“Dreams are only lived once, you have to try everything to fulfill them. At worst, I fail, but so what?” Bourama Camara is one of those who dare, even at the risk of falling. The proof: at the age of 26, the young man decided to quit his job as an electromechanic, to try and make a living solely from martial arts. With more time on his hands, he’s able to train more, recover more, and make greater progress. “Lately, I think it’s this aspect that I’ve been lacking. I was able to hold out, but I was feeling a lot of tiredness as the fights approached.” And as he approaches his career with more dedication than ever, Bourama Camara can’t help looking back, proud of how far he’s already come. “I was born in Mali and followed my parents to France when I was 8. I had a lot of difficulties, so for me to be a professional sportsman and earn my living fighting is incredible. I wasn’t destined to achieve all this.”

“I was at the gym every day”.

In fact, when he started mixed martial arts in 2016, Bourama Camara hadn’t set himself any competitive goals. “One day, I followed a friend to an MMA gym, just to let off steam. In the end, I really enjoyed it. I suffered like any beginner, but I liked the respect that fighters have for each other.” Behind the scenes, the ascent was rapid. Less than three years after his debut, Bourama Camara was already in the prestigious Bellator cage, one of the world’s top organizations. But he assures us: “I didn’t succeed because I had an aptitude for it! I succeeded because I trained all the time. I was at the gym every day.” The result is a fighting style that is both complete and formidably effective. Indeed, of his five victories, the Frenchman counts four before the limit. Between realism and spectacle, the future looks bright.