Shoaib Yousaf (©BRAVE CF)

British-Pakistani mixed martial artist Shoaib “The Assassin” Yousaf, 24, of Lancashire, England, United Kingdom recently trained at The Amir Khan Academy in Bolton, England. He shared how he got invited to train at the gym owned by British-Pakistani boxer Amir “King” Khan, 33, of Bolton.

“A friend of Amir Khan’s invited me to go train at the gym and I got to do pads with his main trainers which was awesome,” Yousaf shared. “We talked and Amir Khan is such a big part of the lives of British-Pakistani people. It was surreal to talk to him and pick his brain.”

Yousaf has been training on and off since he was 7 years old. According to him, it started as fun but then it got serious when he was 14 and went to boxing and jiu-jitsu training.

“Amir Khan grew up 30 minutes from where I grew up and he set a path for myself and others,” Yousaf shared. “It’s awesome that I’ve been able to meet him and talk to him. He’s had a huge impact in my career and hopefully now even more.”

“He’s an idol definitely and I hope to be able to follow his footsteps but in mixed martial arts,” Yousaf said of Khan. “I can’t wait for Monday when I get to put all of my MMA training into use and also some of his advice.”

On August 24, 2020, Yousaf will headline “BRAVE CF 40” with Mochamed “The Best” Machaev, 20, of Vienna, Austria. They will battle it out in the featherweight division.

Bahrain-based MMA promotion BRAVE Combat Federation will hold “BRAVE CF 40” in Stockholm, Sweden in partnership with Swedish mixed martial arts promotion Bulldog Fight Night (BFN). It marks Yousaf’s second BRAVE CF outing.

On December 27, 2019, Yousaf made his BRAVE CF debut at “BRAVE CF 35” at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium Sports Hall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He submitted Hassan Talal of Jordan and became one of the most sought after fighters in the featherweight division.

As an amateur MMA fighter, Yousaf was undefeated and became an International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) world champion. He currently holds a professional MMA record of 7 wins and 1 loss.

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