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The new season of The Ultimate Fighter is fast approaching, and a renewed rivalry between Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck will begin to take shape when the show begins airing on September 15. But the show is about more than the two coaches, as 28 lightweights will attempt to make their names in the UFC by winning this season's tournament.
One of those 28 men is Amir Khillah, a 31 year old professional fighter out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Khillah is a member of Jeremy Horn's Elite Performance gym in Utah, though he splits time running his own gym back in his hometown.
The Egyptian born son of missionary parents, Khillah was raised throughout Europe and the Middle East before settling in Kalamazoo in 1995. Beginning his professional MMA career in 2006, Khillah tried out for The Ultimate Fighter's fifth season after his first fight. He didn't make that season, and was passed over a second time before finally getting his opportunity this year.
"This [season] was my third try [for TUF]. I made it out to Vegas once before, and got disqualified during medicals," Khillah told MMATorch. "It was actually six or seven months after my first professional fight, I tried out for season four or five, but I had a snapped humerus, it was in three pieces. But I wore a long rash guard and duct taped it with soccer shin guards and was able to get through the tryout process.
Khillah's broken arm came courtesy of The Ultimate Fighter season nine fighter Mark Miller in that September 2006 bout.
"He kind of gave me a warm welcome to MMA and snapped my arm my first fight ever," Khillah said. "So obviously it wouldn't have been a good thing to get into the house at that point. I feel like things happen for a reason and I feel much better prepared for this season, so the timing's just right."
He splits his time between training his amateur fighters at Lightning Kicks in Kalamazoo and prepping for fights out in Sandy, Utah at Elite Performance, but Khillah is more than happy to make the trips to work with the team at Horn's Elite.
"It's phenomenal," Khillah said. "Great coaching staff, obviously Jeremy [is there] and then Matt Pena who is just a genius when it comes to the fight game. Between the two of those guys, that's all any fighter can ask for. Then we have a bunch of tough fighters there. David Castillo, DaMarques Johnson, I know I'll forget a bunch of people, but we have a ton of guys over there that sharpen each other."
"Iron sharpens iron, and guys are out there grinding and pushing each other to get better."
Khillah's roots with Pena run deeper than Horn's gym, as prior to joining up with the Utah based team, he was a member of Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad, where Pena also trained. Khillah said as well that he still works with Hughes when the welterweight UFC Hall of Famer is preparing for fights at Horn's gym.
"I was part of Matt Hughes' team for a year, full time fighter for him. I made the transfer over to Jeremy's, it's just a much better fit," Khillah said. "Pena moved over to Utah and kind of followed out. I'm still training with coach Hughes once in awhile when he's getting ready for a fight. He'll come out to Jeremy's as well and train, and I'll try to schedule it so I'm out there when he's out there to kind of get some training in. I helped him get ready for Renzo [Gracie] and [Matt] Serra and a couple of other fights out there, so it's always good when he's around."
Going into a 28 man tournament with the prospect of fighting numerous times in a six week span can be daunting, but it can be an even bigger task if you haven't competed for nearly a year before entering the field. That's just what Khillah had to contend with heading into this season, as he had been out of action, recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in June of 2009, before entering the show.
"[Injuries] are something I've been dealing with my entire professional career," said Khillah. "I had a torn labrum in my right shoulder and wanted to be at 100% for the show, I had a couple of guys getting ready for some big fights, too, so I helped them prepare. I used that time to rehab myself. I had surgery back in November, had it repaired and I'm 100% now. I just wanted to bring my 'A' game to the tournament and make sure I could perform well."
The season is set to start in just over a week, and although Khillah is not at liberty to discuss any details of the show's events to this point, he did give an idea of his overall experience and a push for fans to tune in.
"I can just say it was an amazing experience. The UFC and the TUF staff, everybody's just a great group of people to work with, and work for," he said. "They take real good care of their fighters. There's a bunch of tough fighters this season; make sure everybody tunes in, there's going to be some real good, exciting fights for everyone to watch."
The Ultimate Fighter season 12 begins airing on September 15 on Spike TV, following a live UFC Fight Night event from Austin, Texas.
Amir Khillah will be an audio correspondent for MMATorch throughout the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. Stay tuned for weekly interviews with Khillah as the show progresses to get his thoughts on the goings on during the taping of the show.
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