ONE WARRIOR SERIES IS COMING TO KOTA KINABALU !

I remember in 2008, Mixed martial arts was still an anomaly to many. As a martial artist I was fascinated with the series of Fight Quest by Discovery Channel hosted by MMA fighter Jimmy Smith and army vet Doug Anderson; also the Human Weapon series by History Channel hosted by MMA fighter Jason Chambers and wrestler Bill Duff. It was really captivating to see them travelling to countries such as Japan, Israel, Philippines to learn from various masters on different styles of martial arts.

Fast forward to 2018. Mixed martial arts is booming and has become the fastest growing sports in the world. 

In Asia, ONE Championship reign supreme. It is the largest global sports media property in Asian history and hosts the largest sports entertainment events across Asia, featuring some of the world's best martial artists and world champions.

In Nov 2016, ONE Championship announced the launch of ONE Warrior Series, hosted by Rich Franklin.  In the series Rich, a former multiple-time middleweight world champion, will travel to various Asian nations to visit local gyms beginning in Bangkok, Manila, Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing to discover new and upcoming martial arts talent.

Deserving prospects will be rewarded with a USD 100,000++ contract with ONE Championship!

The promotion’s elite video production team will be following Franklin’s journey across the region, chronicling the action to produce a series of compelling documentary videos.

Catch the first two episode here:

Rich

Franklin, Vice President of ONE Championship and CEO of ONE Warrior Series, stated:
“Asia is the hotbed of the industry’s top martial arts prospects. It comes as no surprise, since martial arts has been home to the region for the past 5,000 years. 

Throughout my time in ONE Championship, I have been witness to some of the best martial arts talent I have ever seen. Stars today such as Angela Lee and Eduard Folayang came from the grassroots level of talent in Asia, and the next martial arts superstar is just waiting to be discovered. 

Follow me on this journey to showcase Asia’s greatest cultural treasure, and join me on the hunt to find ONE Championship’s new wave of superstars.”

Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, stated: 

“At ONE Championship, one of our biggest missions is taking martial arts, Asia’s greatest cultural treasure, and placing it front and center for the entire world to witness. One of the ways to do this is by developing local homegrown martial arts superheroes. We are excited to travel across Asia, visiting the most iconic cities, to discover the next big superstar."

Chatri Sityodtong

ONE Warrior Series aims to discover new talent, providing promising young athletes with the platform to unleash their martial arts greatness, at the same time Rich and ONE Warrior Series director Jonathan Fong will also immerse themselves in the local culture and do some sight seeing.

For Malaysian, especially as a Sabahan, it's truly a great honour that ONE Warrior Series, after kick-starting the series in Bangkok the fight capital of Asia, has decided to make Kota Kinabalu (KK), Sabah as their third stop after Jakarta. They will be in KK on 23 FEB 2018.

This is certainly a great acknowledgement for Sabah, as the hotbed for martial arts talent in Malaysia. The venue will be at Borneo Tribal Squad (BTS), which is founded by AJ Pyro and the home gym of Ann Osman. 

Ann, being the 1st Malaysian female pro MMA athlete, was the trail blazer for female MMA in Asia. The charismatic Ann has hold the torch as the ambassador for the sports in Asia and amassed a fight record of 5-4. She last fought for ONE in Kuala Lumpur in August last year. Ann has announced her retirement from fight last Nov and has taken an executive role in ONE Championship.

AJ Pyro  is Ann's coach and one of the pioneer in Malaysian MMA. He was one of the earliest MMA athlete to fight pro in ONE FC ( which was known as previously ) and won the ONE Championship Malaysian National Featherweight title in 2013. AJ last fought for ONE Championship in Jakarta in Jan 2017.

AJ now focuses on developing new local talent. His gym BTS is known as one of the gym with the highest number of pro MMA athlete in Malaysia, with the likes of aforementioned Ann, there are also Audreylaura, Kelvin Ong, Hisyam Samsudin, Allen Solomon Chong.

Ann Osman and her coach AJ Pyro

Kota Kinabalu is also fastly becoming the fight capital of Borneo with many local promotion being held here, such as STAND, JFL, FIGHT FEST, SGQ, RAMPAGE FC and COPA DE BORNEO

By having the tryout in Kota Kinabalu will certainly help promote this tropical city to more people and position Kota Kinabalu as a good spot for combat sports tourism. Sabah's has so much to offer, with its friendly people and the natural beauty ranging from lush green jungle, mesmerising coral to the majestic Mount Kinabalu, it's a heaven for tourist.

Sabah has the historical heritage of the native warrior tribe that practice headhunting in the old days.  This surely will be a subject that Rich Franklin and team will want to find out more about.

Aside from that, I bet the deliciously fresh seafood and the tantalising local Kadazan Dusun dishes will be on Rich Franklin's menu.

In Bangkok, Rich ate scorpion, perhaps when in Kota Kinabalu he will try the sago worm ( inset picture ).

On 23 FEB, the screening and tryouts process will consist of pad sessions, grappling demonstrations, conditioning exams, and an interview process, among others.
Those interested for the tryouts can come walk in on that day or register earlier
( click here to register )

( click here for Borneo Tribal Squad  location ) 

Things to prepare:

• Athletic attire
• MMA gloves and focus mitts or Thai pads
• A coach to hold pads and a grappling partner
• Passport
• A translator if you are unable to speak English

Rich (left) with Jonathan Fong and guest judges; Thai MMA stars Rika Ishige and Shanon Wiratchai (on the right ) briefing the prospect in Bangkok

Physical preparation is one thing, come mentally prepared too as the team will interview you too to evaluate your mindset

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, 

follow them on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, 

and like them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

with Rich Franklin in ONE Championship KL

ONE CHAMPIONSHIP : QUEST FOR GREATNESS - A NIGHT OF THRILLS, SPILLS AND DOMINATING WILL

KUALA LUMPUR 18 AUGUST 2017.
ONE CHAMPIONSHIP : QUEST FOR GREATNESS.

ONE returned to the city of Kuala Lumpur in the month of Malaysia's Merdeka month. Five Malaysian 'Tune Talk' Warriors enters the cage for their quest for greatness in which the night ended with mixed results.

ONE presents the fighters in the main cards in a show of glitzy videos and fireworks

In the main event of ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS, Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen of Australia completed his journey through ONE Championship’s featherweight ranks by upsetting previously-unbeaten Russian champion Marat “Cobra” Gafurov via knockout within two rounds to clinch the highly-coveted ONE Featherweight World Championship.

read my post on Martin's victory here

pix provided by ONE

In the co-main event of the evening, former world title challenger Ev “E.T.” Ting of Malaysia placed his name back in the winner’s column by overwhelming Japanese veteran and former ONE Welterweight World Champion Nobutatsu Suzuki to win by devastating technical knockout.

From the opening bell, Ting paced himself well, keeping Suzuki at range with his accurate striking before executing the end sequence. After staggering Suzuki with a combination counter, Ting lunged in with a jumping knee, backed Suzuki to the cage. He pressured him there and lifted Suzuki up in the air and slams him on the canvas. Suzuki tried to control Ev's head. Ev peppered him with short punches. Once his head got free, he postured up and rain rapid thunderous left & right which referee Olivier Coste have seen enough & stopped the fight.

watch the full fight here

Ev is hungry for a rematch with Eduard Folayang . In his victory speech, he call out again to Eduard, that he is ready anywhere, anytime.

Post fight interview, on when he wants the rematch, Ev said,
" I am ready to fight any month of the year. I am a fighter by nature and this is a luxury to fight in front of all of you. We are fighting everyday in the gym, this is just a glorified platform and we are very blessed to be here; Anytime, anytime ( for that rematch )

Ev dedicates this win to his grandmother in Sarawak. A lot of his family & relatives came to KL to support him for this fight and after this he will be visiting his grandma whom is not feeling well in Sarawak.

pix by YK TANG

pix by YK TANG

22-year-old Agilan “The Alligator” Thani, gave The "Shark" a good beating to give himself a good reeason to celebrate his birthday on 18 August 2017. His dominant performances placed himself back on the winning track with a unanimous decision victory over Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed of Egypt.

read about the pre fight story here

Showing off new skills and techniques that he learned from training with the world-famous Team Quest, Thani swamped Mohamed with his wrestling while stifling his opponent with submission attempts. The former world title challenger finished the three-round welterweight contest on a strong note, delivering crisp ground strikes to the delight of his roaring countrymen.

pix provide by ONE

Steve Dawson commented that facing Sherif whom used to fight as a heavyweight & light heavyweight presented a danger for Agilan; that his usual strength and power which he uses to great effect in his pass 6 wins will not be his strong point. But Agilan proofed him wrong when he easily lifted Sherif & slams in on the canvas a couple of times.

Even though it was a dominating performance but Agilan mentioned in post fight interview that he was not too happy as the plan was to win by a finish. His hydration was off the mark and he felt he could have done better. He will not be calling out anyone in particular for his next fight but will focus on sharpening his techniques to become a better fighter and leaving it to ONE's board to pick his opponent.

watch the hi-light

pix provided b y ONE

In a clash of high-caliber flyweights, Malaysia’s Gianni Subba captured a hard-earned victory in front of a jubilant hometown crowd by routing Japan’s Riku “The Outsider” Shibuya. Subba showcased his pinpoint accurate striking early on, peppering Shibuya with stinging right hands and spinning back-kicks in the first round.

Although Shibuya easily converted his take-down attempts in the succeeding rounds to avoid striking exchanges, Subba kept himself active on the canvas, fishing for submissions while landing the more telling blows. In the end, Subba’s efforts were rewarded with a unanimous decision.

pix provided by ONE

In post fight interview Gianni remark,
" This is my 3rd title contender fight. I just fought 3 guys who fought for the title, so I think I'm a step closer for the title. I really would like to go to Manila in November to get a victory. I'm hungry, I'm ready, I'm gonna go get it."

pix provided by ONE

“Mighty” May Ooi of Singapore disappointed the excited bunch of Malaysians supporters in Stadium Negara that night, as she scored a major victory in her ONE Championship debut by submitting Malaysian female martial arts superstar Ann “Athena” Osman in the first round.

In the early minutes, May survived a huge right hand from Osman and Ooi took matters to the canvas, where she maneuvered her cage counterpart with ease courtesy of her impeccable ground game. The 41-year-old Singaporean executed a flawless transition into a rear-naked choke that left Osman no choice but to tap out.

pix provided by ONE

Although sad that she didn't gave the fans a reason to cheer, Ann is taking the loss positively. It's a position she has been in before last year also in Stadium Negara, also losing by a rear naked choke. But Ann bounced back after that loss with a round 1 TKO victory in Feb this year. IT's a small bump in the road for her as she will be going back to the drawing board to correct her weakness and improve on her techniques & promise to be back stronger!

Christian “The Warrior” Lee of Singapore exhibited stellar form, proving himself a top featherweight contender in ONE Championship by scoring an impressive submission over Malaysia’s Keanu Subba. Both highly-touted prospects started out aggressively, but it was Lee who showed a more capable set of grappling skills. Lee spun a web of crafty grappling to overwhelm Subba as the 19-year-old Singaporean standout was able to get the submission finish in the third round, making Subba tap from a wrenching armbar.

pix provided by ONE

The rest of the results.

Filipino knockout artist Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon completed yet another scintillating finish, his second in a row, by defeating Australian submission specialist Reece “Lightning” McLaren by knockout. Belingon finished the job in just 62 seconds, dropping his Australian opponent with a hard right straight before punctuating with follow-up strikes on the ground to compel referee Olivier Coste to step in and halt the contest. The revered Team Lakay veteran recorded his seventh knockout win as a professional with the impressive triumph over McLaren.

pix by YK TANG

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Former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke of Thailand brushed off a lackluster start to topple Robin “The Ilonggo” Catalan of the Philippines via second-round technical knockout. Showcasing tremendous power with every strike and drawing cheers from the crowd after each landed blow, Dejdamrong’s thunderous knees proved too much for Catalan as the Filipino lost his footing, forcing the referee to wave it off and award the victory to the celebrated Thai kickboxer.

pix by YK TANG

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Emilio “The Honey Badger” Urrutia of the United States made a triumphant promotional debut in ONE Championship by edging out Team Lakay stalwart Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly of the Philippines in their three-round featherweight encounter. Urrutia relied on his solid ground game to pacify his Filipino opponent’s firepower in the stand-up trade, wearing down Kelly and steering him to a decisive victory by way of unanimous decision.

pix by YK TANG

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Earlier on, kicking off ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS was a strawweight encounter between wushu practitioner Rene Catalan of the Philippines and Chinese grappling prodigy Bu Huo You Ga. After dropping his opponent with a clean left straight in first round, Catalan secured top control and went to work. With a dominant top game, Catalan notched his third straight victory, defeating Bu Huo as all three judges saw the bout in favor of Catalan to win by unanimous decision.

pix by YK TANG

ONE presented a night of  fireworks, gorgeous eye candy and glorious fights in KL

next stop is SHANGHAI!

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Malaysian Warriors in ONE Championship: Quest for Greatness

Chatri Sityodtong ONE Championship Chairman & CEO regularly pointed out that ONE is always about offering talented martial artists and local heroes from each country an opportunity to shine on the largest global stage for martial arts in Asia. Embodying traditional martial arts values such as humility, respect, and discipline, these local heroes will serve to inspire hope, strength, and dreams in their respective communities.

This values and mission serves Malaysia well as ONE Championship returns to Kuala Lumpur for the 2nd time this year, aptly and returning at the month of August which is the 'Merdeka' (independence) month, in which Malaysia will celebrate it's independence day on 31 August.

This Friday night 18 August 2017, ONE Championship: Quest for Greatness, will be held at Stadium Negara, just besides to Stadium Merdeka, where our country's first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, declared three times the triumphant cry of ‘Merdeka'. This year's August is also extra special as Malaysia host the South East Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Five Malaysian MMA warriors will battle it out among the 10 bouts offered that night. In the main event is a highly-anticipated contest featuring reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat Gafurov (15-0), who rematches surging challenger Martin Nguyen (8-1) for the title.

The five Malaysian warrior launch the BAD LAB @ Watsons Online 

The five Malaysian fighters are Ev Ting, Agilan Thani, brothers Gianni & Keanu Subba & female sensation Ann Osman

Malaysian most decorated MMA fighter, Ev “E.T.” Ting was born in Kuala Lumpur but grew up in New Zealand. He is living and training out of Auckland, New Zealand, Ting owns a stellar 13-4 professional record, including four wins by submission and four exciting knockouts. A winner of four of his last five bouts over top-caliber opponents, Ting is one of the most talented competitors to come out of Malaysia.

In his most recent bout, Ting challenged ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang, falling by unanimous decision in a gruelling five-round matchup. Ting now returns to Kuala Lumpur to face another challenge in Nobutatsu Suzuki.

A 39-year-old Japanese veteran from Tokyo, Nobutatsu Suzuki is the former ONE Welterweight World Champion. With a professional record of 11-2-2, Suzuki is adept in both striking and grappling, also possessing well-rounded wrestling ability. He captured the inaugural title with a victory over veteran competitor Brock Larson in only his second fight with ONE, only to succumb to now-reigning champion Ben Askren in the bout following. That was in Kuala Lumpur. After a break from competition, Suzuki now returns as a lightweight to face Ev Ting.

This will be a stand-up war for the crowd at the Stadium Negara, and quite possibly the best bout of the evening. Ting can finish his opponents in impressive style and a variety of ways, but his last three bouts have all gone the distance.

That conditioning and experience will stand him in good stead against the bigger man, who may be tougher to handle than even Folayang, Kamal Shalorus, and Rob Lisita, all of whom resisted submission with guile and strength.

Suzuki has good power, as he showed against Phil Baroni in 2013. His naturally larger state may exacerbate this problem for Ting. It’s speed against power, in simple terms. Youth against experience may also characterise the massive matchup.

Agilan “Alligator” Thani of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, will be making his return to the ONE Championship cage following his first shot at a world title opposite reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren.

Although Thani fell short of victory against the American, he gained a great amount of experience as a result and has emerged as a more seasoned combatant. The 21-year old is 7-1 as a professional, with five of his seven victories ending in the first round. All of Thani’s victories have come by exciting finish. The young Malaysian has shown steady improvement in each outing. He is now set to take on Sherif Mohamed.

Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed is a professional martial artist from Cairo, Egypt, with a 8-3 record. The Evolution Light Heavyweight Champion, Sherif is a well-versed kickboxer and wrestler with all eight of his wins coming by finish. Of his total victories, Sherif owns four submissions and four knockouts, proving his versatility and well-rounded game. In his last bout, the Egyptian Top Team standout made his ONE Championship debut opposite Igor Subora. This time, Sherif takes on top welterweight Agilan Thani.

Malaysia’s Gianni Subba is a 24-year-old flyweight prospect from Kuala Lumpur. He spends time carefully honing his craft with talented teammates, including brother Keanu, at Bali MMA in Indonesia. A winner of five of his last six bouts, Subba is a seasoned athlete with a stellar 8-2 clip in his young career. Five of his seven wins have come either by submission or by crowd-pleasing technical knockout. In his next assignment, the crafty Riku Shibuya poses a stern challenge.

Asuka Mikami, also goes by the name Riki Shibuya. This Japanese martial arts sensation won the hearts of fans with his exciting, unorthodox style and powerful combinations. With a professional martial arts record of 13-3-2, Shibuya has figured in a series of exciting battles throughout his career.

A former ONE Flyweight World Championship title contender, Shibuya is a veteran and easily one of the most enjoyable competitors to watch. In his last bout, the 32-year-old took on Roy Doliguez in January 2016 to win a unanimous decision. It was after this bout that he realised that he suffered a bad eye injury that require surgery. After a recuperative break, Shibuya returns to take on Gianni Subba in what should be an intense matchup.

31-year-old Ann “Athena” Osman of Kota Kinabalu is Malaysia’s premier women’s combat sports star. Training out of the coastal locale of Sabah, the female warrior hones her craft at Borneo Tribal Squad, advancing her skills in various disciplines such as wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Muay Thai. A well-rounded martial artist, Osman likes to use her strength to overpower opponents and is extremely aggressive, always looking for the finish. Osman will take on Singapore’s May Ooi in her return to the ONE Championship cage.

Ann will be looking to avenge her lost in her pro debut in 2013. She lost to Singaporean Sherilyn Lim. A rematch was booked right after, schedule for Mac 2014, but Lim didn't made weight. Since then, Ann went on to build her MMA career taking up 7 fights.

Singaporean female strawweight prospect May Ooi is a professional martial artist and a ONE Championship ndebutant. With a 2-2 professional record, Ooi is a hard-working competitor possessing well-rounded striking and grappling skills. A former swimmer, Ooi represented Singapore in the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona. Today, she is one of the country’s most talented martial artists. Ooi is set to make her ONE Championship debut opposite Malaysia’s Ann Osman.

Aside from being an Olympian, May is also a trained doctor. But the life of a competitive martial artist entices her more. Even at 41, she is still fighting fit, thanks to her swimming training which buikds her endurance.

Ann told ONE 

“It is an exciting bout and a good match-up. We have different styles. She likes to take it three rounds, whereas I am very explosive. Anyone would love to finish it early, and that is what I do. 

Most of my matches are over in the first round, but we just have to be ready for what’s to come. She may try to delay and stick to her striking, but I will be ready.”


This rivalry will be getting lots of attention as recently a controversial remark by May's compatriot & Olympian swimmer Joseph Schooling about wanting to teach Malaysians “a thing or two” in their backyard during the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

22-year-old Keanu Subba of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is one of the most promising young talents in ONE Championship’s featherweight ranks. He is 5-2 as a professional after making a name for himself as a MIMMA featherweight champion.

In his most recent bout, Subba trumped fellow top prospect Ahmed Mujtaba of Pakistan, winning impressively by first-round submission. Subba’s experience inside the ONE Championship cage as a young fighter has taught him great lessons that he says has helped him improve his overall game. He is set to face Christian Lee in a highly-anticipated clash of young stars.

19-year-old Christian “The Warrior” Lee, younger brother of reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee, began his professional martial arts career on an absolute tear, railing off five straight victories by thrilling finish.

He has impressed fans with his ability to seek out stoppage wins over top-caliber opponents. In his last bout, Lee toppled Chinese prospect Wan Jianping via first-round technical knockout to improve his record to 6-1. Known as an unpredictable striker with unorthodox grappling technique, Lee is now set to face rival Keanu Subba of Malaysia.


note: some text taken from ONE Championship site