Javad Mahjoub Trades Judo Mats for the Octagon in UFC Debut at 35

Javad Mahjoub turns 35 this year and is only now stepping into the Octagon for the first time — which tells you everything about the road he took to get here. The Iranian-born heavyweight arrives in Edmonton with a 5-0 pro record and four finishes, but his real résumé is older than that: two Olympic judo qualifications, including a run with the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo.

He headlines a group of seven debutants at UFC Fight Night: Buckley vs. Malott this Saturday at Rogers Place, and he draws a genuinely dangerous assignment. Opponent Joel Faglier is also unbeaten at 6-0 with three submissions and two knockouts of his own. Two perfect heavyweight records, one of them cracking on October 17.

The Hardest Switch

Mahjoub was blunt about what makes a mid-career pivot so brutal. He said the toughest part isn't the physical work — it's accepting that the person you built in one sport has to be set aside to become someone new in another. Judo, wrestling, jiu-jitsu: all different platforms, all the same obsession, he explained. MMA is simply the biggest challenge he's found, and he framed it as the thing keeping him sharp and motivated at an age when most fighters are winding down.

The Montreal-based heavyweight trains at Tristar Gym, which is as good a finishing school as the sport offers. He name-checked Georges St-Pierre, head coach Firas Zahabi and coach Conrad Pla, plus training partners like Arnold Allen and Mandel Nallo — the latter also on this Edmonton card. Mahjoub said St-Pierre's habit of showing up to sessions gives the whole room belief that the dream is reachable.

The Olympic Debt

The medal that got away still drives him. Mahjoub qualified for the Olympics twice, made it to the Games once, and never got to stand on the podium. So he's reframed the UFC as a second Olympics — a title he intends to chase down this time around. He said he's prepared to face whatever comes.

As for Faglier, Mahjoub kept it simple and a little funny. His job, he said with a smile, is to throw people down, climb on top and smash them — the skillset he's spent his whole life sharpening. He added that anything can happen in a fight, so he isn't making guarantees. He just wants to enjoy the few minutes on the platform, because one day he'll look back on them.

Prelims start at 5pm ET/2pm PT on October 17, with the main card following at 8pm ET/5pm PT on Paramount+. For a fighter who's been chasing something his whole career, the clock on his MMA story is only just starting.