Fight Path: Boxing past led to Abdel Medjedoub's MMA future

Friends of Abdel Medjedoub saw the potential immediately.

The native Algerian and then-France resident was visiting Luxembourg for his work in the banking industry when a friend who was getting started in mixed martial arts asked Medjedoub to help him out. Medjedoub had been a professional boxer, and the friend was hoping to take advantage of that experience with some tutoring.

Once they got started, it was clear that Medjedoub had a hidden talent.

“He told me, ‘The day you start MMA, you’re going to be at a high level,’” Medjedoub told MMAjunkie.com.

It seems the friend was right. Still new to a professional MMA career, Medjedoub, now a Montreal resident, improved to 3-0 as a pro with a second-round TKO victory in October month at “Desert Force – Dubai.” It was Medjedoub’s first fight in more than three years, and he’s hoping it will be the springboard for him to reignite his fighting career.

Leading up to his most recent win, the middleweight had been fine-tuning some parts of his fighting game, in particular his ground game. That has augmented the powerful striking that helped him to a boxing career that spanned several countries and ended with four professional fights.

Now that he has turned his attention away from boxing toward MMA, he’s hoping to boost his fighting activity. With the ability to now focus on one sport, he is filtering the passion that used to show itself only in his striking to all parts of his training.

And it’s training that he’s taking very seriously.

“After I fought in Dubai, the Monday after that fight I was back working on my technique – technique, technique, technique,” Medjedoub said. “I’m hoping that 2014 can be a big year for me.”

International boxer

Medjedoub was born in Algeria, where he lived until he was 10. An older brother started boxing, so being the younger brother and looking up to him, Medjedoub wanted to try it too. It began a connection to the sport for many years.

As his family moved to France, he continued boxing, and he eventually grew to compete on a national level there, and even on an international level. Looking back, he views boxing as a very technical sport that demands perfection, which helps drive his training now.

“There is so much technique,” he said. “I love the perfection, so I worked very hard in boxing. I learned how to work.”

He was also learning how to work in a different career, as he was educated in both accounting and banking to guide his business life. That eventually led to his traveling and working in Luxembourg, where he would take several professional boxing fights and go 4-1 as a pro.

Because his friends knew about his boxing, he was asked to help when one of them wanted to give MMA a try and improve his striking. It was clear immediately because of Medjedoub’s athleticism and his ability to move that he could likely pick up MMA in a hurry.

That encouraged him to try MMA himself – especially when he realized that the ladder to recognition can be a little shorter in that sport.

“In MMA, after 10 fights you can have a chance for a belt,” he said. “In boxing you need 20 or 30 fights to get to the same place. It’s as simple as that.”

Building, reenergizing a career

After Medjedoub started training in MMA, his coach came to him within six weeks and told him he was ready for a fight.

“I said, ‘What?’ ” Medjedoub said. “I didn’t know much about jiu jitsu. My boxing was great, but my Muay Thai was very normal. He said, ‘OK, your opponent will not be strong, will be at your level.’

“So I take the fight, the guy takes me down in 15 seconds. But I fought back, and I won in first-round TKO.”

That was about four years ago, when Medjedoub first got into a cage. It was an experience that showed him how much work he needed to do in his training to get where he wanted to go.

Those around him say he’s built himself into an all-around fighter.

“Being a former pro boxer, he has great hands with knockout power,” said his manager, Patrick Wilson of RISE Management. “But he is a threat if the fight goes to the ground.”

That professional debut, and his first knockout, came in October 2009. He fought again in 2010 but then didn’t record another bout for more than three years. He was continuing his studies for his business career, although he admits that job behind a desk doesn’t always provide the kind of excitement he wants.

That excitement comes when he’s fighting, and he’s hoping more opportunities come soon. With a victory in his most recent fight and optimism because of it, Medjedoub said he’s continuing that work toward perfection he learned in boxing and has translated to MMA.

“When I’m working, I’m happy,” he said. “I try to make progress each time I train, and I want that to show when I fight.”

Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel pens “Fight Path” each week. The column focuses on the circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie.com.