SOUTHAMPTON, Mass. -  Nathan Ghareeb is a professional fighter for Classic Entertainment and Sports, but after an injury as a wrestler in college, he was told he would never compete again.​

"When I was wrestling in college and I tore my labrum," Ghareeb said. "I had seen a doctor that told me, your wrestling career is pretty much over."

What You Need To Know

  • Southampton native Nathan Ghareeb is a professional mixed martial artist

  • He first took up MMA after a serious shoulder injury he suffered as a wrestler in college

  • Ghareeb fights for Classic Entertainment and Sports, and has a 6-2 record in eight career fights

  • He one day hopes to be able to fight in the UFC

The Southampton native didn't give up and after physical therapy and consulting a fellow coach about a contact sport that could put less stress on his shoulder, he settled on mixed martial arts.

It wasn't an easy adjustment for Ghareeb, who was forced to change his fighting style in order to compensate for the lingering pain.

"I just switched my stance and I focused out of a south paw stance instead of a traditional orthodox," Ghareeb said. "An orthodox stance would be your left hand forward, south paw would be your right hand forward. So I lead with my dominant hand and I just focused on throwing straight punches."

Since taking on mixed martial arts back in 2014, Ghareeb has competed in eight CES fights, holding a 6-2 record inside the cage.

Ghareeb was eventually forced to have surgery on his shoulder after blowing it out again before his first professional fight, but the injury was never an excuse for him to quit.

"There was never a point where I was like, 'Oh well now I can't do this, I'm screwed, there's nothing I can do,'" Ghareeb said.  "What can I do? It wasn't a matter of 'I can't do anything.' Well what can I do with what I've been given?"

The walls of his personal gym inside his basement in Southampton are plastered with inspirational quotes. Ghareeb said his philosophy when it comes to the sport of mixed martial arts and life comes from a belief of wanting to live a life with no regrets.

"If you know you're gonna die and you don't know when and you don't know how, what are you gonna do in that time to have the best possible life that you can?" Ghareeb said. "The seconds, the minutes, those are the only things you're really born with is time."

Ghareeb said he plans to move down to Florida in the coming year to train with the American Top Team mixed martial arts academy with the goal of one day making it to the UFC.