Mohamad Norhidayat Hj Abdul is dubbed the first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athlete from Brunei and holds a 5-1-0 record (1-1-0 in ONE Warrior Series). We at BruSports News linked up with the 30-year-old, who is celebrating his birthday today (April 26), to find out how it all began for him.
Q: How did you get yourself into MMA? Who was the inspiration for you to start?
A: Eazy Anuar was the inspiration for me doing MMA. He asked me to join him to train in Brazilian jiu-jitsu when we were still in the national boxing team.
At that time the boxing association was still growing and developing slowly so I decided to make a change and started doing BJJ with him.
He then offered me to fight in an MMA competition back in 2013 and I just agreed because i was already thinking of doing it anyway.
Q: What is your memory of your first MMA fight? Which event was it?
A: My first MMA fight was at the Borneo Fighting Championship, the first ever MMA event held in Borneo (in November 2013). What I remember was that I was under weight by 2.5kg so I had to eat a lot the night before the weigh in.
Q: How do you compare boxing to BJJ? If you could only choose one, which one would it be and why?
A: Actually I haven’t done much BJJ since 2017. What I mean is that I haven’t trained Jiu-jitsu in gi anymore because I was more into wrestling and MMA grappling.
I also haven’t really done a lot of boxing eversince I started MMA. I had to change the rhythm of my striking style as it is more to do with kickboxing and wrestling.
But if there is any that I would choose, it would be wrestling. I’v always wanted to be a wrestler and that is my goal now. I want to create a new generation wrestlers and open the eyes of the Brunei people.
Q: You are now competing in the ONE Warriors Series. How was it like when you first got in?
A: To be honest I didn’t really feel anything but yea of course I’m grateful to be part of it.
Q: If it wasn’t for combat sports, what do you think you will be doing?
A: I would probably still be working in the navy.
Q: Did you do other sports before going into combat sports?
A: I actually played football and did mountain biking. I even went for selections to represent the Brunei football team but got rejected all the time. I played for my village’s football club a long time ago and actually had a dream to be playing for the national team and DPMM FC.
Q: If there was a song to describe your life, what would it be?
A: I don’t really listen to songs but i like Titanium by David Guetta (featuring Sia).
Q: How do you keep yourself relaxed before any competition?
A: It may look like I am relaxed but I never am. I try my best to look calm and breathing correctly really helps.
Q: Tell us about your training programme. How is it like?
A: We usually train 2-3 times a day. We do specific training in the morning and usually wrestling in the afternoon and sometimes wrestling again at night. We do change our schedule sometimes depending on our mood.
Q: Do you have a diet that you follow?
A: I love to eat nasi katok and fried food during the off season eventhough i know it is bad for me but that’s just who I am.
But during the season, I strictly follow the Mike Dolce diet system. In my opinion, that’s the best diet for athletes because it doesn’t matter whether you are doing a dominant weight sports or not. It’s just good in general.
Q: Do you have any idols who you want to be like?
A: I do have a few idols. Khabib Nurmagomedov, Demetrius Johnson and Justin Gaethje are my idols. I want to be like them but as I am fighting in a very light weight category, Demetrius Johnson's style is the one I want to follow most for sure.
Q: What is your best memory for combat sports so far?
A: Suffering a broken nose during training on new year’s eve 2017. This happened when I was sparring with Eazy during warm up and he accidentally punched me in the nose.
Q: What do you think is your favourite move in combat sports?
A: Defeating my opponent and looking them in the eyes asking me to stop is my favourite move.
Q: How do you view the future of MMA in Brunei?
A: If the kids don’t started doing wrestling, there will be no future for MMA in Brunei. Because wrestling is the basic of MMA and it is the best overall strength and conditioning in the world.
If they learn wrestling/grappling they will become a coach-able athlete in every aspects of martial arts. So if we want to see MMA grow, we should start teaching wrestling to kids.
Q: What kind of advice can you give to someone who is looking to follow in your footsteps?
A: If someone wants to follow in my footsteps, I suggest that they need to start from young age - a really young age. Like i just said, wrestling is good for kids. Eventhough I haven’t competed in any wrestling competitions before, it is what they need to do before doing MMA.
