IN the lead up to his Muay Thai bout at ONE: Destiny of Champions, the usually media-shy Mohammed “Jordan Boy” Bin Mahmoud was extremely confident.
On Friday, Dec 7, he showed why – he needed only 180 seconds to get his first ONE Super Series victory against Stergos “Greek Dynamite” Mikkios.
“There’s no secret to that knockout,“ the 22-year-old says.
There really wasn’t, as everyone watched the bantamweight tilt unfold in the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Both parties attacked as soon as the opening bell rang, and with half of the first stanza gone, Mikkios flew forward with a superman punch and entered the clinch.
With his left hand down, Mohammed floored him with a right elbow.
The Greek beat the 10-count, but the local hero connected with a hard right and left kick before sealing the victory with a straight right hand.
He credits the sensational knockout to his intense training regimen at Sampuri Muay Thai Gym.
“I told you guys I’ll be bringing the KO back to my hometown, and it really [came down] to my fight camp and constant hard work,“ the Kuala Lumpur native says.
“I trained three times a day when I was six weeks out. It was strength and conditioning in the morning.
“I spent about an hour stretching in the morning before [doing] a 90-minute jog. It was the toughest preparation camp, but I was made for this.”
At noon, “Jordan Boy” would have lunch and give his body a rest. However, he would keep his mind busy.
“I’d usually kill time by playing a couple of games or watching videos of my favourite Muay Thai athletes, such as Giorgio Petrosyan,“ he confesses.
The athlete continued where he left off with his training at 5pm, and worked hard for the next four hours.
He started with another round of jogging, followed by more conditioning, and then practised his techniques.
“In the evening, I jogged about four kilometres before resting. [Then, I was] skipping rope for 15 minutes for better footwork and stamina,“ he explains.
“Strength is important, too, so I’d usually do tire jumps and a couple of gym-related workouts before starting my Muay Thai session.”
Mohammed’s martial arts session at night began with shadowboxing for 15 minutes, followed by three two-minute rounds of speed bags, and then freestyle boxing for another 15 minutes.
“At night is, of course, the favourite part of my training,“ he jokes.
“I wrap up my training with three five-minute Muay Thai freestyle sessions before focusing on elbows, kicks, and punches for another half an hour.”
“Jordan Boy” added there are days where he felt lazy, but he owes his huge knockout to three people — his trainers Zarimi and Zariman Sampuri, and his brother, a fellow Muay Thai athlete named Nidal Mahmoud.
“They constantly push me,“ he says. “They make sure everything is spot on, from A to Z.”
With hard work like this, Mohammed seems destined for even greater things in ONE Championship in 2019.
It was just announced recently that “Jordan Boy” will be making his first appearance this year at ONE: Hero’s Ascent, set for the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines this Jan 25. His opponent is Hiroaki Suzuki of Japan.
Mohammed has another chance to impress the crowd and if he can turn in another performance like his debut, the Malaysian rising star could be in for an amazing 2019.
