Impa Kasanganay (Credit: MyMMANews)
Impa Kasanganay: The Art of Giving Back to The Next Generation
2023 PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay isn’t satisfied and refuses to settle. After claiming PFL gold for the first time in his career winning the 2023 season, Kasanganay has rolled on in 2024. Beginning his year in a champions vs champions fight against Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen, Kasanganay delivered despite not being on the winning end of the fight. A very close fight against the Bellator champion that some debated the PFL champion won, his confidence and focus never wavered.
Kasanganay would then take that same confidence and focus into the first round of the 2024 PFL light heavyweight season and get a first-round finish over Alex Polizzi, securing six points to open the season. In a recent interview, Kasanganay discussed his focus not only to continue his winning ways, but to also elevate his dominance to another level with each performance moving forward.
While he continues to rack up wins and remain focus on the task at hand, he also maintains his desire to give back to the next generation. Ahead of his fight in Salt Lake City against PFL Europe champion Jakob Nedoh, Impa Kasanganay took time out of his fight week to run a boxing class at local Ultimate Combat Training Center in Salt Lake City. Welcoming a class mixed with men and women, kids and adults, Kasanganay made it a point of emphasis to not just run a couple of drills and call it a day, he spoke at length about techniques, life lessons, and answered all questions presented to him.
The difference in this appearance for the reigning champion is that he wasn’t just there for a quick photo-op. He put time and effort into training the class, taking a legitimate interest in everyone that attended, no matter their experience or age. This wasn’t just a one-off either. Kasanganay discussed his upbringing and how fighting has changed his life, but as much as being a champion matters to him, giving back means just as much, if not more. It’s a credit to Impa Kasanganay not just as a fighter, a world champion, but as a man, someone who wants to carry his legacy long after he’s done fighting, and leave the sport better than when he entered.
Showcasing a man of many talents inside and outside of the cage, Impa Kasanganay also spoke about his pursuit of a higher education, looking to earn an MBA and PhD from Harvard Business School. During an interview this week on Sirius XM’s ‘MMA Today’ he opened up on why he’s pursuing a higher education and why he wants to do it while fighting.
“People think that if you’re not only doing fighting, you can’t be all the way in.”@kingimpa explains how he balances fighting for @PFLMMA with his pursuit of an MBA & PhD from Harvard Business School 👏👏 #PFLRegularSeason
Source: MMA Today w/Din Thomas & @AngieOverkill pic.twitter.com/P2n5cldfA1
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) June 19, 2024
“I want to do that while I’m fighting cause so many tell you that you can’t do it while you’re fighting. I remember the big argument last year was people asking ‘why are you doing this while you’re fighting?’ I was like watch me. Then I got the first the world title, I look at it as a challenge.”
Making time to further his education, give back to the community, coach the next generation, and continue his fighting dominance, Impa Kasanganay explained why and how he’s able to balance all of it as he continues to progress in his career.
“People think that because you’re not only doing fighting that you can’t be all the way in. My last 10 fights, I’ve always been about building business. I would wake up before practice and train three or four clients and then I would read or do something. I was talking to my trainer before I got to Salt Lake City and he said ‘You’ve never missed a practice, you’ve trained hurt, you’ve trained injured, you’ve trained sick.’ for me, I wake up every day and I love it. I’m excited to go to the gym and then I leave the gym, done, exhausted. Maybe my day starts at 4am and ends at 12am the next day but I’m so excited to get back in the gym and spar. To be checked out of fighting, no.”
A leader, a motivator, a man focused not only on fighting but on his life goals outside of the cage. One who wants to excel in business and in coaching as much as he wants to continue dominating his fighting profession. Impa Kasanganay is not just a man of many talents, he’s a man who wants to share those talents and the lessons he’s learned with all those he comes in contact with. That’s the type of superstar he’s become under the PFL banner and one that can proudly be represented for what he does outside of the cage, not just inside of it.
