Mehdi Baghdad hoping to inspire Arab fighters

Jay Asser 13:56 04/12/2014
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  • Leading from the front: Mehdi Baghdad (l) trains with his coach.

    Mehdi Baghdad is still coming up in the sport of mixed martial arts, but he isn’t shy about wanting to carry the hopes of the Arab world. 

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    Though he was born in France, Baghdad is Algerian and proudly represents the Arab fighting community wherever he goes.

    The 29-year-old recently served as a coach on the second season of Al Batal, an MMA reality show which is aired in the Middle East.

    Now, he’s living in Los Angeles, California and training for his upcoming Resurrection Fighting Alliance bout with Zach Juusola tomorrow.

    Baghdad spoke to Sport360° about his UFC aspirations, his experience on Al Batal and how much he’s enjoying the West Coast.

    What’s the experience been like training at Black House MMA and sparring with Anderson Silva?
    Six years ago, I was in Black House in Rio de Janeiro, so I knew these guys then. First, it was a really great experience because I saw all these guys on TV and now I’ve known them for a long time. It’s a really great experience because you train with a champion. You’re training with a monster.

    How much is that helping you improve as a fighter?
    It makes everything better, for sure. You’ll say, ‘wow Mehdi, you trained with Anderson Silva, you stuck three rounds with him, you punched him on the ground’. Who’s going to be better than Anderson Silva? Nobody, so it means everything.

    How important have these Resurrection Fighting Alliance fights been to advancing your career?
    It’s really important right now because it’s for the belt. RFA is a big organisation here in America. Zach [Juusola] is really a strong fighter, really tough and has a 10-2 record. If I beat this guy, it can mean everything for the next part of my career.

    Do you feel you’re on track to reach the UFC?
    Right now, I’m just thinking about getting this belt and winning this fight. I know for sure UFC is looking at this fight. Sure, the UFC is in the back of my mind but I’m not thinking about it right now. I’m just thinking about Zach, fighting him, doing my work and getting my RFA belt to set me up for the future.

    So thoughts of the UFC don’t creep into your mind?
    It’s on my mind, sure. But right now, I prefer to stay focused on this fight because if you think too much that ‘after this fight, if I win, I’m going on UFC for sure’, you forget about your opponent in front of you. Your opponent is a strong fighter and he’s ready to do well.

    So think about this fighter, after that the UFC will call you if you win. So I just try to be focused on this fight, beat him, have a strong fight and after that we’ll see.

    But that is the ultimate goal, right?
    Yes, that’s my ultimate goal. Bellator called me, the World Series of Fighting called me, a lot of really great shows called me, but I told them that’s not my goal. My goal is the UFC. 

    I’m not going to say those are bad shows, but I prefer to fight for the biggest show with the best fighters in the world. That’s it.

    You seem to have a lot of pride as an Arab fighter.
    It’s really important. I’m Mehdi Baghdad, I can’t change my last name, so for me it’s really important. I want to represent all Arab  countries because you don’t have a lot of fighters representing Arabs. Like Badr Hari, he represents a really great community. I want to do the same thing like him. I want to represent all countries in the region – Middle East and North Africa.

    Do you feel the Arab fighting community is growing?
    Yeah, it’s getting better. We need people that are great fighters on UFC, Bellator or great shows to represent the community. That will get people to say, ‘whoa, I want to do the same as Mehdi Baghdad or Badr Hari’.You make them hungry, so that’s what I want to do. I want to make all Arab fighters hungry.

    What’s your journey been like in MMA?
    I started in Muay Thai because I liked fighting when I was young. One day, I was watching the Pride Fighting Championships in Japan, and I saw a lot of fighters from Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. I said, ‘I want to do the same thing, like them’. So I worked a lot in construction and others jobs to make money on the side. I took all that money and went to Brazil to train with the best.

    How was it like being on a reality TV show in Al Batal?
    Al Batal was a really great experience. When I got the call to come, I thought the first season wasn’t great because there wasn’t much experience. On this one? There were a lot of great fighters from everywhere. That’s what I liked about it. They didn’t just pick fighters who are just from the Middle East. You have fighters from North Africa, you have people from France like me, you have people from Canada. So the second season picked people from everywhere and I was happy because it showed experience from all over the world. 

    It was a great opportunity to improve my Arabic and the get new experiences in the Middle East.

    Did you find coaching to be more challenging than you thought?
    For me, it was the same because I was on the same level as my fighter. When my fighter fights, it’s like I was fighting. When you see me on Al Batal before a fight, you see me with my eyes ready like I’m going to fight. When my fighter won, I won with him. When my fighter lost, I lost with him. It was exactly the same. 

    In training, I was training like it was my fight because all fighters are like my brothers.

    What were some aspects of being on a reality show that you didn’t expect?
    You know what, I was prepared for it. You have a lot of TV following me in France and here in America. After I knew I was going to be on it, I watched a lot of reality shows. So I was never nervous, I just focused on what I have to do. I stayed simple.

    Are you enjoying living in California?
    It’s a perfect place to live and great place  to train. The people here are really cool. I’m really happy to train here and the Cali lifestyle is really cool.

    What are your other hobbies?
    I love reading about my culture and I play other sports. I play petanque, it’s a really huge sport in France. You have three balls and the other guy has three balls and you have to put the ball closest to the target. It’s a very nice game. So that’s it, I’m a simple guy.

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