British-Pakistani middleweight Haider Khan returns to the Coca-Cola Enviornment in Dubai on February 7 to face Brazilian veteran Jhony Gregory, predicting a primary or second-round end together with his fingers. Khan enters the bout ranked tenth within the PFL middleweight division with a report of 10-1.
Haider Khan
The 25-year-old from Oldham completed a training camp split between Liverpool and Colorado, where he underwent high-altitude training to maximize his conditioning for the Dubai card. Khan trains at Aspire in Liverpool under coach Phil Turner, where he has developed since his teenage years.
“I’m fitter than ever to be honest,” Khan said. “I came back and I was saying to my coach, it’s a bit easy this now. I feel like I’ve peaked fitness-wise there, so it’s all good on that end.”
Khan credited the high-altitude work in Colorado for his improved gas tank. “Since I’ve come back down to sea level, I’ve definitely seen the benefits. It’s harder for me to get gassed and I’ve come in the best shape ever,” he explained.
High-altitude training increases red blood cell production and improves oxygen-carrying capacity, benefits that translate to enhanced cardiovascular endurance at sea level. During his Colorado camp, Khan trained with UFC veteran Neil Magny and other high-level fighters, refining new angles and methods with his coaches.
Breaking Through With a Broken Arm
Khan made his PFL debut in January 2025 with a viral first-round TKO victory over Mostafa Rashed Nada after a entrance kick shattered Nada’s left forearm. The graphic damage occurred when Nada tried a down block in opposition to Khan’s kick, leading to each bones in his forearm breaking on affect.
“Just in the moment it was exhilaration,” Khan recalled. “You kind of don’t know how to react because you’ve never done that before. Nobody’s ever really done that. It was a big one for me because it was my debut, so it was like double excitement.”
The finish highlighted Khan’s striking background in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and kickboxing. He defined that Nada’s defensive method, a down block, was incorrect for defending in opposition to such highly effective bone-on-bone contact.
Overcoming Adversity
Khan’s path to PFL Dubai has not been with out setbacks. In 2024, he suffered an ankle damage that pressured him to withdraw from a scheduled bout. The damage was extreme sufficient that Khan couldn’t stand on it or throw a jab, regardless of initially making an attempt to proceed coaching.
“At first I used to be devastated as a result of that was one other nice coaching camp I put in for that battle,” Khan mentioned. His father and administration group intervened, stopping him from competing. “I needed to simply take heed to lots of people which have given me lots of nice steering in my life up to now. Now I really feel higher than ever. I’m again on monitor, preventing on a fair greater card.”
From Rugby League to MMA
Khan’s athletic journey started with rugby league, a sport he performed semi-professionally from age 4 by way of his teenage years after being picked up by knowledgeable academy at 13. Regardless of his success on the sector, Khan realized the game was not his ardour.
“I don’t support anybody. I never really used to watch the games. I was just good at playing it and was quite athletic,” he said. “Everybody’s worked a job that they don’t love and you end up being miserable, and it was just making me miserable in the long term.” At 18, while studying Politics and International Relations at university, Khan transitioned to MMA and found his calling.
Georges St-Pierre as Role Model
Khan models his career after UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, citing persona and values over nationality. Whereas Khan respects British MMA pioneers like Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy, he related extra with St-Pierre’s reserved demeanor.
“I used to be fairly a quiet child. I didn’t actually communicate rather a lot. I wasn’t attempting to search for consideration or something,” Khan defined. “I type of noticed the identical values in Georges St-Pierre. He was very reserved, didn’t prefer to trash speak, however when it got here to performing, he simply carried out.” St-Pierre’s preventing fashion mixed elite wrestling with placing, using a powerful jab to arrange takedowns and management opponents with ground-and-pound.
PFL Road to Dubai
Khan sees the upcoming fight as an opportunity to inject excitement into what he views as a stagnant division.
“The PFL division’s quite boring at middleweight,” Khan said during a pre-fight interview. He believes his skill set and finishing ability differentiate him from one-dimensional fighters relying primarily on physical attributes.
“I’ve done my homework on this Jhony Gregory and we’ve got a few traps. I plan on setting one of them up and taking him out pretty much in the first or second round,” Khan said, adding that he expects to finish Gregory with strikes rather than a repeat of his debut’s kick-induced injury.
The PFL Dubai card features two world title fights, with lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov defending against Alfie Davis in the main event. Khan’s preliminary card bout against Gregory represents another step toward his championship aspirations in an organization he credits with providing significant opportunities on major international cards.
Khan envisions himself as a future world champion and the first British-Pakistani to hold a major MMA title. “I want to be the individual that people can show to their parents when they return home, making it easier for them to pursue their dreams.”
