Muay Fight Night : Continuos Efforts To Unearth New Muaythai Talents in Sabah

Tuan Hj Nazri (L) with Rayner Kinsiong (R) and Mardeana of Team Karabaw

Persatuan Muaythai Negeri Sabah (Sabah Muaythai Association) is looking forward to a busy 2017. Kickstarting Muaythai in Sabah with Muay Fight Night (MFN).

MFN is another event organised by Sabah Muaythai to unearth new Muaythai talents in the state. This amateur event will be held on 8-9 April at the vicinity of Team Karabaw gym at 88 Marketplace, Kepayan, Kota Kinabalu.

MFN is sponsor by Dihnar Group and is in collaboration with Team Karabaw & Revolution Gym.

According to Tuan Hj Nazri Razak, Sabah Muaythai Association President, Sabah needs new talents in Muaythai as the association is always on the lookout for Muaythai athletes to represent Sabah for many competition around the year in Sabah & elsewhere in Malaysia, hence in the association's plan, MFN is a continuous effort to provide a platform for newbies to gain experience and a place for them to test out their skills.

Participants for MFN are open for athletes to represent their clubs, district association or even as an individuals. Sabah Muaythai aims to organise MFN once every two months. In May Sabah Muaythai will host Piala Borneo, and some of the athletes may get to be selected to represent Sabah.

Ask on how far is the progress of Sabah in comparison to other Malaysian state,...Hj Nazri explained,

"We are actually not too far behind. What we can do is to achieve more victory in and outside of Sabah. We are also doing our long term development so that our Muaythai athletes will continously be expose to new competition and training and keeping them active and moving forward all the time"

Haji Nazri also explained that Sabah Muathai athletes have positive improvement in fitness and strenght, but techniques are still something they must work on. 

On why Sabah does not see many foreign coaches, Haji Nazri explained...

"What we really need are coaches that combine the knowledge of  sport science, proper techniques and are qualified with Muaythai specific course, they can be locals, not necessarily foreigners; because cost in hiring foreigner is a challenge."

Aside from MFN, Sabah Muaythai is also planning for Inter-Club competition after the Hari Raya celebration around July-August and the Inter-District tournament around November.

Dynamite Naksoo Asia Fight Tour - Sandakan 12 DEC 2015

The land below the wind has seen tremendous growth in martial arts lately. Sabah is already the home of Jesselton Fight League for MMA and for Brazilian JiuJitSu the 5th instalment of Borneo Headhunters just concluded last 5-6 Dec. As for MuayThai, the growth is spur by Dihnar. Under the leadership of Tuan Hj Nazri, the CEO, D1FC has been a powerhouse of MuayThai event in Sabah. ( read about Dihnar in my previous blog post here ). recently in Nov, the 1st Sabah Inter-District MuayThai tournament was held in Kota Kinabalu.

Come this 12 Dec 2015, hungry MuayThai fans will again be served with a another Muaythai promotions - Dynamite Naksoo Asia Fight Tour. Happening in Sandakan at the Sports Complex. To get the crowds coming in usually it's easy to just held it where the population is , which for Sabah is at the capital Kota Kinabalu. To have this event in Sandakan goes to show the willingness of the promoter to grow the sports in the east coast of Sabah. It's good to see that organiser does not only think about easily selling tickets but also at same time invest their hard work and passion at a place where there's potential for growth.

Dynamite Naksoo Asia Fight Tour will see many great match up between local Sabahan & foreigners. There's Superfight, Super4 ladies, OCPD Cup & President Cup up for grab, there's even a Superfight Kids!

Warriors of Borneo will be rooting for Mardeana, a local Sabahan whom is no stranger in MuayThai. Fighting in D1FC and also an active MMA fighters. Deana will face Citra from Indonesia. Deana has a day time job at Dihnar but at night she turns into a fighting machine, sweating it out in drills and sparring to sharpen her skills, under the watchful eyes of Bow Sueilek.

Always cheerful around friends and most times the one that makes everyone laugh, she is also passionate about food, health food. Watching her own diet and getting her friends to eat healthily too. But when she steps in the ring, you can expect a fearless and relentless fighting machine that will bring her best into every fight

Watch out!....Mardeana ready to bring it on this 12 DEC 2015

Fight cards

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Dynamite Naksoo Asian Tour is the brainchild of Dennis O'Dea of Dynamite MuayThai from Australia. Warriors of Borneo have the opportunity to do a email interview with him to get to know him more and to also understand the objective behind this tournament.

Tell me about Dynamite? It's not just a fight gym right? You do a lot of MuayThai promotions too? When did you start Dynamite and what is the main objective

"Dynamite" was given to me by my parents when I was a kid. Since then I have kept this name and used it throughout my life and fight career. It is a representation of me in all that I do in this industry, hence I named my gym “Dynamite Muay Thai” and my show “Dynamite Naksoo” promotions.

My gym is located in central Melbourne city business district, Australia, is not only a fight gym – it is also a family gym, a place where friendly people with the love of Muay Thai congregate as we all have the same passion, values and camaraderie; together we strive for our goals, assist each other and spend time as a family. Dynamite Muay Thai may not be the largest scaled gym, we do in fact have one of the largest fight teams in Melbourne. Whether their goal is fitness or to fight we emphasize on team work, respect as our core values. I am a perfectionist so we drill a lot on “ring craft”– we welcome everyone who shares the same objectives as us.
The objective behind Dynamite Naksoo promotions is rooted from the same beliefs as when I started my gym – Dynamite Muay Thai. My partner, Lily, who is also a promoter, was my driving force to initiate Dynamite Naksoo promotions from Melbourne, Australia to across South-East Asia and possibly towards Europe. 

Dynamite MuayThai, a melting pot of race and people from different background coming together for the love of martial arts and fitness

It began from her questioning why female fighters are so scarce in fight promotions; it got me thinking about ‘fairness’ in any fight game. Muay Thai is a male dominate sport; rarely do we see fight shows promoting nearly main event female fights, let a one female only fight card.

This is one of the reasons behind why I began Dynamite Naksoo Muay Thai Fight tour – I wish to create the platform to bridge fighters etc to cross borders without boundaries, provide a fair centre ring for talented fighters to show case their hard work at a place with a crowd who shares their passion and express their love of Muay Thai. This centre stage will not be limited to only one place – but be linked with multiple places, provide an equal opportunity for fighters to cross over to countries, even continents.

Tell me about yourself...your fight career, family life and as a coach.
And also tell me about your involvement in martial arts,.. when did it start & how?

What can I say about myself? Well… I am a simple man with a big dream. Very competitive by nature, Dedication to perfection in everything I set out on doing. I am performance driven. I started my Martial Arts life when I was 7 years old. I have experienced many competitive sports including Karate, Boxing, Brazilian and Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, American Kickboxing, Silat, Stick Fighting, CQC, Sanda and JKD to name a few and cross trained in many other various sports until I was introduced to Muay Thai. 

Since then, there was no turning back. I trained hard and I competed in every opportunity that was available, even as a junior competitor fighting against older participants doubles my size and height. I managed my studies with my love of Muay Thai; even after school, when I joined the army, I still continued to use the skills and discipline I acquired over the years to become a leader and continued my path as a fighter in real life theatres of combat.

Training in Indonesia

Over the 20 years since I began as a fighter to an instructor and now a promoter – I have 109 fights, with 79 wins, 32 by the way of KO and 11 draw. I have achieved multiple Titles throughout the years. However, it was the losing fights that I treasured the most; because those experiences were what fuels me ambition to learning, to keep shaping my skills and keep my fighting spirit up. I am a fighter, and I will always keep on fighting!

My family has been supportive of my choice to make Muay Thai my life. My Mum, my Dad and of course my partner – Lily; that is why we began our gym 3 and a half years ago ‘Dynamite Muay Thai’ in the first place together. As my dream turned into reality, changes to my vision also grew. As an active fighter, I progressively challenged myself further by taking the role as an instructor; and aimed to convey the same ‘hope’ to my fellow students under my wing. I love my job, because I get to do what I love most; I love my life, because I am lucky enough to be supported by my loved ones. 

When was the first Dynamite fight being organise?

Dynamite Naksoo promotions began as a concept with my partner – Lily. Our very first show was a joint promotion with another fight promoter in Melbourne, Australia, back in 2014. That was my first experience to truly put on a ‘promoter’s hat’ and took the lead in running a professional event. There sure were a lot of things I learnt along the way; I took away very important skills and knowledge from that night.

Although, I have had experience for nearly 10 years of assisting with existing promoters to help run fight promotions; I can truly say the roles and responsibilities were versatile and most certainly much more demanding on a different level, compared to when I ran that first joint promotion as the big boss!

I read in your website that the Asian Tour was suppose to be in Indonesia...but there's a lot of issue in MT now in Indonesia, can you help summaries what is happening there. And why it happens...and how can Malaysia avoid this.

Dynamite Naksoo Muay Thai Fight tour was originally planned to travel around Indonesia first off – by seeking out underground talent and showcasing them on our show, before branching out around South-East Asia. This was simply because my family background is Indonesian – what better way than to go back to begin my dream at the land of my family’s root?! There are a lot of hidden gyms and raw talent that I have met in Jakarta, let alone the other cities of Indonesia who don’ or simply can’t get the funding of exposure to compete at a high level.

However, there are lots of factors to take into considerations before a decision is made. Circumstances change and so do planning. So when the opportunity to work with my friend – Pak Muss from Boxxtomoi came up to introduce Dynamite Naksoo to Malaysia – I believe this was an opportunity to take a step closer in making my dream for Muay Thai and passionate fighters shine on this stage called “NAKSOO” that I built and them to carry on forward.

Though, the destination may have changed to Malaysia; I still wanted to live by my words – hence, I also invited talented fighters from Indonesia who caught my attention on my many talent search visits, like Citra in the Ladies Super 4 tournament and Juhedi fighting for the OCPD Cup at my next Dynamite Naksoo show on 12th December. All the fights will be action packed!!! 

In South East Asia...where do you see the standing of Malaysia in MuayThai?

The Muay Thai scene in Malaysia is one the most established I’ve seen amongst South- East Asia. There are many great talents, and I have been lucky enough to meet and corner a fair few at a handful of Malaysian Muay events in KL and Sabah this year. Tough new bloods, with no fear but passionate about MuayThai. I honour that fighting spirit; and it most certainly fits perfectly with my objective behind running Dynamite Naksoo promotions.

Dennis in Malaysia suporting D1FC

In a year how many events do you organise? Tell me about the other events that you have done.

This Dynamite Naksoo promotions happening in December at Sandakan is our 3rd NAKSOO Muay Thai Fight installment. We plan to have Dynamite Naksoo series running throughout the year at different parts across Asia. A part from running internationally, I aim to keep a good balance of building a stronger foundation of Dynamite Naksoo back in Melbourne, Australia – as this is the primarily the place where Dynamite Naksoo originates.

I have organized a fair few fights up to this point including a caged MMA fight – whether it was locally in Australia or international around Asia; I can proudly say it was all thanks to a whole big group of behind-the-scenes team that made every show possible. From my first joint promotion in Melbourne to introducing Dynamite Naksoo into Indonesia and now to Malaysia; the journey has been amazing! I only wish to see Dynamite Naksoo Muay Thai Fight series keep rising above to an even grander scale, showcase more talent and their love passion to the world!

This Asian Fight Tour, why do you choose to held it at Sandakan?

I was lucky enough to meet a lot of great people, great fighters and learn from some of the best in the business including some who originate from Sandakan. They have always recommended Sandakan to be a great tourist place to visit; so why not start my Dynamite Naksoo - Asia Fight Tour at this beautiful place in Malaysia!

What do you aim to achieve from this Asia Fight Tour?

When I began this promotion - Dynamite NAKSOO; I always had this one objective:

"Provide a fair opportunity for ALL talented fighters to fight brightly and proudly on stage and to bridge the gap between countries giving fighters opportunities for growth and travel."

Every fighter should be given a fair chance to shine brightly in a ring; show casing their hard work, endless injuries, blood, sweat and tears, and unconditional dedication was not put to waste. Their effort and their passion are and will be witnessed by a sea of audience - cheering and supporting them.

I want to be the bridge that breaches the gap between Australia and Asia, and eventually around the world. Dynamite Naksoo will provide opportunities for fighters with talent and an ambition. Whether I will fulfil this vision or not, I CAN only and WILL only continue to make Dynamite Naksoo bigger and better each step I take.


Which fight can fight fans expect to see plenty of action? And which fighter do you think will shine?

The highlight of this Dynamite Naksoo is definitely the Ladies Super 4 title fight @ 50kg. These four talented fighters are representatives of their countries - AUSTRALIA, MALAYSIA, SINGAPORE and INDONESIA. They are all uniquely skilled and are very passionate towards the sport of Muay Thai. Which works very nicely with our vision of Dynamite Naksoo of scouting and promoting emerging talent, in particular female fighters, around the world. Female fighters are still not highly regarded in the fighting scene, I want to change that. What better way than at my own show!

In addition, the OCPD Cup fight and President Cup fight are also highlighted fights of the night, featuring local fighters such as Saifullah Pon one of my favourites and Shah - I am looking forward to seeing them back in the ring for more action!!!

With his star students Yun Zia...will she emerge victorious? or will we see Mardena making a mark for herself

In your career as a coach, what is your greatest achievement to date?

I have been an instructor for over 10 years now. I believe my greatest achievement is to be able to see the fruits of my labor, continually pass on my knowledge and experience to pupils of the same passion as me, and to watch them grow and become talented fighters in this sport. Nothing beats seeing the next generation fighters develop and grow into a technical talented fighter!

In your career as a fight promoter, which events are u most happy or proud of?

I haven't been a fight promoter for a long period of time. I have always chosen to take on a more assisting role in helping existing fight promoters with their shows; whether it is to seek out potential fighters to fill in the cards, match making, lending an extra hand during the show, hosting interstate/ international team etc. - I wanted to see what it is needed to be a 'good' fight promoter before stepping into such an important role.

Every event, whether it was with Dynamite NAKSOO or as an assisting role, I have always been very happy to be part of the show. I learnt from every experience and every show I get inspired; taking my friends for instance, Pak Haj and all involved parties in D1 - at their shows, I salute them for their awesome work in Malaysia; locally, my friend Mark "Hammer", with Warriors Way promotions; let me say this, being a 'good' promoter is definitely not an easy job!

What makes you love Muaythai? Do u see it as the most effective martial arts in striking?

With MuayThai legend Saenchai

I love the fact that Muay Thai is much more than a sport. Muay Thai is a way of life, rich in culture, tradition and heritage. It teaches the importance of Respect, discipline and honour - the history and culture of how Muay Thai has been refined and passed down from master to student for generations. Useful for wellbeing and self defense, it was most importantly used for protection and preservation of King and Country.

The art is the most technically effective, practical modern day style that can be applied to combative sports as well as compliment any other martial art element.

All the knowledge I have acquired throughout the years, I wish to continually learn and pass down to my students and their pupils in the future; not only the practicality of Muay Thai but also the way of living as human beings.

Thank you Dennis for your time in answering the above questions.
Appreciate it very much.

warm regards

Wallace

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EFN3 Kuala Lumpur 31 OCT 2015

Malaysia will see another global combat sports event happening on 31 OCT 2015 at Kuala Lumpur. EFN Champion League 3, brought to you by Elite Boxing will be held at Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, featuring 2 groups of Super 4 tournament in one night.

EFN has held 2 successful events in Bangkok. With this first event outside Thailand, EFN will look to expand regionally to cover other venue in Asia Pacific. For fight fans you can expect quality fights from EFN as they match up exceptional fighters that always bring their best to the ring.

EFN Champions League will be a series of four tournament in different venue across Asia, which the champion of each series will qualify for the esteemed muay thai King's Cup in Bangkok this December.

Tonight's Super 4 fight will see three fighters representing Malaysia. Kai Chee ( the pioneering MMA fighters of Malaysia ), Aiman ( Hitam Putih Muay Thai Gym ) and Bow Suweilek ( Dihnar Gym ). EFN3 also will feature 3 other Superfight at 63kg & 60kg, featuring 2 Malaysian - Kudin will fight Korean Kim Dong Hwan, and Iwan Merican vs Yod Police from Thailand.

EFN 3 - Super 4 Tournament

EFN 3 Superfight

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Warriors of Borneo will be rooting for Bow Suweilek, whom fight out of Borneo at Dihnar Gym in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Bow is from Thailand and has live in Malaysia for close to 7 years. He came to Malaysia to coach muay thai in a few gym and early this year Dihnar under Ir Hj Nazri has brought him to Kota Kinabalu as the head coach. Hj Nazri has a vision of lifting muay thai standard in Borneo and particularly in Sabah and bringing Bow into his gym is one of the steps to achieve this. He also is the man behind D1 Fighting Championship, the leading muay thai championship in Borneo, in which Bow has won 3 tiltle.

Fighting since he was a kid in Phuket Thailand, Bow is the most experience fighter of tonight's fights. He has wealth of muay thai experience with close to 300 fights in his records and 250 of that is a win. He won his first tilte belt when he was 9.

As a coach in Dihnar, Bow is a no nonsense type and instill strict discipline to his students. He is very willing to share his vast knowledge of the fighting arts of the 8 limbs and he expect his students to have great commitment too in order to learn & improve. But outside the gym, he is casual & friendly.

Bow and his students at Dihnar Gym

Rayner Kinsiong (ONE FC fighter) will be in Bow's corner tonight 

As a fighter Bow is technically strong and has tremendous speed. With the ability to apply various techniques at many different situation makes Bow unpredictable and makes his opponent very hard to read his moves.

In Bow's group B, at bout no. 3 will see the fight of Mostafa Ashouri from Iran vs Maroof Ozcan from Germanny. Bow will be facing a young fighter - Valdimir Shulyak from Khazhakstan in bout no.4.

In group A at bout no.1 will see a Malaysia vs Malaysia, Aiman vs Kai Chee.

Group A - Super 4

Group B - Super 4

The champion of tonight's EFN Champion League 3 will earn RM15,000 and get to fight in the prestigious King's Cup ( Royal Thai King's Birthday Muay Thai Cup ).

Respond has been very good. Tickets are selling like hot curry puff, but tickets of stadium seats RM50 are still available .
Call Potosan Corner Tel : 017 6690 115 , 017 2236 230, 012 280 1129
Or you can subsrcibe to  www.eliteboxing.tv/live online to catch it on live streaming.

Warrior Fighting Championship 2 - Karabaw represent

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Warrior Fighting Championship is back. This will be the 2nd WFC, the 1st one was back in Nov 2014, but some of the fights were called off due to rain. They are back stronger this time, with a theme - Combat Carnivale. There will be a rave party after fights which features Korea K-Pop girls group Laysha, Asia’s Top Female DJ RayRay from Taiwan, and local popular DJ Jenni-F and DJ Ramsey.

10 bouts of fights are scheduled and 1 Grand Prix Final fight for the bantamweight MMA belt.

Today 19 SEP starting at 6pm till midnight, will see 20 fighters from Malaysia, Singapore, India, Philippines, England, France and Russia.

Representing Borneo will be two fighters from Sabah. Davendra Kumar and Clement John from Karabaw Gym.

Clement will be fighting his 1st pro Muay Thai fight. But at WFC this will be done in an octagon cage. Clement hails from the quaint town of Tamparuli around 40 mins drive from Kota Kinabalu. Home to the popular local Dusun song 'Jambatan Tamparuli' and a popular stop before the journey to Mt. Kinabalu National Park. This is also home to Karabaw Gym - Tamparuli branch. Headed by coach Vallerio Gumbilai. 

Clement trains at Karabaw Gym Tamparuli whenever he's back home as he is still studying in Kuching Polytechnic, in his last year of Petrochemical Diploma. While in Kuching, Clement sometimes train at the fame Muay Thai gym of Kuching - SS Fighter.
Clement is from a family of 4 siblings, all boys. All of them is into football, only Clement venture out to martial arts. But he still plays football actively

Clement only got started in martial arts a year ago. He used to watch UFC and MMA fights in youtube during school days and decided to enroll in a martial arts gym. Coach Vallerio trained him in MMA and MuayThai. With the guidance of karabaw Gym Head Coach - Sensei Rayner Kinsiong ( ONE FC fighter ) , Clement skills improved and he started to participate in amateur MuayThai competition. For MMA Clement fought in Jesselton Fight League ( the 1st & biggest MMA fight league in Borneo ) fighting as a bantamweight, he reached the Semi Finals. He also managed to reached the quarter finals of MIMMA3 this year.

At weighing -in on 18 SEP

For this fight Clement need to bulk up for Featherweight. Clement actually took this fight in short notice. He is replacing Matt Clare of USA. Clement will be fighting Wevind Bhaskaran. He will be looking to use his favorite technique of low leg kicks to control the fight.

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At weighing -in on 18 SEP

Life is a fight. For Davendra Kumar this really rings true. During his school days in Labuan, he used to get bullied a lot. Getting fed up with not having the skills to fight back, Dave learned boxing from ex Malaysian national boxer Koh Chan Lee in Labuan.

When he got to Kota Kinabalu, he landed in the door steps of Karabaw Gym. Rayner sees the fire in Dave's eyes. Started to coach him in and his brother Gulan. Sensei Rayner train Dave in MMA & MuayThai. Coach Andy Bartholomew coach him in BJJ and Coach Ryandell Joe Kitingan ( ex Sabah state boxer ) further sharpen Dave's boxing skills.

Finding it hard to get a good paying job and with lots of financial challenges, Dave have chosen to do this full time, because fighting is what he knows best. He trains like a man possessed.  

" Probably the hardest working boy in our gym. I promised him a shot if he prove to me that he wants it bad enough! He did, everyday without fail! So i kept my words... a title shot for him at the Warrior Fighting Championship 4 men bantamweight Grand Prix Title in Penang's top event! Fighting along with some very tough opponents. Win or Lose, this is a journey every fighter would have to go through... waiting for an easy fight isn't one" - Sensei Rayner Kinsiong. 

Seing his dedication and heart Sensei Rayner signed him up for Ultimate Beatdown 17. Dave lost by submission. But this is only the beginning of Dave's journey. Moving to Pro MMA fight at Bantamweight, Dave will be facing some very formidable opponents. In this Grand Prix tile fight, he will meet an experience MMA fighter from Philipines - Gary Espinar ( 3-4-0 ).

In another bout for this title match, will see the Ultimate Beatdown 17 Featherweight Champion - Chaitanya Gavali of India vs Jonathan Clemens of the USA.

The beautiful WFC Title belt...awaiting the winner of the Grand Prix Bantamweight

Sensei Rayner with his fighters in Penang

Coach Ryandell with Dave at fight venue Khoo Kongsi

Karabaw team at WFC2 fight venue - Khoo Kongsi, Penang

Sensei Rayner has done all he can to prepared both this two fighters for WFC 2. Today it's up to them to perform in the cage. Karabaw's presence here today would not be possible if it's without the help of 0very supportive sponsors from Sabah, namely: Dihnar Group, Fitness Connection and Borneo Majubina...whom is the main sponsors

 Wishing the both the Borneon fighters all the best!.

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WFC 2 will also see the rematch of female MMA fighters ; Rachel Short of England vs Adek Omar of Malaysia. Policewoman Adek will seek her revenge after she lost by TKO to Rachel in Mixed Martial Arr - MMA on a cruise ship back in June 2015.

At Pro MMA - Middleweight, Soon Keat Lim will be representing Penang, Malaysia. His heavy hands will be meeting Nikolai Kozyrev from Russia, fighting out of AKA Thailand.

Yadwinder Singh from India is a kickboxing and BJJ champion from multiple organisations with a complete MMA background.
He will be taking on traditional martial artist Marc Guyon who's a Wing Chun master. Yadwinder is a full time fighter while Marc is a full time professional with a degree in finance from London.

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WFC 2 will see Malaysian ONE Championship fighter, Nik Harris as the commentator

And what is a fight without the ring girls?....WFC really knows how to get this right, by selecting the most eligible girls for this through a Warrior Cage Girls Search. This is certainly a first for a fight event in Malaysia. Today fight fans will get to see the the girls that won the search which was held on 10 SEP. Cheer on guys!

Some of the finalist...which one will be the Ring Girls of WFC...witness their appearance today 

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Karabaw Invasion at UB-17

This Saturday 15.8.15 will see another invasion from Borneo, this time..... it's the Karabaw-Dihnar Invasion to Ultimate Beatdown -17, in Johor Bahru.

UB is considered the pioneer of MMA competition in Malaysia & is certainly the longest running MMA event in Malaysia
It started in 2009 by Melvin Yeoh, himself an accomplished MuayThai & MMA fighter. Melvin was one of the pioneering Malaysian MMA fighter in ONE FC.

For UB-17, Karabaw-Dihnar team from Sabah Borneo, is  sending in the biggest team. Consist of  8 amatuers MMA fighters , 2 amatuer K1 Fighters & 1 pro MMA.
This team has a mixture of experience & new fighters

Welterweight: Erexy Menuel Madi ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs Goh Xi Jian ( Green Fitness )
Erexy is entrusted by Sensei Rayner Kinsiong as the team leader. Even though the responsibility is heavy looking after the team but Erexy felt honoured & excited to carry out this job successfully. Erexy 1st exposure to martial arts was in school when his father enroll him in TaeKwonDo class.
He has been training in MMA for 7 months, switching from a Muaythai gym to Karabaw, Erexy has a fight record of  (5-1-0) amateur Muaythai, (1-1-0) Pro Muaythai & (1-1-0) in amateur MMA.

Erexy felt comfortable at Karabaw. As he felt that Sensei Rayner is a very experience fighter & impart knowledge to his students generously, which enable him to grow in this sports. Erexy also value the team spirit in Karabaw which Sensei Rayner instill among all of them.

Being a leader is not new to Erexy. He works as a teaching staff in Montfort  Youth Training Center in Kinarut, Sabah. He teaches the technical subject of air-conditioning.

He loves a simple life & is easy to get along with anybody. He also value constructive feedback but despise back stabber.

His favourite techniques...TaekwonDo  back kick & MuayThai low kick.

Erexy Menuel - Team Captain

Women MMA Strawweight :Mardena Maulana ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs Anita Yeo ( Evolve MMA Singapore ) 

Mardeana Maulana - Assistant Team Captain

Featherweight: Davendra Kumar ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs CJ Suhan ( Suicide Squad Malaysia) 

Straweight: Loh Kah Kien ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs Jonathan ( Transform Gym Malaysia )

Welterweight: Masko Franklin ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs Denny Sally ( Sukda Muay Thai, S’pore )

Bantamweight: Clement John ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs Muhd Khairi (team SC S’pore)

Featherweight: Richael Amadius ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs Jun Yeoh 
( Malaysia Evelve MMA )

Rizal Allada ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs Wong Seng Chong ( Transform Gym Malaysia )

Pro card: Jason George ( Karabaw MMA Borneo ) vs Brad Robinson

( but this card was cancel as Brad pull out due to injuries )

Mohd Asmawi  ( Karabaw - KUDA HITAM ) - K1 Fight 67kg

Mohd Rashidin  ( Karabaw - KUDA HITAM ) - K1 Fight 58kg

As one of the leading martial gym in Borneo, Karabaw is lead by head coach Rayner Kinsiong.
Rayner is a Pro MuayThai & MMA Fighter.

His last fight in D1FC Rhino Invasion was a lost to Mikael Sjogren. From there on Rayner devoted himself to coaching & guiding his big pool of talented fighters. He sees many potential talent that can be very successful...and they are very much in need of exposure and this bunch are hungry for a good coach & guidance.

Karabaw is teaming up with Dihnar & Kuda Hitam for UB17. Rayner sees great potential in this group of atheletes he is bringing to UB-17.

" These are hardworking & dedicated boys & girl and I am very proud of them. I want to thank Ir Hj Nazri ( Dihnar Group & Brother Nazim ( Kuda Hitam ) for believing in me & Team Karabaw to lead this team"

Bringing in this big a team incur a lot of cost, food, accomodation and especially flight tickets to Johor Bahru. Any support to help them will really ease the burden of these fighters and enable them to focus on training and putting their hearts in the fight. The more fights these atheletes have, the more experience they will gain, and from there success will follow. Rayner is very thankful to have sponsors that support his vision & dream of making Borneo a powerhouse in MMA & martial arts.

He would like to thank his main sponsors FITNESS CONNECTION & BORNEO MAJUBINA
and also co-Sponsors , DIHNAR GROUP, TOMPINAI PRINTING & TOTAL MEGALINK

Ultimate Beatdown 17, this time will see the first time UB will crown it's first champion. Keith Aiden of Ireland from the fame EVOLVE MMA ( S'pore ) will fight Chaitanya of India for the inaugural Featherweight belt.

UB's founder - Melvin Yeoh said UB has come a long way since 2009 where it was only a small show in the cage in his gym in Johor Bahru. That time there were only 4-5 fights per show. But it was consistent, as they will organise 1 show every 7 weeks. It was more like a gym vs gym at the beginning but as MMA popularity grow, they started to invite gym from Singapore & Kuala Lumpur, and slowly from places further like Borneo & Penang in the north.

According to Melvin, UB17 offers better fight cards, the fighters are of high technical skills & dedication which he is confident will give a good show to the fans that turn up to watch. After 6 years of running, it's only now UB is offering a title shot.

" We don't want the title & belt become like McD Happy meal, so we only offer the fighters in our roaster who has climb up the ladder slowly. There are lots of fighters who jump in and ask us to offer them title shot. ...our answer is ,sorry...you have to climb the ladder."

Melvin is glad that over the years he has many genuine friends, students & his family who has pour out their heart & sweat to help him start, develop & maintain UB till today. Some of them work till 4-5am nearing event day

"I  am trully lucky and touched to have good people around me. UB does not belong to me alone but to all of us."

Melvin Yeoh - Ultimate Beatdown founder

With more MMA / martial arts event coming up around the region, UB remain a prestigious show due to it's history & reputation. And also to it's strategic location in Johor Bahru, which is in the center of South East Asia, making it easy for fighters and fans to travel.
UB is also working with other regional events to plan their fight schedule so that events won't clash. This will enable fighters to also plan their fight & get more exposure.
Mutual respect produce mutual benefit.

Through it's history, UB has produce lots of notable & credible fighters in the region. Names like Hanif Zainal, Fouzein 'Underdog', Jing Yi Chong, Jun Minion, Brad Robinson, Nik Harris, Benedict Ang, Keith Aiden, Nick Lee, Agilan Thani, Major Overall, Edward Kelly are just a few well known names that has fought in UB before.

Warriors of Borneo hopes that Team Karabaw-Dihnar will be successful in their outing and become part of the growing list of great fighters that has come out from UB.

Wishing Team Karabaw-Dihnar all the best. Win or lose is not the ultimate goal, but fight with all your heart, never quit, ...unleash the Karabaw strenght in you & fight hard with your Borneo spirit. Bring glory to Borneo!