VIDEO | Fighter Kohl Laren battles a history of childhood abuse in film project “Chase the Pain”

Kohl Laren, an amateur featherweight fighter who has recently served as a sparring partner for UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino, endured a truly horrific childhood, marred by abuse, eating disorders – even a suicide attempt at just nine years old. Today, however, he’s combatting the demons of his past by dedicating himself to the martial arts – specifically, Muay Thai.

At the moment, Kohl Laren is gearing up for a trip to Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, where he plans to compete in Muay Thai and bareknuckle boxing matches against exponentially more experienced locals. His mission is to showcase the transformative power of the martial arts, and how they can be applied to help children cope with abuse. He’ll also be donating all of his fight purses to local orphanages.

Laren will document this wild journey in a new documentary called Chase the Pain. Watch the first instalment of this gripping story at the top of this post, and contribute to his exciting journey through Southeast Asia by donating to his crowdfunding campaign here.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/11/2017.