A former fan of strength sports, Martin Horsky has made an astonishing conversion to MMA. At 40 years old, passionate about his new discipline, he now wants to make up for lost time, and take back-to-back fights in the cage. Next stop: HEXAGONE MMA 9, on June 17, at the Reims Arena.

It’s hard to believe, but six years ago, Martin Horsky weighed 160 kg and had never put on a pair of gloves. An amateur strongman, he organized his life around his sport, in a perpetual pursuit of brute strength. “I lifted 340 kilos in the deadlift, 220 in the bench press, and 250 in the squat,” the 40-year-old Czech lists proudly.

In 2016, a change came about. Worn out from maintaining his imposing physique and the constraints that go with it, he suddenly decided to change his lifestyle in order to lose weight.

“In fact, I really started boxing to lose weight! And since I had friends who did MMA, I followed them.”

“I don’t turn down anyone”

Paradoxically, in martial arts, it is not strength that is Martin Horsky’s main asset.

“My real advantage is cardio, fitness,” he explains, justifying this by his professional activity as a sports coach. “But above all, I have a lot of fun in the cage. As I discovered this late, I have taken a lot of fights in recent years, to make up for lost time. I have even accepted an opponent the day before the fight, with 5 kilos to lose! I don’t turn anyone down.”

It’s a state of mind that may have been lacking from his earlier career, but today he is motivated by the passion for and taste of opposition.