India, Aug. 20 -- Chungreng Koren has spent much of his life learning not to step back. It's a philosophy rooted in Manipur's soil and in familial traditions. As the 28-year-old prepares to face Japan's Ryo Tajima in the bantamweight semi-final of Road to UFC in Shanghai on August 28, he traces his mentality to the lessons he grew up with in his village and particularly to his grandfather.

"If you're a man, you have two choices: choose your path carefully first, and once you step onto it, you can't step back. You have to fight until your last breath," Koren told HT in a conversation facilitated by Sony Sports. "And if you think you can't go all the way, don't step into it at all. That's how they teach us in our village."

For Koren, that...