Agilan looks to winning bouts after fighting off Covid

Kuala Lumpur: After completing six weeks of training in the United States and fighting off Covid-19, Malaysia’s One Championship welterweight star Agilan Thani is looking forward to registering a couple of wins this year.

“As a fighter and athlete, you’ve got to keep learning and improving yourself. That is why I make effort to get training whenever I get the opportunity to ... especially in the states where Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is well known and sought after.

“I was training under coach Greg Jackson and coach Mike Winkeljohn, and they’re among the best trainers in the world who have trained MMA champions such as former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm and UFC former light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones,” said Agilan, who hails from Sentul.

Agilan is on his way back to Malaysia after attending the training camp at the Jackson Wink Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Agilan, known as Alligator, said he would incorporate techniques he picked up at the training camp for his future matches.

“Training in New Mexico was definitely different. I thought I was in shape but the elevation in training hit me hard, and it took me a solid week to get used to their training rhythms,” he said, adding that he contracted Covid-19 there.

“I think I caught it when I went grocery shopping there. It was definitely a weird experience getting Covid.

“I was not feeling well and before I knew it, tested positive. I had to quarantine for 14 days and tested negative twice within 13 days and got better for training again,” he said.

Agilan warned people against taking coronavirus lightly, saying it was tough fighting the disease. “I’m looking forward to getting back in the game probably in June or July and put on a winning streak to redeem my last loss … (scoring) at least one or two wins is what I’ll be looking forward to this year,” he said. 

He has a record of 10 wins and five losses in the One Championship, after an unfortunate loss via unanimous decision against Tyler McGuire last December.