Denis Puric is a true believer in manifesting his wishes, given that it has happened multiple times in his life. One of the Bosnian-Canadian star’s dreams is a fight with ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon.

He’ll get to realize this when he takes him on in kickboxing action at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Natttawut II on Friday, June 7, inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Another is one Puric recently brought into fruition – the opening of Soi Dogs MMA gym – and he discussed how it came about in a recent interview with ONE.

Denis Puric’s journey from MMA fighter to Gym owner

While having a conversation with the media about his dreams Denis Puric said, “Just before one of my fights in ONE, I was in the process of looking for a space to open a gym. I was just searching around, and there must be a God because one of my good friends called me and he was like, ‘Hey, Denis, there’s these guys who were going to open a gym with some guy, the guy fell through, and now the space is just there.”

He further added, “I did the fight, came back, and we had a meeting with both of the guys. We sat down, talked about it, and checked out the place. One thing led to another, we put everything together, and we started it off. That’s how it started, really. It’s crazy how life works. You’re trying something, and then things just come, so now we got a gym going with my two partners. It’s going great.”

Juggling the responsibilities of running a gym and training as a fighter is one of the reasons why Puric was hesitant to pull the trigger on starting a gym. But when circumstances made it easy for him, plans moved forward.

Puric’s inclusive philosophy drives Soi Dogs MMA’s success

The 39-year-old’s reputation as a fighter quickly helped the gym gain ground and build a good following in Hamilton, Canada. And his philosophy of an inclusive environment is allowing it to thrive. “I enjoy working with different kinds of people. Everybody’s welcome in my house. As long as you leave your ego out the door, you can come in. You have to be pure, you have to be respectful, and you have to leave that ego outside because we don’t rock like that,” Puric said.

He further added, “You have to be humble, nice, and respectful. This is not the streets. We’re actually changing lives here because we’re helping people off the streets and trying to humble them.” With plenty of support to keep Soi Dogs MMA running, “The Bosnian Menace” has no issues focusing on his upcoming fight with Rodtang while training halfway across the world in Thailand.

A win would undoubtedly push his gym’s popularity to even greater heights, so fans should expect Puric to unleash everything he has against “The Iron Man” at ONE 167.