Siyar ‘The Great’ Bahadurzada returns to the Octagon on March 5th to take on Brandon Thatch at UFC 196. The Afghan fighter, who now trains under Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, has not fought in the UFC since dropping a decision to John Howard in late 2013.
Bahadurzada’s time away included two surgeries and plenty of recuperation in his second home, The Netherlands. However, Bahadurzada is not looking for sympathy.
“Surgeries are an inevitable part of an MMA career,” Bahadurzada told Bloody Elbow. “Nothing special.”
Bahadurzada’s time away from fighting was not spent entirely on healing, though. The 21-6 former Shooto champion admitted to being caught up in something during his hiatus, but he declined to elaborate further.
“[It’s something] I can’t discuss in the media,” said Bahadurzada, who then teased, “Pretty fun and adventurous stuff to be honest.” The mysterious fighter’s last words on the matter were cryptic to say the least. “You know when I have my hoodie on and the sunglasses in Amsterdam. Things about to go down hard.”
Bahadurzada joined Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA in the summer of 2015. Since switching camps, Bahadurzada claimed the single biggest improvement to his game has been his fight IQ.
On March 5th, he’ll look to test this attribute versus Brandon ‘Rukus’ Thatch who, like Bahadurzada, has lost his last two fights in the UFC. Both fighters are predominantly known for striking, but Bahadurzada believes he holds numerous advantages over Thatch.
“I’m better looking, I’m faster, and I have timing that [makes] Swiss watches get nervous in my presence!”
Bahadurzada, who exemplifies the poetic legacy of his native Afghanistan, rhymed when asked how he saw the fight with Thatch unfolding.
“He likes to kick, he likes to punch. When we meet, he’ll eat a bunch!”
Bahadurzada also lauded his preparations for the match-up.
“For this fight, I’ve raced with the mountain cats, wrestled with a bear, grappled gorillas, and punched the boxing bag a tear!”
In addition to these great trials of strength and guile, Bahadurzada also described a more prosaic training session. “I did a reaction test,” said Bahadurzada. “I broke the record of the fastest athlete they had in the database by far.” Bahadurzada did not mention whether his bodyguard was with him for these sessions.
Bahadurzada’s wild and wonderful training with JacksonWink MMA (and the occasional jungle beast) was almost derailed last December. On the last day of 2016 he was involved in a traffic collision that – thankfully – looked much worse than it was.
“It was one of those days where I was racing with my shadow,” recalled Bahadurzada. “I got hit by another car. I saw it coming and I flexed. No injuries. Then I stepped out of the car and went to check on the woman that hit me. She was fine too.”
He stated that police arrived on the scene, but no legal action was taken despite the other car looking like “it had hit a mountain.”
Siyar and the other driver exchanged information and according to Bahadurzada they “dated happily ever after.”
Asked if he feels lucky to have not been seriously hurt or possibly killed, Bahadurzada scoffed.
“I am from Afghanistan,” he declared, proudly. “I have flirted with death more than a thousand times during my childhood there.”
Bahadurzada takes representing Afghanistan seriously, as evidenced by his social media postings. Online, Bahadurzada shares news from the war-torn country and rallies its denizens to unite for peace.
The 31-year-old, who is the only Afghan fighting at the highest level of mixed-martial-arts, was passionate in revealing why he felt it was so important for him to be a symbol for all people in Afghanistan (a nation that has been rocked by tribal and sect-based violence for centuries).
“We Afghans have a very long history. We have been invaded many times, but never been conquered. Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires.
“Our people live and die by their word. We are very honorable and hospitable people. But politics keep us divided. But I, as an athlete, have always fought to unite my people and never said from which ethnic group I am, just to give the Afghans something in common to cheer for.
“Today, when I fight, all Afghans gather and watch my fights. They cheer for an Afghan, not a Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara or an Uzbek.”
Bahadurzada hopes to give his country lots to celebrate as he tries to claw his way into title contention in the shark tank that is the UFC’s welterweight division. Asked whether he thought it possible to challenge for the title in 2016, his response was as whimsical as it was confident.
“As far as how long till I get a title shot… I have the confidence of a Greek God, the spirit of a samurai, the fighting style of [a] Roman gladiator and [the] personality of royalty. You do the math!”
You can follow Siyar Bahadurzada on twitter @Siyarized