#20 - Bassil Hafez - Family, Bravery & Courage

Built Not Born

Today’s guest is Bassil Hafez.

Bassil Hafez is a professional mix martial arts fighter living in Denver, Colorado, training out a Factory X MMA.

A native of Philadelphia, Bassil is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Phil and Ricardo Migliarese of Balance Studios.

Bassil and I discuss his journey from growing up in the tough streets Philadelphia, to his childhood family trips to father’s homeland of Egypt and mother’s homeland of Syria, to the trouble he got into on his way to becoming a professional fighter.

Bassil also shares what it was like to see each of his parents fight through and ultimately lose their battle with cancer at way too young an age.

Bassil tells the story of his near-death car crash during Hurricane Harvey that put him in the ICU for 2 weeks and required multiple surgeries he had to overcome to get back into the ring again.

Bassil discusses his journey of being a professional MMA fighter: from how he got started, to him winning the CFFC Welterweight Championship of the World, to losing the title on a split decision and what it is going to take for him to reach his ultimate goal of fighting in the UFC.

Bassil also shares bits of wisdom he’s learned from his fighting coaches, along the way, like this gem Coach Marc Montoya told him, “If you want to live an elite life, you have to show up elite every day.”

So…

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We have a bunch of cool interviews, like this one, to come.

Enjoy my conversation with Bassil Hafez – Professional MMA Fighter, black belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu, former CFFC Welterweight Champion of the world and one of the toughest dudes you will ever meet.

And remember… “Life is built, not born…”

Mentioned In this Episode:

IG: Bassil Hafez

Website: Balance Studios (Best of Philly BJJ)

Website: Factory X MMA / Muay Tai (Englewood, CO)