Top 5 MMA fighters of Indian descent

#2 Agilan Thani

When Agilan met Askern.

Many of us know Agilan Thani as the kid who fought Ben Askern in ONE Championship: Dynasty of Heros.

Agilan may be young but he has the sheer will and motivation required to matchup against any World Champion.

He had joined ONE Championship in 2015 and quickly won six continuous stoppage wins, earning him his unexpected title shot against Ben Askren.

Hey @AgilanThani have you called @victoronefc and told him you were willing to be my punching bag on April 21? @ONEChampionship @TuneTalk

— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) March 15, 2017

Askern considered the greatest welterweights of all time was definitely way above his level and made him tap out inside the first round.

But the 21-year-old faced the Olympic wrestler valiantly and even succeeded in sprawling out of the deadly ground offense by the greatest of all time.

Hey @victoronefc tell @Benaskren that hes actually going to have to fight and not a have cuddle fest #beltinmalaysia#letsdothis #title https://t.co/yWksRVmV8Z

— agilan thani (@AgilanThani) March 15, 2017

Agilan fights out of Monarchy MMA in Kuala Lumpur where he developed solid BJJ and boxing skills.

He had to work as a janitor and give training sessions at the gym to make his ends meet. He even slept on the mat at night so that he can be present for the morning training on time.

Before joining Monarchy and turning professional he weighed around 140 Kgs and had only some basic understanding of Karate.

The Tamil-Malaysian MMA Prospect was born and bought up in Senthur and was raised by his father, Thanigasalam.

Life was difficult for his family, who had hotel business in the city. But this never stopped Mr. Thanigasalam from letting his son pursue his dreams.

His journey from a middle-class overweight kid, who was bullied in school, to fighting elite fighters at this young age is an inspiration for his compatriots and his fans in India.