This everything is from my uncle Abdulmanap. My father pushed us into sports, but he didn't have any plans that we'd be champions. But my uncle Abdulmanap, he believed in us. He always came to my father and told him, 'Hey, I see your boys have big potential. Be careful with them.' Today, uncle Abdulmanap is not with us, but his son keeps doing his job with us.
"So we're in the gym, I had longer hair back then. Both me and one of my cousins. So he looked at us and said, 'You two, where are you from?' And I said, 'We came here to train.' He took my hair like this [grabbed] pulled me out of the line-up and said, 'I'll grab your hair and throw a knee. Cut it off by the next training session. In this gym I have the longest hair.' I believe I made an informed choice then. Cut my hair off and came back to the gym."