Malik trained in boxing until he was 15, and started to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at 16.
He developed a fearsome reputation and says he was so prolific in tournaments that coaches of other fighters would wait outside for him.
"They'd be like: 'Show us your ID. Who are you? You can't be doing this'," he says.
"Pretty much from 16-19 I didn't concede a point."
It was also a period of his life when he could have got into trouble - until he discovered MMA.
"My older brother and a couple of friends were like 'why are you wasting time on the road when you can channel that energy into a sport?'" he says.
From there, he came across the UFC.
"I was Googling places to learn," he says. "My brother found a place and so did my friends. So I went, tapped out millions of times and I was like 'damn, I need to learn this.'
"When I was about 22, I went pro. My whole life is dedicated to MMA because this is not a joke."
Having a good role model helps too - Malik's grandfather enjoyed notable success in combat sports.
"He was wrestling back in Pakistan, in Kashmir," says Malik. "That's always been a motivation and I still believe that it's genetics.
"He was a champion so I always grew up hearing stories. He did inspire me."
Faisal also grew up watching former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, but it is the two men painted behind him as he sits in his gym that give inspiration now.
"In MMA it's George St-Pierre and Khabib Nurmagomedov," he says. "That's why I've got them in my gym. My biggest inspiration are these two and how they approach defining themselves as a human being, the way they carry themselves - in the cage and outside."
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