ONE FC fighter Kamal Shalorus: The new Philippine public enemy #1 hoping to make MMA #1 in Iran

He’s in the country for the very first time and already people have begun branding him as Public Enemy Number One. Why? Because he’s out to annihilate Filipino cage icon Eduard Foyalang in ONE FC: "Rise To Power" which goes down this Friday, May 31 at 8:00PM at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

Many Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) aficionados know of the exploits of Kamal Shalorus; the Iranian dubbed as “The Prince of Persia”. They’ve also seen him go down three times in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently with losses against American Jim Miller in UFC 128 (Shogun vs. Jones), Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia in January 2012 and Brazilian Rafael dos Anjos about two months later. What many don’t know is that he is the youngest of six children hailing from the small town of Khalkhal in northern Iran, that he has had extensive experience as a wrestler and represented Great Britain in the Olympics and now resides in the United States.

Oh, and also all records indicate he is 35, when in truth:

“I’m forty,” Kamal discloses in a recent interview with Yahoo! Sports Philippines at the Midas Hotel in Pasay City.

RELATED: MMA warrior Phil Baroni returns to thrill once again in ONE FC: "Rise To Power"

He got into MMA in 2004 but did not compete professionally until he debuted in “King of Kombat 3” in 2008 where he defeated American Jeff Davis via a first round TKO using punches. He had told his family he was going to the United States to continue his wrestling training. It just so happened that some of his professional fights were televised back home.

“My mother told me she saw me fight on TV,” Kamal recalls candidly. “My family believed I was in the US to continue my wrestling training, so I told her, ‘Well that’s the way they wrestle over here, with punches.’”

It took awhile for Kamal’s very conservative Muslim family to accept his choice but now they support his career.

“Now they understand it’s a sport,” Kamal reveals. “They also know that there is so much respect that happens within the (MMA) community that what happens in the ring is governed by very strict rules and that after the bout, we all respect each other deeply.”

After Kamal amassed a professional record of 4-0-1, many matchmakers and promoters began eyeing him and he eventually found his way to World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) where he made an immediate impact; knocking out another American opponent, Will Kerr in WEC 44 in November of 2009. After garnering a slate of 3-0-1 in the WEC (7-0-2 as a pro), Kamal finally made it to a UFC fight card and was viewed as an enigmatic newcomer who packed a lot of experience—he was actually 38 when he made his UFC debut against Miller.

He embraced his chance to showcase his skills in the grandest stage of them all, once saying: “The opportunity to fight in the UFC is every fighter's dream. The very best competitors in the world are here in this organization and the chance to show that I am the best lightweight in the world is immense. I am going to relish every minute of this journey and lay it on the line every time I step into the Octagon.”

Well his UFC lightweight career didn’t really go according to plan after three straight setbacks so Kamal sought a new venue to show the world he is an elite fighter and he found his new home not far from his: in Asia, with ONE FC.

ALSO READ: How to handle the Jones Cup issue

“I’m excited to be here and I look forward to growing with my new family here in ONE FC,” Kamal says.

Kamal’s ultimate goal is to snare the ONE FC championship belt from Japan’s Shinya Aoki, but beating Folayang, he believes, will put him on the map.

“Eduard (Folayang) is a strong fighter and he is very good at striking,” Kamal notes. “I respect him very much and I know he’s very popular here. But when the cage is closed it will be me and him only and I only hope to give the fans a good show.”

“He’s been training very hard for this fight,” Nima Mazhari, Kamal’s coach says. “He’s very focused and he knows what needs to be done against Eduard. Fans are going to see a gone one.”

But one underlying reason for Kamal’s campaign as an MMA fighter is to eventually make the sport recognized in his home country of Iran.

“There are still no regular tournaments in Iran,” Mazhari explains. “We once held an MMA camp there and hundreds of young participants showed up. The interest is there and if Kamal can become big, then maybe the sport will become big back home as well.”

“It is really one of my goals to make MMA accepted in Iran,” Kamal proclaims. “Hopefully if I become world champion one day, that will be a reality but that's not my decision.”

ALSO READ: New PSC Sports Museum celebrates Philippine sporting greats

It will be an interesting bout between Shalorus and Folayang and it has even come to a point that many view this match-up as THE main attraction this coming Friday, taking nothing away from the tiff between Koetsu Okazaki and Bibiano Fernandes as well as the main event in the ONE FC featherweight division where world champion Honorio Banario of Benguet stakes his belt against Japan’s Koji Oishi.

Folayang is a known striking specialist owing to his background in Sanshou Wushu while Kamal’s wrestling skills dictates that he’ll want to bring the fight to the ground. However, both fighters have also developed strengths where their weaknesses used to be; with Folayang undergoing intensive training under the “Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Muñoz and Kamal honing his striking abilities with the help of Mazhari. Kamal has also undergone rigorous training under Relson Gracie disciple Phil Cardella and Randy Couture himself while at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. He is now with Kaizen MMA which operates out of northern Virginia.

RELATED: ONE FC's CEO Victor Cui: Pure Genius, Pure Filipino

“The people I have met so far (in the Philippines) have been very nice to me and I think I’ve fallen in love with this country already,” admits Kamal, who has plans of heading to Boracay after his mission here is over—win or lose. “I’ve heard many stories of how beautiful the Philippines is. I will check it out myself (after Friday).”

This soft-spoken Iranian with the most disarming smile and pleasant demeanor is out to destroy one of our local icons. I actually wish him luck in his undertaking, knowing that at the end of the day both gentlemen are just doing their jobs and will emerge as stronger warriors regardless of outcome. The respect the members of the MMA community have for one another is astonishing and quite inspiring. No wonder MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world. Their code of honor is solid and if Kamal—which actually means “perfection” in Islam—can propagate MMA to Iran, then there’s another country which will understand that this is a sport where honourable men compete and where respect is held very sacredly.

RELATED: True North: Team Lakay set dominate ONE FC 9 "Rise To Power"

After all, if all MMA fighters have the passion, charisma and optimism of this humble man from a small town thousands of miles away, then the sport has a very bright future no matter what country it develops in.

ONE FC has gotten a good catch...and a great fight card this Friday.

Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate)