FORMER British Muay Thai Champion Alex Abusin was eager to stress the positives after two of his stable of young fighters suffered defeats on Saturday night.

Up-and-coming fighters Owais Khan and Adam Hussain were both in action in Sheffield as part of the sold-out Muay Thai Grand Prix event at the city’s prestigious Magna Arena.

The duo had both tasted victory when they were last in action three weeks ago but this time around - fighting on one of the biggest platforms available to the sport in the UK - they each came up short. For their coach, however, the experience is one that will only make the two fighters - and the rest of his team - stronger.

“I say it time and time again, this isn’t boxing,” said Abusin. “There are no easy ‘keep busy’ fights; we don’t pad records; the match-making is tough. Every time you step through the ropes, you do so knowing that the fighter in front of you is capable of defeating you. That’s why I love this sport and that’s why I believe it’s the toughest combat sport on the planet.

“Owais and Adam are both gutted right now and, knowing how hard they have both worked in the gym, I understand that. But I’ve told them both to store up all that negative energy and use it as fuel next time round.

“I’ve learned valuable lessons as a coach tonight and they’ll both learn valuable lessons as fighters. It’s not the defeats that define us, it’s how we choose to respond.”

For Khan, the taste of defeat was particularly bitter, coming just three weeks after he was crowned English 73kg Muay Thai champion. His belt was not on the line in Sheffield, as the bout was staged under K1 rather than Muay Thai rules, but he was frustrated that he was not able to showcase his talents in front of a packed arena.

“This one hurts,” admitted Khan, who was stopped in the first round after sustaining a vicious kick to the ribs from Newbury’s Erik Luis. “It’s the risk you take whenever you compete. We already knew Erik was a dangerous fighter and, no excuses, he caught me with a great shot. But we’ll learn from this and come back stronger.”

Khan admitted that he had been nursing a rib injury coming into the fight, sustained in his recent championship win against Merseyside’s Joe Swinnerton. However, the fighter refused to cite the injury as an excuse and his attitude was endorsed by Abusin, who added, “Owais could’ve stayed at home and admired his new belt, but instead he chose to travel to Sheffield to fight on one of the biggest events on the calendar, against an opponent from a higher weight class. Sometimes you dare to be great great and it comes off, and occasionally it doesn’t. Had I known he was carrying an injury into the fight, I would’ve pulled him out beforehand but MTGP is a massive stage for our sport and Owais was desperate to fight. As an ex fighter myself, I understand that mindset 100%. We’ll all learn from this though."

Hussain too suffered disappointment when he dropped a split decision to stand-in opponent Harvey O’Reilly. There were jeers from sections when the result was announced but Hussain himself remained characteristically humble.

“I thought I’d done enough,” said the 20 year old. “The judges disagreed but that's the sport we’re in. I’ll sit down with Alex next week and look at the things I can control and the things I can do to improve, and then we’ll go again.”