Bullied, constantly moving home, and without a father – the incredible story of ONE Championship’s Ellis Badr Barboza

“It was just me, my mom, and my sister for the rest of my childhood. My mom just looked after us,” he said.

It was a loving supportive environment, but not without its challenges. 

“I moved around a lot, because when I was younger, my mom was struggling financially. So, we would move house quite a lot. And I was in school with people who had money for many years. So, I would see, like the kids go on holiday, or they come in with new stuff, and I’d always be very angry. I wouldn’t resent my mom, but I would resent my situation.” 

Barboza would use this to fuel his ambitions of making something of himself, and ultimately being able to repay his mum for everything she did for him growing up.

Elllis Badr Barboza in ONE Championship action

“I would always think, why am I in this situation? Why can’t I have this? So that built a fire in my belly from a young age. I always dreamt of putting money on the table for my mom and just making our lives so much better, because we literally, at times, had nothing. I think I learned a lot from my mom. I learned resilience from her. She is the strongest one I know. She taught me a lot about life like just getting things done, and no matter what situation you’re in, just making it happen.”

It would be his mum who would ultimately introduce Barboza to martial arts, hoping to find an outlet for him and a way of defending himself against bullies.

“When I was very young, I would get picked on because I was always the smallest one,” he said. “That made me quite an angry kid and obviously I didn’t have a father figure to sort of direct me. So, that’s when I joined the gym. It was actually my mom, she said, you need to go to the gym for self-defence. Because she didn’t want me to have any problem that I can’t deal with. So, she kind of pushed me into the gym for that reason.”

What started off as self defence would eventually become a profession. A talented musician, Barboza has gone to music school in his teens to pursue a life as a guitarist, but it would be the art of eight limbs that would become occupation.

“And I was at music school for two years, but during that time, studying it kind of ruined my passion for music, and I was just training a lot,” said Barboza. “So, then my passion for Muay Thai took over, but after that I did around one year in college, did some business studies, but I realised it wasn’t for me. And then I moved full-time to the gym. Just teaching, training, fighting professionally. From that point on. I was pretty much full-time. I was about 16 years old, 17 years old.”

It was a decision he would not look back on. 

Being ranked in the UK at 16 is not something we see every day, but that competitive arena was fertile ground for a young star to emerge. It was not long before he topped those rankings and went to look at how he could develop further.

A stint of living and training in Dubai would prove transformational on both a personal and professional level. While in the Middle East, Barboza would learn more about faith and would eventually find himself converting to Islam, something that he credits with giving him a lot more perspective on life.

“Once I came to Dubai and saw it [the Muslim faith] in Dubai, you just get a feeling like you can feel something, some energy there, and I would always ask people questions and be curious” he said. “They would give me answers, and I would just always really like the answer that was given. So, I started to research it. Then I went to the Masjid a few times for Jumaa [prayers]. Slowly, I just became more interested. Then I took my shahada, and that moment was a crazy feeling. But it was one of the best days of my life. It just brought me so much more peace with everything that happens. There’s no stress, especially with fighting. Fighting is a very stressful game. I go to the ring now, and I’m like whatever happens, happens. Don’t really worry about it. Whatever is meant to be, will be.”

This new found calm would see Barboza capture European Muay Thai gold before fulfilling his ambition to move to Thailand and compete with the very best in the world. Only a move like this could truly give him the opposition he wanted in order to prove he could not only be the best on a continent, but the planet.

“Last year I went back and fought the current UK number one [Joe Le Maire] and beat him for the WBC European title” explained Barboza. “I was done with the UK scene because for me, at my weight class, I always knew the best are in Thailand. So, UK number one, British champ, I didn’t really value it too much. I knew like for me, I wanted it to be the best of the best, a world champion. So, I knew the best way was to come here [to Thailand]. That’s why I always wanted to come to Thailand and live here, and then I did it. I made it happen.”

Elllis Badr Barboza is aiming for the very top of ONE Championship

And on that quest to become the best in the world, Barboza now finds himself in ONE Championship, the world’s biggest martial arts organisation. His ambitions are clear in the ring, but are also matched in the business world too. His brand Muay Thai Magic may have started as an Instagram page but is now a media, merchandise, and promotional operation – having just held its first event in the UK. 

“I plan to get the [ONE Strawweight Muay Thai world title] belt,” Barboza says. “That’s the only thing on my mind. I’m willing to fight anybody until I get the belt. Whoever ONE wants to give me, and however long it takes, I don’t know, I just have to fight whoever I have to fight to get there. I want the kickboxing and Muay Thai belts. I want to be a double champ. Just generally, I want to hold that belt for as long as possible and keep building our business to become one of the main ones in the combat space.”

Having claimed victory at ONE Fight Night 23 last weekend the journey to the title has already begun, but from humble and difficult beginnings, his mere presence in ONE is a victory in itself – but when life itself has been a fight – do not sleep on what this 24-year-old could achieve between the ropes.