The brawny, the brutish and the bloodthirsty are descending on Abu Dhabi this week from all corners of the globe. It’s time for round two of the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship, the region’s first ever Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) contest, and brawlers from as far afield as Iraq, Brazil and India will be slugging it out in the ring. This scrap is the second of three rounds, and fighters are competing for a whopping Dhs1 million – as well as the chance to pound each other into oblivion, of course. Organisers say round two is shaping up to be more of a hardcore rumble than May’s show, with the emphasis this time on making sure MMA fans get to see great fights up close and personal.
We caught up with Ali Mohammed Ahli, 20, who is one of two Emirati fighters in the contest, to feel him out for any pre-match nerves.
What’s your fighting style?
I’m a free-stylist. It is the fighting style that is the core essence of MMA. I love free-styling because there are no constraints on how I create my game. It’s the only way I can truly feel free, like an artist.
But, if you had to pick, which would you say is the most effective method?
That’s a difficult question to answer. All the fighting styles are well suited for specific scenarios. Some would argue jiu-jitsu is the best, because it is the original in MMA. If I were forced to choose, I would personally say Thai boxing or muay Thai is the most effective. It’s the quickest and the most brutal.
Have you had any truly terrifying moments in the ring?
I remember this one fight in Thailand when my coach placed me against a veteran muay Thai fighter. It was one of my earliest fights, and I was quite worried. Once I shut the outside world out and concentrated on the fight, the fear disappeared. I won’t tell you how that fight ended, though…
What has been your proudest moment?
When my family came to watch my first fight and cheered for and supported me. Fighting isn’t the most conventional sport in this area of the world, and I’m lucky to have a family that provides me not just with the support to do well, but with the push to excel and take pride in doing what I love most. It didn’t matter whether I won or lost, and that’s a rare feeling in any sport.
Are you feeling confident about round two? What are your chances of winning?
I’m a strong believer in the Rocky phenomenon. The more and harder I train, the stronger I’ll get, and the better the chance that I’ll come out on top. At the end of the day we are all human beings, and we are all capable of reaching the stars. So yes, I am confident.
So you must be training pretty hard, then?
I train like an animal. Every day. It’s quite funny actually. Fighting seems like quite a dangerous and extreme sport, but most of a fighter’s time is spent training and dieting. I train six hours a day and, of course, I have a special diet.
How do you psyche yourself up mentally to get in the ring?
I need to be alone and in a quiet environment. I need to erase everything from my mind but my body and my opponent. I practice meditation at least once a week so that when I’m doing this for real it comes easier. And once I’m in the cage, it’s a little bit dramatic, but I think of my opponent as standing directly between me and my dream, blocking me from reaching this dream of becoming a professional MMA fighter. At this point, all my surroundings disappear and all that’s left is me and my opponent. Everything is in slow motion. It’s quite an experience.
Ali Mohammed Ahli v Lucaino Ferreira at ADFC Round Two takes place on October 22 www.timeouttickets.com
