Local hero Amir Khan will carry the hopes of a nation on his shoulders when he steps into the cage against Adrian Pang at ONE Championship's Immortal Pursuit in Singapore on Friday night.
The 23-year-old is considered the organisation's premier young talent - a future figurehead of the lightweight division with an eye-catching style characterised by a diverse arsenal of strikes.
Hard-hitting Pang represents a stern test, the Australian veteran is almost twice Khan's age and has 32 professional fights worth of experience under his belt.
Although Khan is well versed in coping with adversity - he's been doing it his whole life.
At a young age he was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder which causes involuntary body movements or speech known as tics.
His childhood was ravaged with bullying, causing him to become shy and introverted as a means of coping with the abuse.
"When I was younger it was really bad. I used to have spasms and shake my head. I'd blink my eyes and make facial expressions," Khan told Newshub.
"Other kids would pick on me and imitate me, it was pretty tough growing up with it."
One day he was introduced to the art of Muay Thai kickboxing, which would ultimately turn out to be the outlet he was so desperately seeking.
Still just 13-years-old, it quickly became an obsession. While Khan's natural abilities in the ring were immediately apparent, so too was the positive impact that its practice was having on his condition.
"It helped me overcome it because fighting takes so much focus. You can never take your eyes off your opponent during sparring, otherwise you're going to get hurt.
Instead of having to be constantly wary of his impending tics and almost consciously try to relax to avoid them, he found it started to come naturally to him.
"With Tourette's you have to be aware of your whole body throughout the entire day.
"It used to be so draining, having to be so aware at all times. I'd say to myself 'okay, I won't [have a tic] for five minutes.'
"My whole life I've had to be so aware of my movements but now it's just become a habit, so it's not so tiring."
Soon, for obvious reasons, the bullying began to subside. Khan found himself more at ease in his own skin and boasting a newfound sense of self-confidence.
To this day, the cage represents a safehaven for the Evolve MMA product, a place where he's at ease and in a constant state of calm.
"When I'm in there I don't really care about anything other than what I'm facing right in front of me. All the challenges and difficulties in life are just all pushed away."
Riding a five-fight win streak, Khan is now among a slew of elite contenders in One's stacked lightweight division who are vying for a shot at recently-crowned champ Martin Nguyen, one of which is New Zealand's own Ev Ting.
The 8-2 fighter called for the Kiwi by name in the moments following his highlight reel first-round KO win over Jaroslav Jartim in Shanghai back in September. The Auckland MMA ambassador replied in no uncertain terms, daring the Singaporean to call him out again should he manage to get past Pang on Friday.
"After this fight, if he wants to fight me then I would gladly accept," he responded.
With a partisan crowd at his back at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and momentum on his side, it's difficult to imagine any result which doesn't feature his hand ultimately being raised.
"It's only more motivation for me to perform even better in front of my home crowd. Just all the positive energy I get. In the later rounds especially, it's definitely going to help me."
Khan admits he'll never be one to shy away from a challenge, and offers up some learned words of wisdom to those coping with disorders such as his own.
"Don't treat yourself like you're special or blame yourself. Don't say 'I was born this way so I can't live life to the fullest'"
"Just believe in yourself. Everyone has their own problems, everyone deals with their own issues in life. So, you're just like everyone else."
Stephen Foote is in Singapore courtesy of ONE FC
Newshub.
