By day, he is a PhD student. By night, he is a Karate World Champion.
That is the life of County Laois's Eoghan Chelmiah. The 24-year-old is in his fourth and final year of college and likes to dabble in a little bit of rocket science in his downtime.
By the end of the school year, he will be the proud recipient of a doctorate degree in engineering.
For now though, Chelmiah has a much different task on his mind. The undefeated bantamweight defends his Karate Combat World title against Jesus Lopez in Orlando next week.
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Since turning professional in 2021, Chelmiah has fought four times and has emerged victorious on each occasion. For some, such an undefeated streak would add pressure, but Chelmiah is calm and believes all the pressure is on the shoulders of Lopez.
"To be honest, I don't feel that there is pressure," the Irish star said, "Like, I feel like there's probably more pressure on his side than mine. This is his Rocky story.
"His record hasn’t been the most consistent and he’s getting older. This might be his final shot at the world title, it’s the final Superbowl for him, the World Cup final.
"That’s a lot of pressure. I’m expecting to face the best version of Jesus Lopez in there, he’s going to bring everything he’s got."
Chelmiah's journey to the top has been a remarkable one. Since the age of four, he has been training in martial arts. By 15, he was knocking out adults in competitions.
Some parents may not want their child to be involved in combat sports, but Chelmiah's mother was his sensei and helped him hone his craft. A sports mad child, Chelmiah dipped his toes in football, swimming, lacrosse and even jazz ballet dancing.
After a ten fight career as an amateur, Chelmiah decided that Karate was his true calling. Karate Combat soon came calling and before long, the Laois man was winning World Championship gold.
His success in the fight game shouldn't come as a surprise. For those that believe in such things, Chelmiah seems to have been destined for a career in fighting since the second he was born.
"Connor Benn and myself were born in the same hospital in London on the same ward at near enough the same time.
"My father and Nigel Benn were together chatting away in the waiting room as they waited for our births. Quite funny that we both ended up fighting professionally.
"And in another coincidence, my father is originally from Mauritius. The only other person I know if with Irish-Mauritian heritage is Tommy Fury - and he’s a pro fighter as well!"
Next weekend is another big step up in competition for the Irishman. He faces a man in Lopez that has been through more adversity in his life than most people could possibly imagine.
As a young man, Lopez saw his brother murdered before his very eyes. Throughout his youth, he used martial arts as a way to protect himself growing up in one of South America's worst ghettos.
A tough opponent with a strong mind, and someone who Chelmiah will need to take very seriously indeed.
"He’s tough, he’s got a good overall record, he’s well established in this organization. He’s more fights than me in there and he’s been through some very tough wars, so I am looking forward to getting in there with him.
"Lopez brings power and toughness. We’re similar in that sense. We have that aggressive style, a lot of machismo.
"So it's good to be an exciting one, I’m looking forward to it. Both of us go in there with bad intentions. We go forward, we take risks, we look to finish the fight. We’re more interested in entertaining the crowd than being strategic."
*Karate Combat 37 will air live in the UK on FreeSport and in Ireland on ViaPlay Extra from midnight on Saturday, December 17. It can also be watched live and on-demand at the Karate Combat YouTube channel.*
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