Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight prospect Haider Amir didn’t always plan on becoming a fighter.
Amir earned his second UFC victory on Saturday, defeating Jong Yong Lee by first-round TKO at UFC on ESPN 60. “The Hurricane” spoke afterwards about how he got into martial arts after being raised to be an “intellectual” and an artist.
Growing up as the only male in his family, Amir initially began training in martial arts to protect his sisters and mother. Amir’s natural athletic ability soon caught the attention of people, who introduced him to several sports. Amir, who claims to be talented in anything artistic, “blames” his friends for inviting him to sports and mixed martial arts.
UFC 304: Edwards vs. Muhammad airs Saturday at 10pm ET on ESPN+. Order now! “I grew up with just me, my two sisters and my mom, so originally I wanted to take up martial arts. I wanted to pursue martial arts because I wanted to protect them,” Amir said during his post-fight media appearance. “I was the only boy in my house. Then people at school saw that I was a pretty good athlete, so they got me into football and wrestling. Then my friends got me into martial arts and kickboxing.”
“… I think the community of San Rafael Marin County, California, those guys and my friends around me helped me get into MMA and sports. My mom raised me to be an intellectual, an artist, but they were the ones that got me into sports and stuff like that, so I’m grateful for all of them… I can do any kind of art. Painting, ceramics, drawing, anything. I’ll show you someday, but I have two murals in Berkeley, California.”
Amir, who started his UFC journey with back-to-back knockout wins, asked for his next bout to take place in a crowded arena.
“I want a top 30, top 20 guy. I’m healthy, send somebody,” he said. “I can’t wait, this is too much fun… but you gotta put me in an arena. I’m too much fun and too excited not to be in an arena. Please, Dana, get me an arena and I’m gonna put on a show… the Chase Center in San Francisco. If you can make the Chase Center happen, I’m gonna blow up the place.”
