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Before his bout with “The Vampire,” the 23-year-old martial artist knew that his stamina was the sole thing missing from his skill set. Fearing it could cost him another win, the athlete took it upon himself to search for a new gym to work on his conditioning.

It did pay off for the Kedah native, as he registered a unanimous decision win over his compatriot at ONE: Masters Of Destiny on Friday, 12 July.

“For this match, I prepared at two gyms,” Mohammed pointed out. “One was at my regular gym in Sampuri Muay Thai Gym Ampang, while the other was at Selendang Kuning Muay Thai Studio in Bukit Jalil.”

Mohammed faced some new challenges while training at two separate gyms.

“I knew my stamina was lacking, and I needed another way to go about it. My coach agreed, and he worked on a lot of strength and conditioning techniques, which helped in my fight. It was something new to me, and not the usual jogging or running.”

Back in December, the “art of eight limbs” practitioner stunned his Malaysian supporters in his debut when he dropped Stergos “Greek Dynamite” Mikkios to the canvas in the opening round.

It was a different tale a month later, though, as “Jordan Boy” suffered a TKO defeat at the hands of Hiroaki Suzuki. Two more losses followed, but it was clear that with a better gas tank, Mohammed was going to be a dangerous opponent.

“Round three was where I believe it showed my true advantage [my stamina] over Saiful Merican,” he explained. “I had a lot left in my tank, and even if it went on for another round, I’m confident I would have come out of my corner with the same energy.”

With his 32nd career win under his belt and some new-found stamina, Mohammed’s confidence is starting to grow.

Will this win be the start of many more to come for the talented Mohammed at The Home of Martial Arts?

Pelumba Red Bull KTM Tech 3 itu menjelaskan sehingga kini beliau tidak dihubungi ataupun berhubung dengan mana-mana pasukan sebagai menghormati kontrak bersama pasukannya.

“Saya hanya fokus dengan pasukan saya…saya masih ada kontrak bersama KTM dan saya belum putuskan ke mana saya akan pergi dan tak ada berhubung dengan mana-mana pasukan,” katanya ketika ditemui pemberita pada Majlis Perasmian Grand Prix Malaysia 2019 di sini, pada Selasa.

Bekas pelumba Monster Yamaha Tech 3 berusia 25 tahun itu mengakui fokus utamanya adalah menampilkan aksi terbaik dalam menamatkan baki saingan perlumbaan musim ini.

Hafizh, bagaimanapun mengakui perlumbaan GP Malaysia di Litar Antarabangsa Sepang (SIC), November ini bakal jadi satu perlumbaan yang sukar buatnya, namun tetap berazam menceriakan penyokongnya terutama rakyat Malaysia.

“Harapan saya di Sepang bersama jentera KTM saya cuba buat yang terbaik, saya tak berani nak janji sebab keadaan jentera yang bagi saya agak kurang memuaskan.

“Saya perlu bekerja keras sebelum sampai perlumbaan GP Malaysia dan saya harap kalau boleh dapat meraih mata pada perlumbaan itu nanti,” tambah beliau.

Bercakap mengenai motivasinya selepas pelumba dari Afrika Selatan, Brad Binder sah menggantikan posisi beliau meskipun musim belum tamat, Hafizh berkata semangatnya kekal membara dan ingin menikmati baki perlumbaan musim ini.

“Buat masa sekarang motivasi saya masih tinggi, saya masih bersemangat untuk berlumba dan saya masih bersemangat nak berikan terbaik untuk semua. Saya mahu berikan yang terbaik kepada pasukan sebelum saya berangkat ke tempat lain,” tambah beliau.

Untuk rekod, Hafizh berjaya meraih tiga mata selepas mengharungi sembilan perlumbaan dan akan menamatkan baki 10 perlumbaan, dengan GP Malaysia merupakan destinasi kedua terakhir dalam kalendar perlumbaan musim ini.