MOHAMMED “Jordan Boy” Bin Mahmoud may be gearing up for the biggest match of his ONE Championship career, but lately, he has carried a heavy heart with him to practice.
The Malaysian Muay Thai sensation was handed a cruel blow when he received news of his grandmother’s passing on Wednesday, 13 March.
“I was training when I received a text message from my dad about her death. I paused for a while as I could not accept the news. It broke me down for a bit,” the tearful Kuala Lumpur-based athlete confessed.
“She’s been such a loving grandmother and a person who I look up to when I need a source of inspiration in my career.”
Despite receiving this unfortunate news, the 22-year-old Mohammed feels even more inspired ahead of his ONE Super Series Muay Thai bantamweight clash with Panicos Yusuf at ONE: A NEW ERA.
In fact, he is more motivated than ever to leave the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan on 31 March with a victory.
“Losing her has made me more determined to succeed in my next fight,” he said.
“Her greatest advice to me is to work hard and achieve your dreams, and to be someone useful to the society. I want to show her that I can fulfill her advice in Japan.”
Wedad Ahmad passed away peacefully in Jordan at 70 years of age. She was a loving mother to his father Omar Mahmoud, and a grandmother who showed endless love for Mohammed and his three siblings Nidal, Puteri Rania, and Putra Abdullah.
Due to the 7,500km distance between the two countries, Mohammed did not get to see his late grandmother too much.
“I’ve only met her twice – the first time in Jordan two years ago, while the other occasion was last year,” he explained.
“But we always made time for each other. We’d spend a few minutes on a video call two to three times a week. From what I can see, she’s one of the happiest people I’ve ever met.”
He also said his grandmother was strongly against him competing in Muay Thai at first, but she accepted his occupation after seeing how determined he was to become successful.
“She’s seen me fight a couple of times, but she would always get angry whenever I told her about my fights,” he confessed.
“Although she used to be against the idea, she started supporting me even more because she saw my potential.
“I’ll certainly miss her, but I’ll carry her advice in every fight from now on, which is to work hard to achieve my dreams.”
