THE LENS
Fighting to break the stereotypes
Amateur fighter Albaraa Atmeh, ranked number 14 in Canada, hopes to proudly represent his religion as a Muslim in the future Ultimate Fighting Championship, to combat what he views as demeaning stereotypes
MALAK AMCHE
mamche@cjournal.ca
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Albaraa Atmeh,19, practices his punches during an evening fighter class at Calgary’s Dynamic MMA gym Feb. 9, 2018, with hopes of becoming the next greatest Muslim fighter after the famous Muhammad Ali. Atmeh would like to challenge the false portrayal of Islam in some of the media by fighting in international championships to inspire other young Muslims with a passion to rethink separating their life from their religion. He feels that many Muslims today are afraid to publicize their religion due to the stereotypes surrounding Islam, and therefore choose to alter their values to satisfy the common trends. 40
MAY/JUNE 2018
CALGARYJOURNAL.CA
PHOTOS: MALAK AMCHE Albaraa Atmeh admits that one of the biggest challenges he faces in martial arts is maintaining his self-confidence in such a competitive environment. He says it’s easy to question one’s worth, strengths, abilities, but it’s even easier to get discouraged when the people around him don’t believe in his passion. However, he believes in himself and his abilities, and says he won’t let anyone or anything get in the way of his goal of becoming the next biggest MMA champion with a Muslim title.