Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BRUNEI'S top combat sports athlete Ahmed Faez Anuar is heading in the right direction in his pursuit for a ONE Championship contract.
The 33-year-old is coming off an impressive victory over India’s Pardeep Kumar in his ONE Warrior Series debut in Singapore on April 25 after locking in a seated armbar late in the second round.
Out of the 14 contested that day, his lightweight division bout also made it into the top five fights.
“I was surprised. If it was good in the eyes of the ONE Warrior Series staff then I think I’m on the right path,” said Ahmed Faez, who is more popularly known as Eazy, in an interview with BruSports News on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, the main goal is to get the ONE Championship contract. So if I’m listed in top five bouts then I know I’m on the right path and I want to keep it up,” he added.
Having to face a stronger opponent in the stand-up game, Eazy knew the game plan was to take it to the ground and he executed it to perfection.
“It was a good feeling as we had put a lot of hard work in and it is good to see it pay off,” said Eazy, who made his pro MMA debut in October last year at the Ultimate Beatdown in Kota Kinabalu.
“We focused more on the game plan and not fighting just by following the heart. Just because he is stronger doesn’t mean I needed to match up to his strength but instead fight with my brains.
“I knew I had the advantage on the ground and that’s where I tried to take him. It worked well according to our game plan,” he explained.
The head coach of Khalifa MMA was also thankful that he didn’t sustain any injuries from his fight.
“More importantly is that I didn’t get any injuries. That is what we were aiming for,” said the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu brown belt holder.
“ONE is strict in the sense that they do a lot of brain scans. Any damage to the brain and that is end of the career despite other promotions can still fight.
“That is something to be careful of. We worked a lot on the game plan. I told the commentator that I will finish him in the second round with a TKO but got a submission instead. I will take it,” he added.
When asked about plans for his next fight, Eazy replied: “The ONE Warrior Series is held once every two months and I’ll have to give the next event a rest. It also depends on who the matchmakers have set aside as the opponent.
“If they do offer me one in June I probably will have to tell them I need a break since it is Hari Raya anyway and I want to spend time with family.
“But I’m down to compete in either August or October. I’ll be good for that as I need to set up training camp and get everything lined up,” he concluded.
Besides Eazy, the duo of pro MMA fighters Adib Sulaiman and Nurhidayat Hj Abdul are also chasing their dream of ONE Championship contracts.
