Forget the American dream, Javad Mahjoub is in Montreal to live his Canadian dream.
Mahjoub is a 32-year-old Iranian refugee in Canada who has decided to settle in the metropolis to achieve his goal of becoming a UFC mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.
But his story doesn’t start here. Instead, it starts in Iran, where he comes from.
An experienced judoka, he represented his country on the world’s tatami mats for several years, wore the Iranian colors at the 2016 Rio Olympics and won silver (2012) and gold (2013) at the national championships. “Asia. He also took part in the Asian Games a few times.
politics
But in 2019 everything failed for political reasons.
“I came to Montreal for the Judo Grand Prix and at the same time I had problems with my government.
“Then the International Judo Federation suspended my country for four years and from then on I was stuck,” he explains in English.
For comparison, the International Judo Federation imposed a four-year ban on the Iranian federation because during the 2019 World Championships in Japan, the Iranian authorities and the Iranian federation forced a judoka to withdraw from the competition to avoid a clash with an Israeli opponent .
Security
The situation accelerated the process for the Mahjoub family, who, like many Iranians, wanted to settle in Canada.
“It was our plan to come to Canada. I started the process in 2017. I wanted to come here for my future and that of my children. At the moment I have a 5-year-old daughter who just started kindergarten and already speaks French.”
After a detour of several months via Toronto, the big boy dropped off his suitcases in Montreal.
“There are many political problems in Iran and I think it is not safe there. It makes me sad to see what’s happening there. I wish everyone was as safe as we are here and had a normal life.
Restart
After competing in the 2021 Tokyo Games on the refugee team, Mahjoub began his professional career.
“When I moved here, I was banned from judo and could no longer compete because of the sanction against Iran. This is where I realized mixed martial arts was popular.
“We have to be realistic, the world of MMA is much bigger than that of judo, there are many amateurs and in judo there are much fewer.”
It’s not easy starting over when you’ve been in the top 10 in the world in your weight class for several years, but our man has seen others.
Javad Mahjoub is a mirror cabinet that weighs more than 100 kilos. Photo Dave Levesque
Diversification
Javad Mahjoub is gigantic, a mountain of muscle. When he shakes your hand, the grip is both enveloping and intimidating. We feel like he could crush our ankles if we squeeze a little harder.
We better understand why he has a record of two wins in his first two mixed martial arts fights. In both cases he won by knockout. Technology in less than 90 seconds.
But it’s not just about being strong, you also need a complete arsenal to excel, he perfects his art in a gym in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
“Right now I’m trying hard to do Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but Olympic wrestling is very popular in Iran, so I did it when I was young.
“I am very good at ground fighting, now I need to work on developing my hands and my punching power. I don’t want to just be a ground fighter.”
He will fight in his third fight on October 13th against a yet to be determined opponent. The confrontation will take place as part of a boxing gala at M Telus.