Bellator lightweight Ferrid Kheder begins his quest for the title with a solid resume of fighting experience. The 35-year-old former Olympian is battle tested to say the least.

Kheder began training judo at the age of four and, over the course of his 25-plus-year career, has won 13 national titles, eight continental medals and two continental titles in Europe. He joined the French National Team in 1993 at the age of 18 and eventually represented that country at the 2000 Olympics, where he finished seventh. Shortly after the Olympics, he moved to the Tunisian National Team, where he stayed until 2004.

In October 2006, six years after his Olympic bid, Kheder made his official transition to MMA with a Round 1 submission (armbar) that earned him his first professional win. Since then, he has quickly compiled a solid 16-5 MMA record. Since beginning training under the highly touted Shawn Tompkins, Kheder has won 11 of his 12 fights.

During his career, Kheder has competed against top flight competition such as Paulo Thiago and Daisuke Nakamura. With the tournament looming ahead, Kheder will look to summon his advanced knowledge of Judo to neutralize his opponents by any means necessary – using his tactical striking and submission abilities to advance his way through a division of young eager fighters.

The 35-year-old Kheder was born in France to a Spanish mother and Tunisian father. He holds a third-degree judo black belt as well as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt. Kheder had briefly trained in Sydney, Australia alongside Bellator’s World Middleweight Champion, Hector Lombard. He moved to the United States in 2007 and joined Team Tompkins a year later. He now trains at Tompkins’ TapouT gym in Las Vegas.