I am Karim Bouraarassi. I live in the Netherlands and am from an Moroccan descent.
About 14 years ago I started kickboxing , I trained at Kickboxing Arnhem under the supervision of
a famous Dutch kickboxing trainer (Fred Royers). I competed in 27 kickboxing matches of which I won 21 and lost 6.
8 years later I came in touch with BJJ. I didn't particularly like my first BJJ training as is was much different than what i was used to in kickboxing. However, after three weeks I tried at again and after that I trained in BJJ twice a week for years and achieved the status of a blue belt.
Back then I never thought I would make the switch the MMA. I always thought MMA was way too rough. Fighting in a cage with a locked door and beating someone bloody was, back then, gruesome to behold, let alone experience for myself. However, the respect to each other in MMA changed my mind, you do not have to hate the opponent you are fighting. And therefore I started training in MMA and after four months I participated in the European Shooto championship and finished second, I would have never dreamt that this was possible. Since then I started finding MMA fun and interesting, and meanwhile i’m already a professional fighter for four years with a record of 5 wins and 4 losses.