Participation in MMA has been helped by the sport’s changing image, according to Faisal.
Now 31, when he started out he’d hear friends and family tell others he was into “cage fighting” – referring to the eight-sided octagon ring where fights take place.
“There was no future in it, that’s what everyone would say to me,” he says.
“It was looked down upon.”
Now Faisal says he has parents bringing their children to his gym, keen for them to spar and learn skills.
“It’s more mainstream now,” he says.
“It’s more appealing to British Asians because it’s everywhere.”
Faisal believes that fighters will progress if they have the backing of fans – and their families.
Haider says he’s lucky to have had supportive parents – even if his mum’s never watched him in the cage.
It’s not just her son she doesn’t want to see hurt. “She doesn’t even want to see me hurt someone else,” the 25-year-old says.
“She hates the fact that I fight but she loves the fact that I’m doing something that I love.”
