Health Studies graduate rises through MMA ranks
Bilal Hasan, Health Studies ’23, provides insight into how he became an MMA champion.
Entertainer, student, influencer, Indonesian, son and fighter — these are just a few of the words Bilal Hasan ’23 uses to describe himself.
Since graduating from the School of Nursing & Health Studies at the University of Washington Bothell, Hasan has been fighting professionally in mixed martial arts.
He is currently the Flyweight Champion in the Cage Fury Fighting Championships, but his dream is to soon become a champion in MMA’s largest promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
It’s a dream within punching distance.
Growing up in martial arts
Hasan has been competing in martial arts since the age of five, starting with Taekwondo. Although he won gold medals in major junior events such as the U.S. Open and competed for Team USA at the Junior World Championships, he admits that he got off to a rocky start.
“When I started martial arts, I sucked at it,” he said. “I would lose every single tournament. I constantly lost and lost, and I think the reason I lost was because I thought too much about what people thought about me and how I looked. I let the pressure get to me.”
Hasan said he has learned over time to embrace the pressure, something he believes is leading to his success now in MMA.
“I’ve realized that a lot of people try to block out the audience and their surroundings, but not many people can embrace it. One of the sayings that I say to myself is that ‘the pressure is a privilege.’
“It’s a huge privilege because not many people are able to be in this position.”
Finding success in the cage
After he graduated in 2023, Hasan began fighting in MMA professionally, training out of Charlie’s Combat Club in Everett, where he is also a coach. Fighting in the CFFC, Hasan is the undefeated Flyweight Champion. He says he thrives during his fights due to his love of being an entertainer.
“I love to put on a show,” he said. “One of the people that I’ve been obsessed with ever since I was a young man is Michael Jackson — not only in terms of his music but also just the way he portrayed himself and how he performed. I feel like no one else had his aura.”
I just go in there and try to have as much fun as possible, and one thing I tell myself is that there’s literally nowhere else I’d rather be in that moment.
The adrenaline of beginning an MMA fight “is unlike anything in the world,” said Hasan.
“I just go in there and try to have as much fun as possible, and one thing I tell myself is that there’s literally nowhere else I’d rather be in that moment,” he explained. “I’m at home when I’m inside that cage. I get to fully be free and fully express myself while everyone is watching. And I just feel so grateful for that exact moment.”
Despite his love of fighting and entertaining, Hasan admitted that when he first steps into the cage, the absurdity of what he’s doing does enter his mind and for a moment he wonders, “What the hell am I doing here?!”
Building a personal brand
Hasan was born in Hawaii and grew up in Mukilteo, Washington. Still, he has a large connection to the country his family calls home — Indonesia. And as Hasan has grown in success, he has amassed a large following there.
This has added extra pressure to his career because he now has a whole country watching him, but he has chosen to embrace it. “I know they’re watching my every step,” he said. “So, I want to make sure that I’m the best version of myself that I can be.”
One way he is embracing his popularity is by focusing on building up his personal brand. Unlike other sports, such as soccer and basketball, MMA fighters need to manage their own careers, including sponsorship deals, something Hasan is still learning about. “I didn’t want to necessarily classify myself as an influencer and fighter,” he said, “but nowadays you have to in the mixed martial arts world.”
Recently, to try to capitalize on his success, Hasan traveled to Indonesia to work with sponsors. The reception he found there was unexpected.
“It felt like I was a celebrity. Everywhere I’d go, three or four people would want pictures with me,” he recalled. “It was like nothing I ever imagined.”
Studying health at UW Bothell
For someone who makes a living fighting, Health Studies might seem like a strange major, but Hasan’s motivation was to learn more about the human body and how to take care of it in the best way possible.
Hasan was training full-time while attending college, and he said the experience helped him to learn how to balance the different areas of his life effectively. His main takeaways from UW Bothell centered around the importance of community and how to be a good student — which has proven useful in his professional life where he does a lot of reading, journaling and self-analysis.
I’m still a student at the end of the day. That’s why I love mixed martial arts so much — because there’s something to learn every single day.
“Being a good student, you have to be locked in. You have to have a routine,” he said. “I’m still a student at the end of the day. That’s why I love mixed martial arts so much — because there’s something to learn every single day.”
As a recent graduate, Hasan said the advice he would give to current students and new alumni is to build a solid community for support.
“You are who you surround yourself with,” he said. “Find a good group of people that are just going to help you progress in whatever you want in life.”
A future filled with success
While Hasan is already a success in combat sports, his goal is one day to be a UFC champion. He said it is only a matter of time before he gets invited to fight in the promotion. He also realizes that he won’t be able to compete forever, so his long-term goal is to open his own gym in Indonesia.
Hasan may already be a recognized champion, but he said he is still working on improving himself every day — and he attributes his success to the positive effect of pursuing martial arts.
“I think without martial arts I wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in today,” he said. “I think martial arts have given me the ability to analyze myself constantly, because to get into the cage and be the best fighter possible, you need to be the best person possible outside of the cage — not even just in terms of martial arts but also my relationships in life, how I am as a son and how I am as a coach in my gym.
Without martial arts, I don’t think I would be the best version of myself.
