Why Johan Ghazali Believes Golf Is Making Him A Better Muay Thai Fighter
Johan “Jojo” Ghazali has built his reputation on explosive finishes and fearless aggression inside the ring. Away from the lights, he’s found a sport that humbles him completely — and he loves it anyway.
The 19-year-old Malaysian-American striker, who earned his eighth ONE Championship victory with a unanimous decision over Ye Yint Naung at ONE Friday Fights 141, spends his downtime on golf courses, phone switched off, thinking about nothing except the next shot.
It started as a business decision more than a passion.
“I started playing golf because 95 percent of successful people play golf and all the people I want to be connected with play it too,” Ghazali said. “I was supposed to meet with this guy and he was playing golf that day, and I said, why not? Let’s go play golf. And then I tried it and I honestly fell in love with it.”
What he didn’t expect was just how difficult the sport would be. Like most people who’ve never picked up a club, Ghazali assumed golf would be easy — a slow, comfortable game for retirees, nothing like the physical and mental demands of Muay Thai.
His first swing corrected that assumption immediately.
“I used to think it was easy. I used to think it was an old man’s sport,” he said. “But once you try it, you’re like, damn, it’s not easy. Every single thing has to come into place — your head, body, swing, the club face, the focus. So it takes a lot of practice.”
Now, even while training in Thailand under ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion Superbon, Ghazali slips away on weekends to rent a set of clubs and play solo rounds. The solitude is part of the point.
“When I’m there, I just turn off my phone and stress-free, you know,” he said. “All I think about is just hitting the ball.”
The mental overlap between the two sports has become clear to him over time. Golf demands the same present-moment focus that separates good fighters from great ones — the ability to silence everything outside the immediate task.
“I have to be able to just zone out, focus and gain better mental clarity,” Ghazali said. “When you play golf, you can’t be thinking of anything else. I think that’s one of the things golf is really helping me with.”
The relationship runs both ways. His Muay Thai conditioning gives his swing a natural power base, while golf sharpens the mental discipline he carries back into camp. It’s an exchange he sees lasting long after his fighting days are done.
“I don’t think I’m going to be doing Muay Thai when I’m much older,” he said. “But golf, it’s like a muscle memory sport. Some days you’re playing like Tiger Woods, the next day you have an off day that you regret even playing. But I still do enjoy it.”
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