CFFC Muay Thai 1 headliner Amine Elmoatassime says childhood punishment led to lifelong passion

Moroccan-born Elmoatassime promises incredible show at Saturday's event at Philadelphia's 2300 Arena.

Amine Elmoatassime can't help but smile when he recalls his humble beginnings into the world of professional fighting.

"I was making a lot of trouble in the streets and with my mom," Elmoatassime recalled. "At the time, I was in Morocco. My mom, she took me and she said, 'You are a problem. You fight everyone, so I have to take you somewhere. You have a lot of energy,' so she took me to a gym close to my home."

The nearest gym just happened to teach taekwondo, and that's where Elmoatassime launched his martial arts journey. Turns out, he was a natural and found instant success, as well as a desire to branch out. That's when he found his true love.

"I won a lot of competitions of taekwondo, then afterward, I converted to full-contact karate, then kickboxing, French boxing, muay Thai, K-1 – all the striking styles, you know?" Elmoatassime explained. "After doing it all, I like muay Thai more. It's better for me. You can bash elbows, knees, and everything, so yeah. I love it."

Elmoatassime eventually relocated to the United Arab Emirates to continue his training, venturing internationally to find competitions across those disciplines wherever he could. Then just four months ago, Elmoatassime made his way to the United States in search of even more challenges, settling in Pennsylvania.

"I wanted to move here because there are so many opportunities," Elmoatassime said. "You can always be busy fighting because in this sport, if you don't keep fighting, you go down, so you have to always stay up, up, up, up. That is very important."

It's been a successful transition thus far, with Elmoatassime already picking up a pair of wins in the U.S. He'll have a chance for a third when headlines Saturday's CFFC Muay Thai 1, which streams exclusively on OnlyFans from Philadelphia's 2300 Arena.

The event is CFFC's first foray into a pure striking competition, and Elmoatassime is honored to have been tapped for the night's featured slot.

"I want to thank CFFC for this big opportunity," Elmoatassime said. "I'm happy that I'm the first one presenting muay Thai, especially because I know CFFC has MMA, submission grappling and college wrestling, so yeah, I'm very excited for this fight.

"CFFC is a big name. It's not like a small name. Everyone knows CFFC's MMA events, so I'm hoping they can help muay Thai be bigger in America, as well."

In the night's main event, Elmoatassime (13-3) faces Michigan's Keemaan Diop (7-3). It's a matchup he thinks is befitting of the elevated positioning.

"He's a good fighter," Elmoatassime said. "I've seen some of his fights on YouTube, and he is a good fighter. He has good skills, good technique. I think it will be a good fight for the main event."

While Elmoatassime is new to the U.S., he believes he'll have a quite vocal support group in the 2300 Arena for the contest.

"I've been able to make some friends already, so I'm excited," Elmoatassime said. "A lot of Moroccan fans, they will come to support me, so yeah, it will be good."

Elmoatassime hopes it's the first of many appearances for the new CFFC Muay Thai promotion, even teasing a future opportunity at an inaugural belt, and he hopes that a legion of the organization's fans from other disciplines will enjoy what they see with pure strikers at work, as well.

"Come watch CFFC Muay Thai," Elmoatassime said. "Muay Thai is a very old sport – maybe one of the oldest sports in the world, so you have to watch and come to support everyone, and maybe you'll learn something new. Your favorite fighters from MMA, they are doing muay Thai. Most of them do jiu-jitsu and muay Thai, so you come to support muay Thai, and we can come to support you, as well."

Elmoatassime is excited for the showcase he's been given, and he plans on delivering a memorable night. Martial arts may have started as a way to simply keep him off the streets, but it's now his life's passion, and Elmoatassime said his journey is just beginning.

"Sometimes my mom says, 'Oh, you have kids now. You have to stop,'" Elmoatassime said. "I say, 'No, no, no. I can't. I love this sport, so I want to do it until the end.'"