Prince Aounallah doesn’t do things by halves. And of course, from the moment he discovered MMA, he gave it his all. “When I started at the age of 20, I dropped everything and threw myself into it 100%. At that point, even my job and my private life took a back seat,” he explains today, with hindsight. It was hard to make a living from a passion that was forbidden in France at the time. “You always had to go abroad, you earned a weak grant, there was no follow-up… It was complicated, and it didn’t pay off as well as I’d invested.” Yet, even if he didn’t achieve the results he had hoped for, Prince Aounallah doesn’t regret having thrown himself body and soul into this adventure. “As a man, practicing martial arts at this level demands a lot of values and sacrifices. During this period, I’ve grown enormously and learned a lot about myself. If I had to do it all over again, I’d gladly do it again.

“My strong point is my combat intelligence”.

In the end, perseverance paid off. At the age of 32, and after a break marked by his rise to heavyweight, Prince Aounallah is on the ride track and making up for lost time. Winner of his last three fights and holder of the HEXAGONE MMA world title, the Frenchman has imposed his style, largely inspired by sambo, the discipline of his beginnings. “I think I’m an all-round fighter, I don’t have a favorite area, because I’ve always practiced everything. On the other hand, I’d say my strong point is my fighting intelligence. I’m not Jon Jones, but I handle it! Far from the cliché of heavyweights equipped only with a good right hand, Prince Aounallah is fully armed.