"This is the right thing for me" - 17-year-old Johan Ghazali on life-changing chance to compete in ONE Championship

Johan Ghazali may miss living a regular teenager's life, but the Malaysian-American upstart would not trade it for the one he currently enjoys. Looking back at some sacrifices through his tear on the global stage of martial arts thus far, the 17-year-old had this to say during an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda MMA:

"This opportunity has changed my life. It's given me the platform to grow and show my skills, so there are always pros and cons. But I believe this is the right thing for me. Although I do admit, I sometimes miss being a normal teenager."

Johan Ghazali exploded onto the martial arts scene with one statement performance after another to be touted as one of the brightest stars in Muay Thai today.

More impressively, the Sarawakian amassed his undefeated 5-0 promotional run while he was still preparing for his final examinations in secondary school.

With the latter out of the way, though, 'Jojo' remains focused on extending his perfect streak to move a step closer to Rodtang Jitmuangnon's ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title.

Next up, the bright talent squares off against Vietnamese striking veteran Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat in a flyweight Muay Thai matchup.

Their clash, available on Amazon Prime Video to North American fans, will be part of ONE 167 on June 7 inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

---

Johan Ghazali not taking Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat lightly

After impressing the audience with a 36-second knockout of Edgar Tabares in his American primetime debut at ONE Fight Night 17, Johan Ghazali is dialed up to produce another trademark display at ONE 167.

However, he knows Nguyen's veteran experience could stop him in his tracks of glory. As such, he refuses to head into this showdown with too much confidence.

He told Sportskeeda MMA:

"I cannot underestimate Nguyen for what he's done. I mean, he's a veteran and I'm just a youngster. I may be coming in with a lot of knockouts, wins, and all that, but I'm not taking this fight lightly."