A BRADFORD fighter recently made the perfect start to his professional MMA career in London.
Addy Khan, who trains at and is also sponsored by Bradford’s Muscle Bound Gym, travelled to the capital on August 2 for his first ‘official’ fight as a professional MMA star.
The Bradfordian competed on the Fightstar Championship card, at the Indigo at The O2, London, and came away with a first victory on his record.
After three gruelling five-minute rounds against his opponent Harry Davies, Khan was eventually crowned winner, edging the contest by way of unanimous decision.
Officially, it’s the Bradford fighter’s first victory of his career, although it should have been his second, having seen his debut win chalked off his record after the bout was flagged for insufficient ‘evidence or documentation’.
However, Khan bounced back brilliantly in London to shine in front of a packed-out Indigo, of which was taken over by a number of travelling Bradford faithful for his bout.
Speaking after the contest, after being praised for his boxing skills, the local fighter joked with FightStar Championship by saying: “Was that boxing? Why do my legs hurst so much then?”
After steadying himself, and catching his breath, Khan added: “I knew he (Harry Davies) was a game guy.
“As I said in the lead up to this fight, Harry comes to bang (throw punches) and, obviously, I love to bang too.
“Even upstairs while we were waiting for our fight, he said no wrestling today and I thought, you know what, he’s on my vibe.
“Let’s f*** the wrestling and have it out.”
Post-fight, FightStar Championship, FSC, confirmed that its 34th event will be hosted in Bradford on October 18, at Bradford Live.
And Khan was very excited by the prospect of performing on a show in his home city.
He said: “Inshallah. Me and Raj (Singh – founder of FightStar Championship) have had a gentlemen’s agreement for a few months now about hosting a show in Bradford.
“This was in London was a little warm-up fight.
“So, we’re bringing FightStar to Bradford in October; watch this space, it will be a full sell-out.
“I’m headlining the show, so it should be fun.”
Rob Stoves, managing director at Muscle Bound Gym – who sponsor Khan – commented: “Myself and all the staff travelled down to London to watch Addy, and it was an excellent fight; he did the city proud.
“The energy from the crowd was amazing and it was great to see so many faces from Bradford at the show.”
Discussing how he got to know Khan, Stoves said: “I first got to know Addy through the gym and straight away I could see the dedication and discipline he puts into his training.
“As a fighter, he’s relentless – always pushing himself to improve and increase his levels, whether that be him as an individual or the people around him.
“As a person, he’s humble, respectful and a real credit to the sport and we are privileged to have the opportunity to sponsor him.”