dave mclaughlin mixed martial arts

When I met upwith the Schiavo Brothers at CageWarriors 3, James invited me down to Avignon to see a bit more of the South of France and to train with the brothers Schiavo and their students.

I took them up on the generous offer, spent a week with James and Samy, James was kind enough to put me up for a week in his house and they showed me around the beautiful city of Avignon and the region of Vaucluse.

One evening as we were leaving training James phone rang, Mohammed Khacha was on the other end and he wanted to comedown the following morning he had a Theatre course in the evening and couldn't train.

After having the pleasure of training and sparring with the 2 brothers and Khacha and having my ass handed to me time after time I managed to get past the constant jokes and ask Mohammed a few questions. Despite the scars of battle that stand as a testament to Mohammeds tough life he always has a smile on his face

At only 18 years old with less than 2 years training behind him Mohammed has taken UKMMA by storm by steamrolling Paul Jenkins in his very first professional fight at Lee Johnstone's UKMMAC . I asked him about the fight 'It went well' I had to press for more details, 'When I got in the ring I knew that Paul Jenkins had a positive mind set and that he was sure that he could win. I surprised him, I surprised him standing and on the ground" he continued.

After making a quick name for himself by beating the wiley veteran, general opinion was still split. While most people said that this young frenchman was a phenom, a natural fighter there were those who said that he was lucky and that he couldn't repeat the performance. When Mohammed appeared in the cage for the first time to meet highly rated BJJ fighter Alex de Souza, as if to answer the critics, he repeated his performance.

'Alex, I think he knew a little bit more about me and knew what to expect, but I played my game, did what I do in training and it went well'

If beating, nay destroying, older more experienced fighters isn't enough to make a name for this young star, the fashion in which he did has both surprised and impressed onlookers. Known as 'Sako' among his training partners Mohammed has earned himself the nickname 'The Animal Ko Machine' and has introduced us to techniques such as the 'Superman Punch' and the 'Gorilla Ground N Pound'

'I think that I'm the sort of person who likes to try stuff in training and I think that passes over and is shows in combat.'

Still young, mohammed still has big ideas for once he's finished his exams. On the subjest of his future career he told me 'I'd like to have as many fights as possible and get to the top of the sport... Why not?' As for who he'd like to fight 'Who would I like to fight? Everyone, Matt Hughes, Anderson Silva, everyone... I'll fight anyone, I don't think there's anyone in particular... maybe Ray Bradda Cooper or Carlos Newton. They're fighters that I think are very spectacular'

Mohammed is in his last year in school and , in between fighting and Drama, he's preparing for his final exams in June. 'I didn't go to my english exam' he laughs, 'I'm trying to make a career for myself in England and I can't speak a single word'

Once his exams are over he's hoping to fight in CageWarriors 4, UK V France.

That was it, my five minutes were up... we barely managed to get through the interview without laughing as it was. If you ever met this smiling, fun loving kid outside of the ring I think you'll have a hard time believing that he's the same guy as we've seen in the ring.

SFUKU, 11 May 2003