It's not every day you see a mixed martial artist who idolizes a tennis star, but David Foster proudly stands out as the representative of this rare anomaly.
The 26-year-old Slovenian will return at BRAVE CF 81 in a super lightweight bout against Chad Griffiths. Forster is now considered one of Europe's most promising martial artists, but as a child he dreamed of becoming a tennis player.
Forster's first real introduction to tennis was before he was 10 years old. He happened to witness the 2005 French Open semi-final match between tennis superstars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, which inspired the already ambitious Forster to choose tennis as a career.
“I quickly became a fan of Rafael Nadal because of his work ethic, always fighting until the end, never breaking his racket, always having respect for everyone. “I liked his personality,” Forster recalled.
Forster dreamed of becoming a tennis star like his idol, Rafael Nadal, and trained himself through conditioning sessions. Interestingly, Forster was already involved in another sport during this period – football.
He was an excellent goalkeeper in soccer from a young age and also won several trophies for the best goalkeeper. Despite his success in football, the need to be more independent led him to tennis.
Unfortunately, fate befell him when his parents divorced and financial hardship forced him to quit the expensive sport of tennis. His parents' divorce completely derailed his sports career, and he began to gain weight.
“It was difficult for me. I don't really remember two or three years of my life, but I was overweight. Those years were kind of a blur. I think I got over that in high school. , I kind of accepted that and moved on with my life,” Forster said.
Forster first tried MMA in high school. Although he wasn't completely into the sport at first, he eventually returned after finding success with weightlifting. And after this, Forster never looked back.
As he prepares to return to the world's most global MMA promotion, one thing he has learned from a roller coaster career in the sport is that hard work trumps everything.
“I believe anyone can achieve anything if they work hard. You can be successful at anything if you just give it everything you have. I chose mixed martial arts, but I would like to try other things. I am confident that if I work as hard as I am working on this, I will be successful in other things as well,” he concluded.
