2008 was the year when a 24 year old guy walked into Rage Fitness Center in Kathmandu to learn Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). He started his journey from Kickboxing and was trained by Coach Sandesh Palungwa. In next few years, he fought many fights and was the Lalitpur champion of Kyokushin Karate Tournament.
Aadeep Rana, now 31, who hails from Syangja; was born in Hong Kong in a UK army personnel’s family. He grew up in Lalitpur, Nepal studying and also following the path of his dream to become a well known K1 fighter. From 2008 to 2013; he got trained, fought various fights as a kickboxer and also got involved in amateur boxing for the national championship. In 2014; he went to London and to follow his dreams, he joined Gym South London and continued what he started in Nepal. It didn’t take long for his coach to notice what he has and soon he started fighting here as well.
He played his first match earlier this year on February 28th in which he knocked his opponent out in the very first round. And that was when he started getting noticed in the UK as well. Later on July 10th, he competed at the prestigious 8 men contender tournament called ‘The Ultimate Contender’ where he had to fight in three matches in a single night. Watch the full matches below.
#1. He won his first fight against Steve Gluckstein to proceed to the 2nd round.
#2. His second fight was against Jack Wright and after defeating him, he made it to the final round.
#3. The final fight was against a tough fighter named Alex Curcudel. Watch the very exciting fight below and find out who won the tournament.
Aadeep’s latest fight was on October 24th in which he knocked out his opponent in less than two minutes. The official video still has to be released but we do have a raw video of the fight. Enjoy!
Talking about his journey so far, Aadeep told NeoStuffs; “It’s been a wonderful journey and I have been getting a lot of support from all the Nepalese all around the world. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to represent Nepal in this foreign land. I always dedicate my every single win to my nation and to all the fellow Nepalese.” When asked if he ever gets afraid when he has a strong opponent, he said; “I wouldn’t be in this sport if I knew what fear is.”
That’s the one and only Aadeep Rana for you. We’ll leave you with some of his photographs.
