Egyptian Ahmed “The Butcher” Amir has admitted everything was at stake in his career-defining fight at Brave: The Beginning, where he upset all odds and defeated the jiu jitsu master Richie “Boogeyman” Martinez.
Amir, who destroyed the world-renowned BJJ Black Belt Martinez within three minutes of the first round via technical knockout, was little known outside Desert Force prior to this fight.
He knew that this was a crossroads fight where win mattered the most, and he achieves possible mega fights and stardom. Yet lose this fight, and he would remain a talented fighter battling outside the consciousness of the fight world.
He said: “Before the fight, I wanted to prove my level to everyone and show that I was there to win. I knew that if I lost, it might take a while before I get fights again. A lot of eyes were on this one because he is a well-known opponent. So winning against him truly would give me a proper boost in the MMA scene. And I did it, just like that.”
Just like that, it was all over in two and a half minutes. Amir landed a crushing short right-hand which stunned Martinez, and then the fight went to the ground – normally a cemetery for the opponents of Martinez, but not on this night. As they rolled on the ground the “Boogeyman” locked in a heel-hook, which Amir was able to successfully defend and then reversed into a full-mount position, as he began to rain down elbows upon the American until the referee stopped the contest, to the delight of the Arab community.
“It was a hard fight, this was a to-be or not-to-be kind of fight,” he said. “I left Desert Force and it was my first with Brave, and the majority were rooting for Boogie. This gave me a boost to give it all I had.”
“The plan was to hurt him with kicks and then land a proper over hand punch, and it worked, I knocked him down but he wasn’t all out. His submission attempt was very clean, but thank God I managed to escape and it was all good from that point. I paced my ground-and-pound and made it count.”
Amir is now guaranteed a high-level opponent in his next fight, and following the announcement that Brave will return to Bahrain in December, you may well see him on that card.