 25 year old currently has the most knockouts in ONE Championship history, with his most recent one coming from an emphatic first round win over Rahul Raju at ONE: Reign Of Dynasties, which was held behind closed doors at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Oct 9.
But did you know that he almost took up an entirely different sport when he was growing up? Or that he fights despite having a neurological disorder?
Here are eight things about Amir Khan you may not know.
1. Having Tourette’s syndrome does not stop him
Despite having Tourette’s, Amir doesn’t feel that it affects his concentration or ability to fight to his maximum potential.
PHOTO: EVOLVE MMA
Amir has Tourette’s syndrome — a disorder that results in uncontrollable tics or physical movement — but fights at a high level in the technically challenging sport of MMA. While he faced difficulties coping with it when he was younger, he has learnt how to manage this condition and overcome it.
“During my childhood, it was a big struggle for me as I was constantly being mocked and made fun of. That had an effect on my self-esteem growing up,” says Amir. “The beauty of sports is that it’s somewhat therapeutic for me as I’m usually focused on the task at hand and temporarily forget about my Tourette’s.”
2. He’s the king of knockouts
Amir is adept at a variety of martial arts, including Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
PHOTO: EVOLVE MMA
There are few things better than getting a knockout win in an MMA bout and Amir is an expert at those, with nine in his career — the most in ONE history. He likes his left high kicks and elbow strikes, which is unsurprising as Muay Thai was the first combat sport he picked up.
But getting a knockout isn’t about forcing it to happen. It’s more about adapting as you fight and going with the flow.
“I don’t usually think exactly what the knockout will be, I will just let it come to me. From experience, I learnt that sometimes when you try too hard, it will never come. You’ve got to trust and believe it will,” Amir says.
3. He looks good for every fight
It’s common for many athletes to have pre-match rituals to give themselves a psychological boost, whether it’s wearing the same pair of socks or eating the same kinds of food. For Amir, it’s about looking and feeling his best.
“I always get a good haircut from my barber. I also try to keep myself as relaxed as possible by listening to music with good vibes,” he says.
4. He trains like a machine
Amir’s hard work and training at Evolve MMA have honed his skills in various MMA disciplines.
PHOTO: EVOLVE MMA
The home-grown fighter has some serious dedication to his craft. He trains six days a week, with double sessions on five of them, at Evolve MMA. Each session lasts around two hours and involves Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, grappling, and strength and conditioning drills. Even during National Service, he squeezed in training every chance he got to remain sharp.
He credits the gym for providing him the opportunity to grow and develop the best that he can be.
“Evolve has world champions across various martial arts to help me develop in areas that I am lacking. I get to learn from the best in the industry from across the world in multiple disciplines,” says Amir. “I would say the best training I’ve gotten in my whole career is at Evolve.”
5. He could’ve been swinging golf clubs instead
Amir is known for his feats in the octagon today, but if it weren’t for MMA, he would have taken up golf professionally instead due to his father’s influence as a golf instructor. However, his father encouraged him to follow his true passion, and the rest is history.
“If not for his continued support, I might not be where I am today. There were times when the journey felt too tough and I wanted to quit, but he was there to make sure I didn’t,” says Amir. “His advice that stuck to me was, ‘If you quit now, everything you do will be worthless and you will live with regrets, but if you give everything you got, you won’t have any regrets in life regardless of the outcome’.”
Despite the obvious differences between the two sports, Amir finds that the mental aspect of golf helped him in MMA. “In golf, you need a great amount of focus and I feel that translates well to MMA.”
6. He triumphed over The Hunter
One of the highlights of Amir’s career was taking down veteran Australian fighter Adrian “The Hunter” Pang.
PHOTO: EVOLVE MMA
In Amir’s professional MMA career, he’s fought people from many different countries with varying levels of experience. However, his favourite fight was in 2017’s ONE: Immortal Pursuit against seasoned Australian fighter Adrian Pang, also known as The Hunter, who had been fighting since the early 2000s.
“It was a big test for me as he had over 40 fights and was a veteran in the sport,” Amir recounts. “Even though it wasn’t my best performance, I was proud that I was able to pass the test by securing the win.”
7. He can’t resist burgers and fries
Preparing for a fight involves strict training and a diet regimen to meet weight limits. But once the contest is over, it’s only natural that many competitors will reward themselves with a good meal. For Amir, it’s all about some tasty burgers and hawker fare.
“I don’t have a fixed place where I like to eat but I do love indulging in local food from the coffee shop, and burgers and fries are a must,” he exclaims.
8. He idolised the MMA greats
Fighting some of the legends in MMA history would be a dream come true for Amir should the opportunity arise.
PHOTO: EVOLVE MMA
When Amir was just getting his feet wet in the sport of MMA, he looked up to some of the all-time greats such as Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo and Georges St-Pierre.
“I like how unpredictable Silva was during his prime and love seeing Aldo throwing his destructive kicks,” says Amir. “I also consider Georges St-Pierre the GOAT (greatest of all time) and took a lot of inspiration from the unorthodox training methods that he used to get the upper hand.”
Amir enthuses that it will be a dream come true to face off with his idols in a fight: “It would be an honour to go up against any of these legends.”
The Singapore Indoor Stadium reopened its doors to spectators for the first time on Oct 30 for the One Championship’s Inside The Matrix fight event. Stay tuned for more live events you can participate in at here.
