BI athlete’s corner: Eleban flying high in martial arts, wins bronze in Muay Thai championships
Kamehameha-Hawaii alum Uriyah Eleban has been making serious noise within the Big Island martial arts scene.
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Kamehameha-Hawaii alum Uriyah Eleban has been making serious noise within the Big Island martial arts scene.
Late last month, the 19-year-old voyaged to Bangkok to compete in the Adult-C division at the Muay Thai World Championships, where he clinched a bronze medal after going up against some of the best fighters in the world.
“It feels amazing to bring home a medal from a world tournament,” Eleban, a member of Team USA’s Muay Thai team, told the paper in a recent phone interview. “There’s a lot of great fighters that competed, and I just feel really proud of myself to be able to bring something back home for the Hawaii martial arts scene.”
While competing against some of the top competition from across the globe was a challenge in itself, Eleban explained that his dedicated preparation — largely thanks to coach Glenn Elizar at Mission Ohana Muay Thai in Hilo — helped him persevere against the elite fighters.
“International fighters are no joke,” Eleban explained. “They’re really smart, really good fighters in general. They’re aggressive and like to come forward a lot (in their attacks) and overwhelm you — sort of try to bully you and use their power against you.
“And I was very prepared to handle that.”
Eleban also explained that the techniques and strategy learned at Mission Ohana Muay Thai helped with his striking and overall preparation.
“Coach Glenn and his son have helped me a lot these past few months — learning new techniques, striking. It’s a really good environment and everyone is super nice.”
But Eleban doesn’t just compete in Muay Thai. While he has participated in martial arts since he was 5 years old, Eleban took up kickboxing about four years ago — quickly climbing the ranks. While both martial arts involve punches and kicks, kickboxing has limited or no clinching and usually no elbows are involved (unlike Muay Thai).
Fighting is one of Eleban’s greatest passions today, but he admits he wasn’t enthralled with it at first.
“Growing up as a kid, I wasn’t too big on martial arts,” he explained. “I was doing it because my parents were telling me to. But as I got older, something changed inside of me.
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“I can’t really explain it, but it became more fun for me.”
After placing on the podium in Muay Thai, Eleban will next shift his focus to the WAKO Kickboxing World Championships in August in Chile. Like in Bangkok with Muay Thai, Eleban will have an opportunity to face some of the best in the world.
In preparation for his journey to South America, Eleban will be training with Martin Day from Hawaii Elite, along with other prestigious local kickboxers. Day is also preparing for his big fight next month, so the timing lines up perfectly for the pair to work together.
“It’s perfect for us to be able to work with each other,” Eleban said. “I don’t have to worry about clinching knees or elbows, so really my focus is to work on my speed angles, a lot of boxing as well. I feel like the boxing part will really help me in this tournament.
“And also recovery — the most important aspect for fight camps. Trying to make sure I am 100% before flying to Chile.”
Beyond next month’s championships, Eleban’s ultimate goal is to become a professional kickboxer — in GLORY Kickboxing or ONE Championship. He acknowledges the ambition may take some time to achieve, but the prospect of proving others wrong has motivated him to work hard for his dreams every single day.
“The one thing that really pushes me is myself and all the people who doubt me,” Eleban said. “I have a lot of doubters whenever I fight, so to be able to prove them wrong is my biggest motivator.
“My family motivates me, too. They’re the ones who have supported me throughout this whole journey, and their love and support also really motivates me to keep fighting.”
For any local fighter with dreams of making it big and competing on the international stage, Eleban’s advice was simple.
“Just have fun — that’s what my boxing coach always tells me before a fight. Always have fun and have a smile on your face. What’s the point of fighting if you’re not gonna have fun doing it?”
