Warriors of Borneo blog: MALAYSIAN FIGHTFEST

It has been relatively quiet for MMA in Malaysia after MIMMA (Malaysian Invasion MMA) season 5 crowned its champion in Mac this year. Looking at the calender of events for MMA in Klang valley it seems like there's a lack of event that focus on amatuer MMA, which seems ironic as Klang valley has the highest concentration of martial arts gym that offers MMA lessons.

The closest event MMA enthusiast in KL can head to is F3 Championship. As one of the earliest event in KL, F3 offer a diversity of fight, ie: MMA, Boxing, Muaythai & Kickboxing. But their MMA fight is inside a ring.

Head down south to Johor Bahru, you will find Ultimate Beatdown reign supreme as the pioneer and longest running promotions in Malaysia for amatuer MMA. It is still running strong today and they have introduced Kickboxing, Boxing and even grappling into their event.

Up north, we use to have Warriors FC , which has evolved into Golden Warriors and now Penang Fight Night. Also in the north, Pusaka Ultimate Fight fills in the gap for freestyle fight with hybrid Silat ruling.

Travelling to fight is a huge cost for amateur fighter hence the birth of many promotions in Borneo, to cater for local amatuer MMA fighters. The MMA scene is kept busy mostly with events in Sabah such as Rampage MMA FC, Jesselton Fight League (which has transform into Ultimate Beatdown Borneo), Fight Fest, Borneo Amatuer Challenge (in Labuan) and Borneo King of the Cage.

MIMMA was created in 2013 to unearth Malaysian MMA talent, but as the scene grows and fighters become more skillfull and the prestige of MIMMA grows, the level of standards becomes higher, which becomes a hindrance to newcomers.

For newbies in Klang Valley, it has become a norm for them to travel out of Klang Valley to seek fights to gain experience. There's a huge pool of newbies in Klang Valley that's eager to enter the cage to gain much needed experience.

This is where Malaysian FightFest (MYFF) comes into the picture.

According to the MYFF management, it is created with the objectives of :
i. To provide a platform for NEW amateur MMA athletes to gain first fight / debut experiences and improve their skills.
ii. Increase MMA awareness and the growing martial arts community in Malaysia.
iii. Create an opportunity for brand exposure and various sponsorships.

Launched in April this year by the team that brought you MIMMA, expect the same high quality management and event organising efficiency.

Registration was open in May and ended in 31st July and the response has been encouraging. Nearly 100 fighters submitted their profile. MYFF management was busy doing the match-making to provide each fighters with the best and fairest match up possible.

According to a Henry Goh the spokeperson of MYFF, there are many applicants but adhering to the objectives to give a platform to new fighters, some applicants has to be declined due to not able to find a fair match-up.

For the inaugural event this Saturday 25 Aug, these few categories has been confirmed. Women Strawweight. Male: Strawweight, Flyweight, Bantamweight, Featherweight, Lightweight & Welterweight. Below is the bouts that has been release in MYFF Facebook page.

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Some fights to watch out for;

Male - Bantamweight.
MIMMA 5 Flyweight finalist Jay Jay Anak Muran, is back after losing his flyweight grand final fight to Naimul Amal in Mac. He will face another MIMMA alumni, Jenarten Radhakrishnan.
This is a comeback for Jenarten in MMA after losing the title challenge fight to Prabu Somainadu in MIMMA season 2 four years ago.

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Women Strawweight will see some familiar MIMMA faces. Amirah Najwa & Ng Pei Wee will be back after their first MMA experience in MIMMA 5 League. It's worth noting that Amirah has a win over Ng Pei Wee in MIMMA 5 league 7 and a notable win over MIMMA 5 Women Champion Eunice Ong in MIMMA 5 league 1.

Colleen Augustin vs Lee Yin Mun should be a good fight. Colleen Augustin is an upcoming amateur fighter from Monarchy MMA. She has collected two win fighting out of her hometown KL, once in Rampage FC Kota Kinabalu in May and then another win in Bangkok's Bigbox Beatdown 1 in July.
Lee Yin Mun debut in MMA last year in MIMMA5 league collecting a 3-2-0 record.

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MYFF is open to all nationality. In the featherweight cards, watch out for one Japanese , Tasuku Ushigaki, this young 20 yr old BJJ prodigy from Monarchy MMA is on a two fight win streak. His most recent win is in BigBox Beatdown 1, via ground and pound. In Nov 2017 he created an impact in Copa Da Malasia Grappling when he beat BJJ exponents more senior than him.

Another international fighter, Omer Jemal a Ethiopia national will be stepping into the cage to face Nidal Mahmoud, Omer won a bout in One Silat, with hybrid MMA rules set in 2015 and most recently won a bout in Muayfit Malaysian Fighting Championship Semi-
Pro Series via ground and pound in April.

Nidal is fondly known as King Joker for his signature way of appearing in a joker mask during walk-in. He debut in MMA in 2016 winning one bout in Pesta Selangor. Last year he fought in MIMMA 5 league series. He holds a 3-3-0 record in MMA. But he has tons of experience and championship achievement in pro Kickboxing and Muaythai.

This lightweight bout can potentially be an all out stand-up war that will end up in a KO finish.

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The venue for the 1st MYFF is at Quill City Mall. An MMA cage will be set up at the centre atrium with good visibility throughout the various floor. Quill City Mall will also sponsor a LED screen next to the cage to improve viewing satisfaction to the crowd.

Viewers at home can follow MYFF action through Crap.TV . The livestream will be sponsored by Tunetalk.

According to Henry, MYFF are non profit. Many in his team are volunteers. Even the judges and referee team are volunteer. All coming together with great passion for MMA, to further grow the sports in Malaysia.

Sponsors came in as partners, sponsoring prizes for the winners and covering some operational cost.

We will also get to have the pleasure of having Jon Nutt as the emcee. His familiar voice will surely liven up MYFF and keep everyone entertain. As hectic as he is in Bangkok and Singapore but Jon truly supports grassroots development of MMA in Malaysia.

Fighters will also get their cage action captured by YK Tang, the well known combat sports photographer in Malaysia. YK will also be doing his part volunteering his professional service supporting Malaysian grassroot MMA.