On Friday, May 5, surging Pakistani lightweight Ahmed ‘Wolverine’ Mujtaba will aim to take out ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt, in the enemy territory. After earning back-to-back first-round finishes in his last two outings, the man known as ‘Wolverine’ has done more than enough to earn his shot at ‘Super’ Sage Northcutt at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III – the organization’s blockbuster debut on U.S. soil. 

When Mujtaba walks to the Circle that night at 1stBank Center in Colorado, he’ll bring with him the type of confidence that is gained only through hard training alongside world-class fighters.

Ahmed Mujtaba found friends in the Dagestani fighters of the American Kickboxing Academy

Indeed, as he has for previous fights, the 30-year-old spent his camp preparing for Northcutt at the famed American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in California where he shares the mats with a number of the planet’s top mixed martial artists. Among them is his close friend, #5-ranked lightweight contender Saygid Izagakhmaev. 

Mujtaba felt an instant connection with Izagakhmaev and his Dagestani compatriots and says that their shared faith has made the rigors of intense training a bit easier. “It’s been very good, it’s very important you know to be the best you have to train with the best. If you want to be a lion, you have to train with the lions. These Russian guys, they are lions, and they’re basically from Dagestan and my hometown Quetta which is the same, it’s like the same mountains and everything,” said Mujtaba.

Training with the Dagestanis has given some serious confidence boost to Ahmed Mujtaba

Beyond the friendships he’s made at AKA, the most important benefit of Mujtaba’s fight camp among such elite athletes has been the boost of confidence it has given him as he looks ahead to arguably the biggest opportunity of his career. “So we are already the same, and the best part is they’re Muslims and I’m a Muslim as well. So we do have something in common. In the training, I mean like these guys know what to do. So it plays a very important role,” Mujtaba added.

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With just a day away from his showdown with Northcutt, ‘Wolverine’ added, “I’m very confident with these guys because these guys understand me and I understand these guys as well. Our path is the same, so we are on the same path and we have to achieve our milestone.”