A number of mixed martial arts fighters from Germany will compete at UFC Paris (Saturday 6 p.m. / DAZN). Dortmund's Khalid Taha wants to set an exclamation mark in his fight against Mexican Christian Quinonez. In an interview with ntv.de he talks about the event in Paris, why a UFC event in Germany is not so unlikely in the near future and about his years of struggle with German authorities - which he recently won.
ntv.de: You celebrated your arrival in Paris on social media in a stylish, chic designer suit. That went very well with the fashion metropolis of Paris. Is fashion a factor in your life?
Khalid Taha: I love dress code. I love to dress well. That's one of my passions. And I've been preparing for months. You almost always run in joggers and with messy hair through the gym. I now simply have the opportunity to finally style myself up again, to dress well. Of course I savored that to the full, especially in Paris, in this beautiful city.
How many outfits do you have with you?
I have some with me: For the journey, as mentioned. My sporty things and clothes for everyday life, an outfit for going out on a Friday night. Because after the weigh-in, we're going to a beautiful restaurant here, where we're going to eat very well. I also have a suit for Saturday after the fight.
If you know the city's restaurants, do you already have experience of Paris?
I've been here several times, to shop, to eat. The typical visit to Disneyland was also included. Paris is a good example of why I love traveling so much. You see other cultures. You come here and you know that there is such great cheese here that you have to try it. Then you have the many sights like the Eiffel Tower. That's something very special about my job.
It is the UFC's first event in France. What do you expect?
I think the UFC booked a hall that was too small. Over 16,000 spectators and the event was completely sold out in just a few minutes. And I'm sure it won't be the last time. People go crazy and buy tickets for thousands of euros. Everywhere they try to buy private tickets from me. I would like to offer some, sell them, give them away. But I don't have any. 16,000 spectators is already a killer number and next time it will definitely be more than 30,000.
UFC boss Dana White has mentioned that it took years of lobbying to set up an event like this in France. How realistic is it that we will experience something like this in Germany in the near future?
It shouldn't be that unrealistic. Even if that has been an up and down with Germany for years. The only thing missing is a bit of media presence - where the real money comes from. We've always had good events in Germany and we could have much, much better events. We have good fighters from German-speaking countries, many who train here. For example Khamzat Chimaev, who also speaks a little German. You can book a man like him. You get 20,000 or 30,000 spectators in the hall. That works one hundred percent.
You have already completed a UFC event in Hamburg. Is it still a dream to climb into the cage again at an event like this in Germany?
I wish it. Every year, if you like, twice even. So if it's up to me, I'd rather fight in Dortmund than in Las Vegas. A lot of people don't understand that, but for me the most important thing is when I have my family, my friends around me. Because these people know what I sacrificed for it, what I gave for it. Then they wouldn't have to stay up all night to watch my fight at 5 a.m. or spend a lot of money, fly thousands of miles to support me - not everyone can do that. And events in Germany would of course be a dream for me in that respect.
Let's move on to your fight on Saturday. Your originally scheduled French opponent Taylor Lapilus has been injured. The fans would have most likely booed you. Are you relieved it's not going against a local hero?
I would have been looking forward to the cauldron because I've had the experience before and I don't think I would have been booed. I brought a strong army myself. We are some people here. A lot of my people fly over here, drive over here. They really support me there and I'm sure the matchup would have been a feast for the eyes of the fans. Definitive.
The new opponent, Christian Quinonez, is someone who comes by striking but goes into the fight with little preparation. Is this a big change for you?
That's part of the job. I've experienced that more than once now. So not too big a change. Of course he has a different fighting style, but we are prepared for that. I've prepared for everything. That's exactly what I always tell my training partners: don't rely too much on getting the fight you want. You never know what will happen.
In the last two fights it has been defeats on points. What lessons have you learned from this?
So I'm sure my defeats had private reasons that I never talked about - I don't want to either. Those problems or those things that stopped me, they don't exist anymore. The preparation couldn't have gone better and my performance on Saturday will be like that, God willing.
Would you also make a prognosis?
Anything is possible, but I am sure that I will come out of the cage as a winner. But whether after a minute, after 15 minutes, at the end of the day I don't care. But I will definitely leave the cage as a winner.
According to the contract, you still have three fights in the UFC, including Saturday. From there you can see into the future. If you look at the bantamweight division, there are always very dynamic and action-packed fights. How would you rate your weight class in the UFC?
In my eyes, bantamweight and lightweight are the busiest divisions. From the top ten to unranked people, you only have killers - and that makes it all the more interesting. 'Cause I'm one of those killers. No fight ever gets boring.
Which opponent would appeal to you?
There are many. There are very, very many. I don't specifically have anyone in mind right now that I would challenge after a win. I just want to do my job, focus on the opponent and once I have the win in my pocket, it's on to the next step.
A real tale of woe ended for you in the run-up to the fight. It's about your German passport. You were born in Germany, married to a German woman, have no criminal record - why was it so long before you were finally naturalized?
That was really exhausting, waiting for 30 years. I filed the application eight years ago, involved many lawyers. It was a very sad process. I felt like I was being paraded because there just wasn't a single reason not to naturalise. With my Lebanese passport, I also had enormous problems when traveling. I had to go to Japan, Canada, Indonesia, the USA - how difficult do you think it was to get a visa during the Corona period? There was always this uncertainty: Can I go to the training camp now or not? Can I enter the fight or not?
The fact that I didn't get a German passport wasn't correct and nobody could tell me why. But now I'm just happy that I finally have it. I flew to Paris for the first time with a German passport and simply didn't have to worry anymore.
They captured the moment on Instagram and seemed very relieved. You even had to laugh a little while reading the oath.
Yes, of course I laughed, with joy - and because I didn't believe it. Then only a certificate came and I asked myself: Where is my passport? I didn't realize it until I held it in my hand.
Looking at MMA in Germany, how do you think the sport has evolved?
I think there was a small cut a few years ago where it went backwards a bit. For two years now they have made such a leap - in a positive way. I like it very much. Meanwhile, the fighters are paid much better and fairly. There's a lot more hype and media hype around it. And although I'm not fighting there, in quotation marks I have nothing to do with it, I'm always happy about it because it's deserved. Even if a fighter doesn't fight in the UFC, they walk this tough road. Make a preparation, renounce his family. I'm happy for everyone who sacrifices everything to make their dreams come true.
To make your dreams come true, you work with a rather small team.
This familiarity is very important to me. This feeling of well-being. The people who are here, whether it's my striking coach Carsten, my brother Mo or my third coach, Ottman Azaitar - the three know what kind of shit I'm going through. You know how exhausted I am, how broken I am. They try to take everything from me.
Then the feel-good factor is one of the decisive factors for your success?!
Yes, because I love my job. My boss Dana White used to say if on Sunday you're thinking, 'Shit, tomorrow is Monday. The week starts again. Then find a new job. And I can't wait for it to finally go on. i love what i do I love the trappings. i love to travel i love the food At the moment it just makes me overjoyed.
Michael Bauer spoke to Khalid Taha.
