His head pressed firmly into the mat, with his chin and stomach
arched toward the air, Sulaiman Tokhi rotates his neck to keep it
loose for the abuse it is about to take. As he stands up after
stretching, his fingers shake while he retightens the black bandage
around his fists.
Sulaiman says he isn’t nervous, yet he continues to pace
back and forth across the gym floor, glancing at the clock. He
begins working on the punching bag to kill time, unleashing a
flurry of combinations. Left, left, right, capped off with a
straight right kick at face level.
His opponent, Cavan Cox, arrives at the gym, and
Sulaiman’s grueling mixed martial arts training regimen is
about to be put to the test.
Although Sulaiman, a 5-foot-10, 164-pound senior at UCLA, tells
most people he pounds opponents into a bloody pulp to relieve
stress, there is another reason.
“I saw what was going on in the world where weak people
were taken advantage of,” said Sulaiman, who is well-versed
in Muay Thai kick boxing, wrestling and the art of Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu. “I never wanted to see myself in that position. I
can’t stand feeling helpless. If you’re strong,
you’re strong; weak are the ones that are taken
advantage.”
At no point during Sunday’s fight did Sulaiman ever appear
feeble.
Stripped down to his fight shorts, he opens up the first round
swinging, connecting on a jab to the bottom of Cox’s right
chin. After falling back a little, Cox comes back in, but Sulaiman
ducks his punch and delivers a barrage of hooks that sends Cox
spiraling to the floor.
“I know what goes around comes around,” Sulaiman
said. “I’m not going to feel sorry for him. If you give
pain you better be able to take that.”
Eyeing Cox’s body, he pounces on his opponent and begins
to wail away at Cox’s skull, with nothing to soften the blow
but a millimeter-thick leather glove. Cox’s pasty body turns
noticeably red from all the punches, grabs and scratches.
Sulaiman begins to squeeze the air out of his opponent’s
chest by applying a slight choke hold. After a 10-second warning,
he jumps up and does a 360-degree back kick toward Cox’s
head. He misses, but Cox is noticeable weary.
As the next round begins, Cox once again is blitzkrieged by
Sulaiman and falls to the floor. Sulaiman goes for a flying kick
right at his face. It connects across the right cheek and whips
across his nose. Cox is bleeding profusely. Thirty seconds into the
round, Cox is a beaten man slumped over in a pool of his own
blood.
“It’s like a release mechanism for me,”
Sulaiman said after the fight on Sunday at an undisclosed location.
After the match, despite the kicks and punches exchanged, both
fighters embrace.
“That’s the absolute spirit of martial arts,”
Cox said. “You’re civil in the beginning. You go and
fight like animals, and you come out and you’re civil again.
There’s honor in it. That’s something that’s lost
in the modern world.”
Sulaiman slips on his pants and Brasil Muay Thai shirt and heads
back home to the residential halls.
From diapers to fight shorts
For Sulaiman, a fourth-year economics and political science
student, partaking in mixed martial arts bouts has been a part of
his life for the past half-decade. In a sport that has brutality
written all over it, Sulaiman doesn’t seem to mind.
“My blood tingles when I fight,” he said.
It keeps him in shape and also releases his tension. He basks in
the pain. Still, he causes more anguish than he endures.
His submission moves have made people tap out. He’s made
his opponents black out. Some have even suffered concussions.
Others have limped away with purple legs that appear raw from his
kicks to their shins. One of his opponents even went into a seizure
after being kicked in the head.
With a record of 10-1, 7 knock outs, Sulaiman has made a name
for himself in Southern California.
“You say Sulaiman, and people know who he is,” Cox
said. “So that’s part of why I was so glad to take the
fight because there’s only so many chances you get to fight
the champ. Win or lose, you can’t lose.”
It wasn’t until college that Sulaiman really tested
himself. He would find fighters from local clubs looking for
competition. His interest in ultimate fighting soon became more
than just a hobby.
As a child, his life was far from the norm. Sulaiman remembers
punching a diaper bag that he would hang from his doorknob as a
toddler because he thought it was a “natural thing” to
do. He recalls the teachings of his Uncle Alim Sai, a former
professional boxer in Afghanistan. His earliest recollection is of
his first knockout, which came on the playground at the age of
four.
“He was always very physical, very physical even though he
was so tiny,” said Zarpana Rietman, his youngest sister.
“And even at school he would get in trouble punching kids. We
had to tell him not to do things like that. He was just an active
kid.”
But a child who was extroverted and full of energy suddenly
became self-conscious about his body.
“He never wanted to take his shirt off,” Rietman
said. “When it came to his body, he was a shy, timid and
lanky kid growing up.”
In high school, in addition to winning numerous debates and
being the director of the Bay Schools for Amnesty International,
Sulaiman got into sports and he started running on a daily basis.
His penchant for physical activity peaked in sophomore year in high
school after watching Ultimate Fighting Championship’s
no-holds-barred matches. After much cajoling, Sulaiman convinced
his parents to let him enroll in UFC former middleweight champion
Frank Shamrock’s gym in San Jose if his academics remained
strong.
Sulaiman’s dedication is partly due to his Muslim
upbringing. He’s never tried drugs or sampled a drop of
alcohol.
It wasn’t until June of his freshman year in college that
Sulaiman’s family really understood how enthralled he was
with mixed martial arts. But when his father, Iqbal Tokhi, and
oldest sister, Rizwan Tokhi, came down to UCLA to watch him in a
mixed martial arts tournament held by the UCLA Taekwondo team, they
were frightened by the sport’s brutality.
“I put all my speed into a kick and I connected,”
said Sulaiman, describing what his sister witnessed. “The
kick goes across the base of his skull and lower jaw. It made a pop
sound. He falls back and my sister screams.”
“Arms and legs stiff like a board go into the air.
He’s not blinking. They separate us. I look into his eyes, he
was yielding to me. Like I connected with his soul.”
His opponent began to seizure.
“My sister said she was going to jump out of her
skin,” Rietman said.
He won the first and last annual mixed martial arts tournament,
but as a freshman, his hunger wasn’t satiated.He upped his
training regimen to include lifting, cardio and hitting. Even his
training partners know how fierce Sulaiman can get.
“You haven’t even seen him when he gets mad and goes
crazy,” fifth-year mechanical engineering student Howard Wu
said. “Most of the time someone ends up with a bloody
something. Bloody lips are guaranteed, bloody nose, bloody ear. He
snapped my elbow once. I was out for eight weeks.”
Sulaiman continued to fight, but never once accepted money. It
was just for the love of the sport. He’s competed in local
boxing rings, garages and churches in La Puente, Van Nuys and
Orange County.
Sulaiman became too overconfident, believing he was invincible.
He even lost 23 pounds in one week for an upcoming fight by simply
giving up eating. His weight plummeted from 168 pounds to 145. Then
he experienced a lull and fell into a state of depression when he
lost his first bout in the summer before his junior year.
“I was conditioned, but mentally I was not there, not
prepared,” Sulaiman said. “I was so hollowed, so
prideful, that was my preparation. For the next few days felt like
a zombie. It killed me.”
But soon afterwards, Sulaiman had an epiphany: He realized that
he was dedicating too much of his time to fighting. With his family
constantly urging him to stop for fear of him getting hurt,
Sulaiman eased away from his passion and began to recognize the
importance of academics. Machismo aside, Sulaiman began
understanding during his junior year that he had a purpose outside
of the ring. Having earned a 3.74 GPA and scoring a 170 on the
LSAT, he’ll graduate this spring and attend the UC Davis
School of Law in the fall.
“I realized (academics) is the reason why I’m here
at UCLA,” Sulaiman said. “As a person I measure a lot
of my success and value in academic success, and as an individual
it’s my duty to grow intellectually.
“But from fighting, what I will never regret is that it
taught me my limit.”
On the rise
Sulaiman is not the only UCLA student to have shown interest in
the mixed martial arts.
Every Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. in the Blue Room of the John
Wooden Center, students from all different fighting backgrounds
come and train for either an upcoming fight, like Sulaiman, or just
to keep in shape. Some also show up for a few lessons in
self-defense.
“Everybody brings something new, and when you teach you
learn,” Wu said. “If anyone wants to come in and learn,
we’ll show them the ropes. Just leave your ego out on the
door. Come in for fun and we’ll show you some
moves.”
Wu and fifth-year electrical engineering student Lawrence Tsang
are both regulars. Though they train together and rotate against
Sulaiman, pride never gets in the way.
“Everyone respects each other,” Tsang said.
“It’s a great atmosphere. It’s a rush;
there’s no bigger rush than if he wants to beat the crap out
of you.
“Lawrence and I are engineers. I don’t think any of
us are going to pick fights in Boelter,” Wu said. “This
is the ultimate game of chess. People think it’s all about
brawn and being stupid and taking hits, but there’s so much
thinking involved.”
Over the past few years, mixed martial arts has slowly become
more popular both at UCLA and around the nation. Just recently
Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization signed
a two-year contract that will televise fights and continue the
reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” after its
successful first season, which drew more men ages 18-34 than
CBS’ Masters golf tournament coverage on Saturday, April
9.
“In just one year, I think there is a battle between
providing legitimacy for the sport, and mixed martial arts is
proving itself,” said David Schwarz, a spokesman for Spike
TV.
With a recent bill passed back in September 2004 that sanctions
the sport in California, representatives from both Spike TV and
Pride Fighting feel the sport is on the rise. Both have seen
viewership skyrocket, and according to Schwarz, the sport may
someday surpass its counterpart ““ boxing.
“I think it’s on its way,” Schwarz said.
“You don’t see big names in boxing anymore, and when
you do, it’s disappointing because fighters just hold each
other. Our guys are exciting and they go for it every
match.”
Sulaiman, too, has noticed an increase in the sport’s
popularity.
“It has all the elements that we come to love in all
sports,” Sulaiman said. “It has physical feats,
electricity and most of all, passion.”
More than just a fighter
After a taxing day of classes and hitting the gym for an hour
and a half, Sulaiman returns to his home in the De Neve residential
halls. He struts his way to the dining commons, where he scarfs
down three pieces of chicken, rice, a plate of lettuce, six eggs, a
cup of milk and juice, capping it all off with a vanilla ice cream
cone. By 7 p.m. he begins his real responsibilities.
Clad in a navy blue polo shirt with an Office of Residential
Life emblem, a black flashlight in his right hand, a radio clipped
to the side of his pants and a clipboard tucked under his left
underarm, Sulaiman begins his rounds as a resident assistant.
He’s stern, serious and dedicated to what he does, and
because of that, residents, and sometimes other RAs, are reluctant
to approach him.
“There are RAs in the other buildings that are afraid of
him,” fourth-year RA Katy Spears said. “They
don’t quite feel comfortable talking to him, but he’s
not rough at all. That’s what’s so funny about
it.”
A program assistant in his junior year, Sulaiman possesses a
certain characteristic that’s an anomaly among his RA peers.
From his powerful, speedy gait to his unique side-of-the-mouth gum
chewing, Sulaiman has an aura about him.
And during every Monday evening in De Neve Acacia-Birch
association meetings, Sulaiman makes his voice heard when all
others are hesitant to speak. That’s the very reason why De
Neve Acacia-Birch Resident Director Karen Hedges selected him as an
RA out of several hundred qualified applicants.
“He’s really good at bringing the group to think
outside of the box,” Hedges said. “He’s very
eloquent when he speaks. The way he can command that attention is
impressive. No other RA does that.”
Though he may seem standoffish, those who are around Sulaiman
know him as a different person. From the guy who cracks jokes to
one who helps them bulk up using his complete weight set and bench
in his room, residents are thrilled to have Sulaiman as their
RA.
Some, such as second-year resident Giovanny Barrientos, get to
interact with Sulaiman on a daily basis. From playing videogames to
IM sports, residents feel Sulaiman doesn’t fit the image of
the prototypical RA, which enhances the relationship he has with
them.
“He’s not one of those real stingy RAs,”
Barrientos said. “I had one of those last year, where
he’s not all strict to the book, he’s friendlier. You
can talk to him one on one. He’s a friend and an adviser at
the same time. He wants us all to respect each other.”
Becoming an RA has always been something that Sulaiman has
pursued. He’s just a natural leader who believes in being
involved with one’s community.
“I’ve grown as a person,” he said.
“Being an RA was a way for me to step up, make an impact on
people and helping them develop as individuals.”
Just a few days before graduation, Sulaiman has seen his life
transform. A cerebral mixed martial arts fighter, he understands
that life is more than just fighting.
“You prove nothing by hurting those weaker than
you,” Sulaiman said. “True power and strength come from
protecting those around you and doing what is right.”