 A shepherd, he was discovered by the local military commander Hikmet Pasha during a Turkish traditional sport yağlı güreş (oil wrestling) match, and was sent to Istanbul to join "İstanbul Güreş İhtisas Kulübü", a renowned club specialized in wrestling.During his sport career from 1928 until his retirement in 1940, he was the only heavyweight wrestler of Turkey's national Greco-Roman wrestling team.Mehmet Çoban became 5 times Balkan champion and earned also once the silver medal at the Balkan and the European Championships each.