Phuket Prospect: Assane Sall on fighting culture in Hawaii, playing high-level soccer & Bangtao MMA

Ringkasan

Assane Sall is an American soccer player turned mixed martial artist.

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download the allstar app make your picks for UFC fights challenge your friends level up and win prizes Link in description get it now hi my name is Assan Sal I'm 20 years old I was born in New York grew up in Hawaii I'm here in h puket Thailand fighting out of bang Muay Tha and MMA my amateur fighter but hopefully going pro soon I grew up in Hawaii with two brothers and we're always Super Active super athletic uh growing up I was playing soccer I was running track and field I was playing basketball so I've always had a massive interest in sports like from a young age I was I was always planning to be a professional athlete there was like there was no doubt in my mind so I I I grew up playing soccer and then uh I was playing soccer so much that my mom she wanted me to do something else so she put me in ji- Jitsu which at first I really hated Jitsu when I first started it but she she forced me to kept going but I I'd make any excuse not to go I'd have my dirty ghe and I'd hide it and uh my mom would say I'll get my g go get my ghee and it'd be dirty still and I'd be like oh I can't go to Jiu-Jitsu I guess I got to go to soccer practice instead and uh it wasn't really until uh somebody told me about MMA that I was like oh this shit's actually pretty cool can I swear yeah okay and it wasn't until somebody told me about MMA that I was like oh this shit's actually uh pretty cool and then I started to get more into MMA um what really uh got me into MMA though was when I was uh 15 I tore my ACL playing soccer so that that was really hard for me I was out for for 9 months I couldn't really do much I I was I was wondering do I still want to play soccer after this I came back I started playing soccer again I tore my ACL again and that was kind of like the the last string for me playing soccer I was like I'm not really I'm not really sure if my knees are able to do this and that's kind of when I switched to MMA around 15 16 years old when I switched M man I decided I want to be a full-time fighter so I've always been super athletic uh first growing up when I was in New York I was playing basketball and soccer a little bit then when I went to Hawaii uh I I got into track and field I was running the short distance 100 met and 200 M it was really good I was like first or second in the state and then uh after that I started Jiu-Jitsu and uh after Jiu-Jitsu into MMA soccer was the goal I was from from 10 years old to 15 years old I was I was convinced I was going to play professionally I was I was traveling around the world playing soccer I played in Brazil I played in Spain so I was I was really focused on it it was my dream it was my passion but uh I guess it's a blessing in disguise that I that I tore my ACL and I turn to MMA now cuz I I think I'm a bit bit better at this this yeah it was it was it was really really hard uh when I T my ACL I was out I was playing soccer in Brazil actually and then uh I just twisted wrong and then my knee popped I never had any Serious injury before so I had no clue what was happening and uh yeah that that was that was really tough uh so it was a it was a long rehab it was 9 months I was just 15 years old and I was I was I was in a pretty dark place cuz I was like this is my dream I want to be a professional soccer player and like 9 months of of not playing I I couldn't imagine it and then to come back start playing soccer again and like the very first game I played to tear it again I was like I was just sobbing on the field it wasn't even from the pain I was just like ah this is this is my dream it's kind of it's kind of over so it was really tough to go through but it really is a blessing in disguise cuz it it it really uh that was the last string that that switched me to MMA and made me quit soccer which I'm pretty glad for now I'm sure my my 13-year-old self would be like ah why aren't we a professional soccer player but I'm like this this is a lot better I really got into watching MMA cuz I I just didn't have much to do when you're you're sitting out with a KN a jury and those right when Co happened and uh if you guys remember MMA was kind of one of the only Sports on it was like the first sport back on so I started watching MMA and I'm like I already do Jiu-Jitsu so I understood it a little bit and I'm like oh this this is actually really cool and I'm like maybe I'll I'll give this a shot when I when my KNE heals so I I got back into it and when I get into something I get really into something I can't just try a little bit so my knee healed and I just I just jump straight into MMA and never touch the soccer ball again and then the rest is history they they love to fight out there everyone loves to fight at school there's fights at beach there's at the beach there's fights anywhere you go there's going to there's going to be a fight the problem is they they don't really want to the put in the hard work to actually to learn how to really fight they just want to go on the side of the [ __ ] in Road and have a scrap so that was that was one thing that I that I struggled with I'm like trying to convince my friends whenever I'm hanging out with them they constantly they want to play fight they want to wrestle or something and I'm like come train and then they'd be like oh yeah I'm going to Common that they just don't show off I guess uh the only time people do show off is if the waves are really bad I was actually since I started uh training Jiu-Jitsu I've never been in a fight outside of the gym me personally which is pretty rare for Hawaii cuz it's it's super common out there I guess just uh uh uh growing up kind of introduced to Jim my my coach there he was really he really taught us about it like not not have fights outside the gym keep it inside the gym there's there's no point to be getting hurt being being a fool just keep it inside the gym so I've never had a fight actually outside of the gym but uh it really helped growing up and uh having a a good coach at the Jiu-Jitsu Academy couple months you know I I'd already had background in Jiu-Jitsu my mom had been making me do it for a couple years so the Jiu-Jitsu was okay but the the Striking I was I was I was I was definitely not a natural at that it took me some time um but yeah I I just kept training and like I said when I when I get into something I get really into something I was immediately I was training six days a week for for 4 hours and then uh I was just I was I decided after just a couple months of doing it I want to I want to make this have passion I want to I want to go professional in this sport um so I just I train train been so I just trained for for the two years just competing in local trit tournaments and then uh after two years I had my first kickboxing fight uh I ended up fighting one of the best kickboxers in Hawaii he's 18 years old his name is Jovin Lopez I kind of got whooped in that fight but I was like it was the most fun I'd ever had doing anything even though I was I was getting I was getting beat I was like this is this is unreal after after 2 years of training kickboxing in Jiu-Jitsu I had my first fight uh against one of the best young kickboxers in Hawaii his uh name was Jovin Lopez and then I I I did get whooped a little bit but I I gave him a good run and it was just it was the most fun I'd ever had doing anything was was was that and that was that was really it where I'm like yeah this is this is what I'm going to do uh yeah after that I just kept training uh was training for another year then I had uh my amateur debut uh which which went okay I won the decision and I just I just remember being super nervous for that cuz I was like I I'd already put three years into this and then uh after that kickboxing fight couple months later uh made my MMA debut on a pretty big show in Hawaii uh Trinity Kings uh fought a good Scrappy kid there won a decision looking what what's going to be the next step am I going to stay in Hawaii forever and fight there and and the thing with Hawaii is every everybody loves to fight in Hawaii but people don't like to train so that was that was a real problem you know you show up show up a training everybody in the group chat says they're going to be there and one guy shows up so I'm kind of thinking about it and I'm talking with my mom and we we're just I'm just deciding what I want to do um if I want to stay in Hawaii if I want to look to explore other options and at first I was thinking I want to go somewhere in the US I was I was thinking Arizona Vegas California and uh actually did go V uh visit uh Phoenix the MMA lab in Arizona I stayed there for a little while I enjoyed it but I just I didn't really get like the feeling of like like a community of home uh I trained also a little bit at the Ruka Academy in um in Costa Mesa California but yeah the same thing I was I was I I I I enjoyed it but I was like there there there just something missing here and then I went back to Hawaii I kept training and then uh my mom was like oh um I'm I'm going to go to Thailand for for a month uh should should should you come with me should we check out the training in Thailand I was like okay yeah let's go and then uh we ended up coming to Thailand and bow was the first place uh we visited planning we were planning to stay here for a week uh we were here for a week and we extended for another week and we're like oh this this place is very nice we're going we're going to stick around here there's no reason to check out other gyms cuz I I felt like this was this was it this was the gym I wasn't planning on moving out here I was still planning on going somewhere in the US I was like I just I'll be here for a training camp for like a month two months and then uh my mom ended up leaving after a month and I was just here alone and uh I just kept extending my trip so I would I would just say oh I'm going to stay for another month oh I'm going to stay for another month and then and I I just I just really started to feel like home here the the coaches they really took me in like immediately the the very first day when I came here I had a long talk with George and I was like I I didn't feel this at any of the other gyms that I visited that just sense of community yeah for this coming up a I'm just trying to get as much amateur experience as possible I'm trying to fight as as much as I can it's a little difficult in Thailand to find amateur fights but hopefully three or four we'll see what happens uh and then after that of course of I've got to talk with uh the coaches here George and Frank but looking to go professional like early next year end of this year and uh yeah within within two years I want to have four or five professional fights and be right on the edge there looking looking into the UFC yeah really my mom's been my my greatest supporter like she's she's believed in me no matter what I want to do my mom's been there she's believed in me like I I like I said I always wanted to professional athlete she always supported me she would by by expensive soccer camps for me for me to travel to she would just she would support me like so much I'm obviously I'm super super grateful for her uh when I when I was uh especially going through the knee injury she she really helped me through that um and yeah when I decided she wanted I wanted to be a professional fighter she was a little bit why don't you just stick this soccer some other sport where you don't lose brain cells but I was like no I really want to do this and she got it super into it like for me like she she'd watch fights and everything with me just just to support me and yeah she's she's really been the the best support I could have ever asked for uh when I was 16 she we I I dropped out of school and she supported that she she understanded that um I'm going to I'm going to do something great in this Sport and yeah I'm just super grateful for my mom