Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BRUNEI’S Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) exponents Ahmed Faez Anuar and Mohd Norhidayat Abdul of Khalifa MMA both have the same goal - ONE Championship contracts.
The pair will be making their debut at the organisation’s fight promotion programme, the ONE Warrior Series, in Singapore on Thursday.
Ahmad Faez, the country’s top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu athlete, is set to take on Pardeep Kumar from India in the lightweight division while the country’s most active MMA fighter Dayat will face Sanya Kongkatonk from Thailand in strawweight category.
“The short term goal for now is to be able to fight in the ONE Championship… that’s the huge stage for us in Asia,” said Ahmad Faez, who is better known as Eazy.
“Even if I don’t get to be the top-10 seeded fighter and just get the contract, Alhamdulillah, I will be happy. That’s the goal for now,” added the Khalifa MMA head coach, who is coming off a victory in his pro MMA debut against the Philippines’ Jess Delapena at the Ultimate Beatdown Borneo in Sabah back in October.
The dream is no different for Dayat, who holds a five wins and one loss record.
“Of course ONE Championship (contract) is every fighter's dream. I don’t want to ask for more than I think I can do,” said Dayat
“I will let God arrange everything for me and we’ll see, but I will work as hard as I can to be where I want to be. There is no doubt about that,” he added.
The duo has been training hard the past couple of months since penning the deal with Rich Franklin’s brainchild in January.
“Preparations have always been the same, train in the mornings, afternoons, doing some skill works, strength and conditioning, get training partner and friends from all over Brunei to help us out for some sparring and that's the physical part,” continued Eazy.
“From the mental aspects, we just had to keep telling ourselves that this is a bigger stage, bigger promotion, and most importantly ONE Championship contract is at stake.
“It’s a constant reality check for us everyday to dedicate ourselves a lot more, focus a lot more and be a lot more driven. You can say that We have taken our physical and mental preparations up a couple of notches,” added the 33-year-old.
Eazy and Dayat are more versed and accomplished in grappling (BJJ and Wrestling) as opposed to stand-up discipline.
But the duo has been training hard daily to improve their skills and techniques in stand-up game especially in kick boxing leading up to these fights.
Both have also trained with the national boxing squad in their younger days.
“Obviously the main style is the grappling aspect and I'll be more comfortable once we get into grappling distance, or if the fights get taken to the ground, I'll be a lot more comfortable too,” said Eazy.
“We are not pushing our boxing background, so we will be throwing our hands.
“We have been working on stand-up aspect a lot for this one and personally I am also looking to get a knockout win,” concluded the BJJ brown belt holder.
