RAINFOREST CHALLENGE GRAND FINALE @ IMAGO

On May 10, I posted a review on DRAGON RUN, a 6km run with obstacles base on martial arts. At the end of the review I mentioned that how nice it would be to have this type of event in Sabah. Well I guess my wish came true. IMAGO Mall to celebrate the Kaamatan - Harvest Festival Month of Sabah, built an obstacle course challenge call RAINFOREST CHALLENGE right in the middle of its center concourse – The Oval.

The concept of this challenge is based on the beautiful nature of Sabah. With the setting of Sabah's rainforest, this obstacle course is a test of speed, agility and fitness. Anyone can join, just spend RM50 in accumulated receipts, and redeem your entry ticket on the same day of purchase to enter! Shoppers stand to win some limited edition Imago merchandise and vouchers. This challenge started on 13 MAY 2016, and each week the top 6 qualifying time will automatically be entered to the Grand Finale Challenge, on the 12 June 2016, this Sunday.

In the finale, the weekly winners will be teamed up with a guest celebrity sports personality. Each of these guests will lead their team to get the best time to finish. The team captain will need understand the different strength its members to enable him/her to strategize who to go first. More prizes will be given away during The Rainforest Challenge Grand Finale for the best team and best overall athlete!

So who are these team leaders? Well before that let’s see what do contestant need to do in the RAINFOREST CHALLENGE. All together there’s 5 challenges.

1st Challenge is call Dangerous Steps. These are stools-like steps at different height and the top is rotatable. Looks easy but when you are in a rush, as the top is rotatable, a slight misstep may result in you ending on the floor.

2nd Challenge : Dangerous Vine. This is where Ninja skills come in handy. Balance is the key here as you maneuver yourself across a hanging rope by holding on to a parallel rope on top.

3rd Challenge: Rolling Log. It’s made up of 3 big cylindrical ‘log’. These logs are stationary on its position but it can spin on its axle. In the weekly challenge, these logs are left unmanned, but in the Grand Finale, there will be crew there to spin it; and spin it fast they will. These makes the challenge much tougher as contestant will need to really have excellent timing, balance and speed to get through this part.

4th Challenge: Spider Web. This is a maze like contraption of mad criss crossing ropes. Going into these web of ropes is certainly a sure way to get yourself tangle up. Contestant need spider like abilities to control their bodies and limbs to move forward and out of the entanglement. The good news is…organizer will add on more ropes in the Grand Finale. I am so looking forward to people get frustrated here. So patience and calmness will also be a virtue in this challenge. Contestant... start meditating.

5th Challenge: The final challenge is call Warrior Blow. As the culture of Borneo, where local natives such as Dusun and Murut uses blow pipe to hunt, contestant will need to relive this and must hit the bullseye or at least the yellow area.

After completing all this challenge, contestants need to run to press the buzzer ala American Ninja to mark the end of the challenge.

Sounds like fun right? Ok so who is the team captain? these ( below ) was the original line up, but there's a slight change now.

Let's introduce you all one by one to the team captain.

Allen Solomon Chong. A popular figure in the martial arts world. A pro MMA fighter, he is the winner of the 1st MIMMA Lightweight belt & The finalist that was selected to represent South East Asia in UFC's :The Ultimate Fighter China, Allen is an architect...hmmm. So will he uses his architectural skills to figure out the best way to win? Allen also founded Alpha MMA; with a Ninja logo, Allen is gear up to bring home the grand prize for his team.

Original picture by Deb Gauges 

Kevin Andrew. A well known name in the fitness industry. Kevin is the Sabah state team leader for the hugely successful nationwide weight loss progrom JK1M ( Jom Kurus 1 Malaysia ). Kevin also fought MMA before but has put in his full focus now on coaching fitness. Being a very experience fitness coach, Kevin is confident of leading his team for the Grand Prize.

Another fitness celebrity, this is Adreanna Joyce. She is the the team leader for the JK1M Alamesra area. Fitness is Adrenna's passion and she can motivate people very effectively. These are qualities she believes will help her and her team emerging champion! 

Finaly, last but not least. Alexis Akang. He's name may not be familiar yet. Alexis is the replacement for Rayner Kinsiong ( Team Karabaw founder and ONE Championship pro MMA fighter ), Rayner had to decline participation due to commitment to work. 

Alexis is Rayner's brother in law. Only17 and being the youngest of all the team captain but Alexis is known as Sabah Muaythai prodigy. He participated in a number of competition last year and already achieve considerable success. He is improving in his fighting skills by the day but for this Rainforest Challenge, Alexis will use his youth and vigour to outsmart the rest to make sure his team win this challenge.

This looks like a battle between the fitness guru and the martial artist...so who ya got?

Thanking the foresight of IMAGO Mall management for creating such event in Sabah, I felt that by having our local martial arts and fitness personality as a highlight in their event certainly acknowledge the drawing power of these personality. Surely their team members from their own gym and affiliates will come in droves to watch and support them.

At the end of the day, this event brings together everyone to have healthy fun; and using an obstacle course challenge promotes healthy lifestyle and creates awareness on fitness. 

Grace One will be sponsoring ADIDAS apparel for the team captain

Personal Best time will win a SAMSUNG NOTE5 with VR gear. Best team, will win FitBit gear

Let's all go down to IMAGO Mall this Sunday 12 JUNE 2016, to watch a local mini version of Ninja Warrior.  For more infor please call Ardie 010-957 9748 or IMAGO Mall 088-275 888

want infor, look for Ardie

PAN ASIAN BJJ 2016

Manila is slowly but surely emerging as a mecca for BJJ ( Brazilian Jiu JitSu) in South East Asia. Through the works of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation of Philipines( BJJFP ) , many BJJ competitions has been organized, to name a few; Philipines International Open, Luzon Open, Cebu Open, Asia Pacific Gi & No Gi Submission International Open, and not forgetting Pan Asian Jiu Jitsu International Open.

Pan Asians is widely considered the biggest and most premier Jiu Jitsu competitions in South East Asia. For Sabah’s participation. It was way back in 2006 when Allen Solomon Chong, a young spritely BJJ blue belt participated in his 1st Pan Asians against international competitors and won a silver.

Over the years Allen has grown in his BJJ knowledge. He is now a brown belt and has used his grappling skills to win MIMMA season 1 Lightweight Belt and becoming the only South East Asian to be selected for The Ultimate Fighter China. Allen’s passion for BJJ lead him to form Alpha MMA and Persatuan BJJ Sabah ( read about Allen’s journey of BJJ here in my pass post ) to raise the awareness and skill level of BJJ in Sabah.

Allen with his wife Carol starting daughter Lana in BJJ

This year his gym Alpha MMA send 5 competiors to Pan Asians. Another team from Sabah, Borneo Tribal Squad send an all female team of 5, which is led by Ann Osman

the Alpha's ninjas

BTS's women warriors

Warriors of Borneo caught up with Allen for a short chat.

Aside from Pan Asian what other BJJ competition in Asia that is consider top notch?
Japan's Asia open is definitely top of the list. All competitions are good competitions. Its the thrill n fun of the sport. Like my lecturers always said: It’s the journey and process, not the destination, is what truly matters.

What is the best result so far for Sabah in Pan Asians?
I think the best result is the personal growth and expansion of vision for the individual competitors going up there and letting it all hang. Medals are important in statistics, but I value the hard-nosed bronze medalists who got the chips stacked against him in every turn of the bracket; vs the gold medalist who only had one match to fight in his category.

Does participation from Sabah club all fall under Persatuan BJJ Sabah or they can go as an individual or on own gym banner?
They can do whatever they want haha. Sabahans are wild things like that. The association job is merely to aid the athletes in whatever way possible. Primarily with monetary aid and flight tickets. But I think it’s the unseen work by the coaches who pay attention to improving their team mates and spending extra time hanging back and trouble shooting for the beginners that should receive laud.

Is there a unified Malaysian team?
Is there a unified Sabahan political party?
We are the only BJJ association registered at state level in Malaysia. Next step is federal, but we need 6 more states to form an association for that to happen. Bureaucracy 

Sabah has been on the forefront of BJJ comp with PBjjS in Headhunters and Sabah Open...how has this contributed to the quality of BJJ in Borneo?
I think our level of ground work is evident. Check out the talents coming out of the woodwork even in mma scenes. They’re mostly ground savvy by now. Mostly.

COPA da Malasia has started 3 years ago...how does this add to the mix?
The more competitions the better. We hope to see BJJ tournaments every month eventually.
In more developed countries, they have tournaments every week. The more exposure the better for the sport.

What is your best memories in Pan Asians?
My wife Carol submitting her way to gold medal when she was my girl friend at the time. With techniques we worked on when we first trained. She's an amazing woman!

In your opinion what has Philipine done right for BJJ that we can learn from and how far are thy ahead of Malaysia?
They have a lot of opportunities to ply their trade. Competitions and MMA fights. They also have more accessibility to foreign talents and the community travels abroad a lot to compete and train. Now they have a lot of local grown black belts and even mundial champs

For local competition is there enough referee to judge an event? Or we still in need of more trained officials?
We definitely need more training. But my coach in Singapore is a legit black belt and we have many Brazilian black belts in West Malaysia now, so we can draw on their support

What is your hope for Alpha's team this year?
To infinity and beyond! Every time!

What is your hope for BJJ in Sabah specifically and Malaysia in general?
My hope is that the new generation achieves every accolade we missed out on during our tenure. The youth are the future and we hope to set a good precedence and example to accelerate their growth

Keeping the Malaysian flag flying

BJJ has come a long way as the 'weird' martial arts. Lots of people, even among martial artist in the arly days does not understand the techniques and the practicality of BJJ. With the popularity and growth of MMA and the successcof MIMMA, more people in Malaysia now are aware and understand what BJJ is about. But there's still much work to do and Allen is keeping busy with upcoming Sabah Open BJJ in August 13.

Warriors of Borneo hopes that Malaysian participating in Pan Asians this year will do well and even if they don't win medals, to learn from the experience and improve on their weakness. Slowly but surely we Malaysians too can excel in this sports and put Malaysia in the map of international BJJ!

Ev 'E.T.' Ting in Borneo

E.T. in Borneo
Ev Ting, the raising star of ONE Championship and belt contender for featherweight drop by in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in March for a seminar at two of Sabah's top martial arts gym; Alpha MMA & Team Karabaw.

Ev was in Sabah at the invitation of Sabah's fighter Adrian Tham, Rayner Kinsiong and Allen Solomon Chong, as both Alpha MMA & Team Karabaw collaborate to organize Ev's seminar.
It was certainly great to have a young successful fighter of Ev's calibre to share his techniques and knowledge among Borneo's fighter; giving them inspiration and motivation to excel. Having a heart of gold too, as the seminar fee's was not fixed and participants pay on what they feel is worth. And all the proceeds will be channel to local charity.

Eve received a memento from the Sabah's warrior -  'tanjak' a local Sabahan natives headgear. 

Ev 'ET' Ting holds an MMA record of 11-3-0, Ev currently has 5 wins in ONE Championship.
He's on a two fight winning streak after dominating wins of submitting two well known fighters from Philippines with guillotine choke in his last two fights. His only defeat was at the hand of Marat Gufarov, the current ONE Championship featherweight champion, which was back in May last year.

Fight record from tapology.com

Ev was born in Malaysia 26 years ago. Both his parents are Sarawakian and after graduated studies in England started a family in Kuala Lumpur. Eventually Ev's dad sold off his share in a timber company and grab on a opportunity to migrate to New Zealand. In this new land of the Kiwis, Ev's involvement in sports started with football. Actively playing throughout his teenage years, Ev won various award such as MVP ( most valuable player ) and Most Improved Player; but personally to him his great highlights was being captain in his final year of the first XI and placing second in the season ever in the schools history.

After completing high school, his family moved to different suburb in Auckland. Being distant from friends and familiar team, Ev's stopped football but he wanted to stay active fulfill his urge to compete. At this juncture an individual sport like martial arts really made sense to him. So it all fell into place and he enrolled in martial arts classes at Auckland MMA. 
"Once I joined, I never looked back. I've always had a interest in martial arts but never got to fulfill it until I started competing which fired my interest for MMA even more."

Warriors of Borneo managed to got hold of Ev during his time in Sabah for an interview.

Any fond memories of your early years in Malaysia? 
My best memories in Malaysia was playing on the streets with over 10 of my neighbour's kids, racing around on our bikes. One fond memory was when a monkey broke into my house and broke alot of things, but later befriended with me for a day before animal control came and collected him.
My personality through my up-bringing and experiences allows me to be very direct and have a straight-forward and positive attitude. 

You started your MMA in Auckland MMA, is MMA well develop in NZ? How is it compare to the Malaysian scene?
MMA in NZ has been around for over 10 years. It never had the spotlight Malaysia has now on it with it only going big in the last 3 years.
There are similarities between the two scenes, all fighters can be very hearty and almost stubborn at times. The differences would be in NZ we could care less about logos or looking good, we just want to fight. However, I can blabber for hours on the positive benefits of martial arts contributing to our community wherever we are in the world :) The Malaysian scene is coming up quick with stars like Gianni, Keanu, Aiman and Agilan coming up real quick.

You also have been training in Vietnam & Bali right? What about Malaysia? Tell us about this?
Currently I am a coach at Saigon Sports Club in Ho Chi Minh City, we have a good gig going there and the gym speaks for itself if you go look it up.
Bali MMA is full of monsters under 155lbs, this was where I spent my last training camp, I have a good network with the team there and I believed in their suitability and skills to help me peak for my camp for my last fight. 

In Malaysia I have had short term contracts at top gyms such as Muay Fit, Klinch MMA, however I have yet to spent a full fight camp here but I have visited nearly 10 gyms over the last 3 years. I would love to build a team here one day when the stars allign and things work out.

You spend short years in Malaysia the rest in NZ...what makes you wanna represent Malaysia as a fighter?
It is always an honor to represent my birth town, especially when ONE Championship came aboard they wanted to promote asian fighters, at that time i was working at Klinch MMA so everything made sense. Ultimately I represent myself and the universe, I do not believe in divide and conquer / nations vsing nations.

Do you speak Chinese? What about Malay? What is your chinese name?
My Chinese/Mandarin is only at 50-60% capacity, my Malay is only the greetings. I wish to find a tutor one day when I can sustain a living in Malaysia.
My Chinese name is Chan Sing Ting which is also the exact translation of my english name. 

How did the Kota Kinabalu seminar came about? Is this your first time in Sabah? How do you find the quality of fighters here? What positive aspect does Sabah fighter posses and what do we lack of and need to improve on?
It was my first time in KK, day before I left I spoke to Adrian at the MIMMA Trials in KL, from there he informed the big dawgs Allen and Rayner to set up some training and seminar for me. I always believe in giving back to the sport and I thought this would a great idea and at the same time I get to train with the best in Sabah.
Sabah fighters are by far the heartiest I have seen in Malaysia, however there are still some small details they need to master before going professional, it will all come with mat-time and experience.

Which are the places that you have visited in Sabah? Which is the most memorable? What do you think of Sabahan?
Most memorable would be Sapi Island where i had a wonderful time snorkeling with fishes, ziplining between islands and also losing my Iphone 6s to a splash of Borneo sea water!!

What's your favourite Malaysian food, why? What type of food have you tasted here in Sabah? Anything you find peculiar or interesting?
Favourite Malaysia food would be the typical Nasi Lemak, however I am very particular with the sambal sauce that comes with it. I find that every restaurant or chef that cooks it will have their own style. Seafood in KK is by far my favorite in South East Asia. 




When is your next fight? Will you be pushing Victor Cui for a rematch with Marat? Looking back at ONE FC27...what did learn from the loss, and what you think will make a difference if you meet Marat again?
Marat displayed a world class grappling in our last fight, from that fight I understood what it takes in this game to become successful. Therefore next time we step in that cage, no respect will be given, with inner peace I will perform everything I am capable of. I will beat Marat.
One Championship needs to feed my hunger, I'm starving !

ONE's mix rules, allowing soccer kicks, knee to down opponent, elbow 12 to 6, etc; present a more dangerous situation in the cage vs UFC's unified rules....what do you think of this? Does it make ONE's fighter more formidable?
I believe these rules set my style of fighting better and I am 100% for these rules. If you really think about it, it is not too bad, gladiators back in the day didn't even know who they were fighting and they didn't get paid for it.. haha

You are supporting ONE's new weight cutting rules, are you always walking around in featherweight? ( 65.9 - 70.3kg ) Do you think weight cut is dangerous to fighter?
With new policy of fighting at walk around weight I am now officially a Lightweight on their new standards. Weight Cutting is dangerous and jeopardizes athlete's performances and should not be practiced.

Tell us a bit on your early years ( 4 -5 years ago ) when you just started fighting Pro. What drives you then?, and what motivates you now?
Back then I had a hunger to fight, and i still do. I am motivated everyday to become better in my career, because this is the most honest career I can think of. Reward is always the extra motivation but I do this because I prefer it over any other job.

Early days of Ev's pro MMA career at legend FC

You have plenty of finishes in your fight record with strikes, but recently your last 3 wins are by choke, do you like to start out striking or bring the fight to the ground? What is your favourite move?
Favorite move is always to knock my opponent out with one strike. However, my first ever win in MMA was also with the same choke. I am all about being efficient in putting my opponent away.

How do you unwind after a hard training? Your favourite cheat meal?
After hard training would be hydration, good recovery food.
Favourite cheat meal(s)...... lol anything with peanut butter and ice cream.

Any personal mottos you live by? Anyone you look up to or motivates you?
I used to look up to the greats like Tyson, Fedor, but now my motto is to become the 'best version of my self'. Working on small things at a time.

Bonus questions? If you are the director of Superman vs Batman, who will win and why?
In the final scene, Ev Ting would descent between the two and challenge Ben Affleck & Henry Cavill to a real fight.

Thank you Ev for your time and being here in Sabah!


Story by:

Mata Leao Results

Johan Julian of Kinabalu Fighters, founder Fight Fest dream of having a martial arts carnival where multiple discipline is contested in a single event, hence the name Fight Fest. In 2015, he successfully organised the first two Fight Fest event where, MMA & Kickboxing was featured. Fight Fest Mata Leao is the further progression of his dream where submission grappling is added.

Submission grappling competiton in Sabah was pioneered by Persatuan BJJ Negeri Sabah under Allen Solomon Chong when he organised Headhunters Challenge back in 2010. He then progress to organised the biggest grappling competition in Borneo - Sabah BJJ Open last year. 

Fight Fest - Mata Leao gives Borneo warriors another avenue to test their skills and gain more experience to prepare themselves for the 2nd Sabah BJJ Open in August 2016.

Mata Leao is Portuguese for "lion killer" a common name for a submission grappling technique used to choke & disable opponents.The tournament feature ADCC grappling rules and was held on March 13, 2016 at the Kompleks Likas foyer.

Below are the complete results.

WHITE:
**********
FEMALE Absolute
Gold - Tira BORNEO TRIBAL SQUAD
Silver - Liyana Natasha binti Ahmad KMMA

JUVENILE:
50kg: -
Gold - Mohd Rayyan KINABALU FIGHTERS
Silver - Mohd Dean Syukri Mohd INDEPENDENT

JUVENILE ABSOLUTE:
Gold - Mohd Rayyan KINABALU FIGHTERS
Silver - Arric Yap VALOR

MALE:
54.5kg: -
Gold - Felicisimo SABAH TOP TEAM
Silver - Teo Kai Xiang VALOR
Bronze - Amirul Ian Rashidee INDEPENDENT

61kg: -
Gold - Lennon Henry ALPHA MMA
Silver - Mohammad Hasbullah Sanmin KMMA
Bronze - Rio BORNEO TRIBAL SQUAD

67kg: -
Gold - Justin Lo STUDIO23
Silver - Fadzli Hisham KINABALU FIGHTERS
Bronze - Abraham Jacob Maringking KARABAW
Bronze - Lennon Henry ALPHA MMA

73kg: -
Gold - Kelvin Ong BORNEO TRIBAL SQUAD
Silver - Ericcory Love Joy Akisin KMMA
Bronze - Michel Chin VALOR

Gold - Johari Aliakbar 69kg KMMA
Silver - Jonah Masudal 71kg VALOR
Bronze - Rahman Wahid Tahir 73kg VALOR

79.3kg:-
Gold - Terrance Sak SABAH TOP TEAM
Silver - Samuel Gong WARMONGER
Bronze -Sahi BORNEO TRIBAL SQUAD

85.3kg:-
Gold - Darren Jiwan Lo VALOR
Silver - Anthonisius James VALOR
Bronze -Joseph BORNEO TRIBAL SQUAD

Over 91.3kg:-
Gold - Abdul Muiz Serakan VALOR
Silver - Freddy Billy KARABAW
Bronze -Yusop Masiludin KMMA
Bronze - Alexio INDEPENDENT

WHITE ABSOLUTE:
Gold - Muis Serakan VALOR
Silver - Anthonisius James VALOR
Bronze - Lennon Henry ALPHA MMA
Bronze - Arric Yap VALOR

BLUE:
**********
61kg
Gold - Anrian Fabian ALPHA MMA
Silver - Ann Osman 66kg BORNEO TRIBAL SQUAD

76kg
Gold - Hisyam BORNEO TRIBALSQUAD
Silver - Raphael Moa STUDIO23

BLUE ABSOLUTE:
Gold - Hj Abdul Hadi Bakir BUSIDO MMA
Silver - Justin Lo STUDIO 23
Bronze - Anrian Fabian ALPHA MMA
Bronze - Raphael Moa STUDIO 23

Participants came from fight gyms from around Sabah and also from Penang, Brunei & Sarawak.

ONE Championship fighter Ann Osman from Borneo Tribal Squad came but could not find another female in her category. Being the champion that she is, she agreed to compete in the men 's category and won herself a silver medal. Her opponent from Alpha MMA, Anrian Fabian who brought home the gold.

Ann's team mate Hisyam Sam who recently became the WBF Asia Pacific Light Weight Champion in boxing won himself a gold medal. Meanwhile Tira, also from BTS whom debut in her pro MMA fight in Singapore FIghting Champion 2 in Feb, also won gold.

Mohd Hasbullah of KMMA who is JFL Bantamweight Champion & Fight Fest II MMA Champion also competed to further hone his grappling skills and  brought home a silver medal. 

Sabah Top Team two representative, Felicisimo & Terrence Sak won gold using their Luta Livre knowledge coached by Antonnio Batistessa.

Gold medalist from Sabah Top Team

The referee of the tournament was Persatuan BJJ Sabah President & MIMMA Season 1 Champion Allen Solomon Chong.

Allen Solomon Chong refereeing the tournament with the help of Michael Chong...here with their team ALPHA MMA

"I'm very happy to see the support shown by the private sector in the sport of BJJ. We are also happy that our Persatuan is tasked as a sanctioning body for grappling events and we will do our part to ensure fair and safe practices. More events equal more opportunities for the youth to develop their skills. Sabah boleh! - Allen Solomon Chong."

Johan and his Kinabalu Fighters team

The Heat is On - MIMMA4

2016 is the year of Fire Monkey. It’s certainly scorching lately. With El Nino is in full effect, the weather in Sabah is so hot & dry. The local political scene is experiencing a fiery time. But there’s a welcoming heat that will burn the passion of all martial artist out there. The heat from MIMMA4 ( Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts ). Fire…aptly chosen as the theme this year is exactly what it intend to do, into the 4th season, MIMMA4 continue to blaze the path as the best amateur MMA tournament in Asia if not the world.

This weekend of 5-6 MAC, happening at 1 Borneo Hypermall, Kota Kinabalu is the 2nd leg of the tryouts, after last weekend where it began at Penang.

The venue; 1 Borneo Hypermall is ready to receive fighters

The spark ignited in 2013, as a platform to nurture and grow local Malaysian talents from the MMA scene, by preparing a tournament for amateurs to contend and put their highly honed skills and countless hours of dedicated training to the test. During its first season, MIMMA has managed to become the central entity for all MMA hopefuls, opening the eyes of the public about the limitless potential of the sport. Records were broken and benchmarks were forged in its second season, and in its third season history was made when MIMMA introduced two new categories ( Foreign Pride and Women MMA ) to further enhance the development of the sport in the country, sealing its stature as the gold standard of amateur MMA in the world today. 2016 will see a continuation of hard work put into improving MIMMA as a proper platform for amateur MMA hopefuls to start their journey as well as injecting new innovation to ensure the local MMA scene stays vibrant and ever-expanding.

Tune Talk is the driving force behind MIMMA. Being one of the youngest but most innovative telco in Malaysia, it extends its innovative way of doing things to MIMMA4 , where MIMMA4 will be shifting most of its operations online, fully utilizing its presence, beginning with a fully digital registration process for all amateur MMA hopefuls in order to ease the flow during the day of the tryouts.

Go online to register yourself as a fighter

At the launch of MIMMA4 in Jan 2016, with Borneo Champion in the middle, Jace Law-Lightweight Champ 2015 & Joanna Yap Female Champ 2015 from Sarawak ( photo credit -YK Tang )

Jason Lo, CEO of Tune Talk stated, “Initially, we wanted to adopt a sport with which we could truly associate with and we felt that MMA was it for us. It is a sport that demands discipline, dedication and passion. This aligns with Tune Talk as we are also fighters in our own right, going up against the big telcos in Malaysia. Early on, we created this great relationship with ONE Championship to ensure MMA became well known in Malaysia, but that’s not enough for us because there is a lot of MMA potential here. With the guidance of ONE Championship, we created the Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts.”

“It is 2016 and we now have 2 MIMMA Champions fighting and making a huge impact in ONE Championship. This is just the start as we expect more champions to make the transition into fighting professionally soon. Tune Talk is now the frontrunner in both the amateur and professional MMA scene in Malaysia and this will continue as it will take the Malaysian MMA scene to the next level, ensuring our goal of making Malaysia the MMA hub of the region completely materialize in the near future,” he added.

For those new to MIMMA, the tryouts is a selection process for MMA fighters to qualify for MIMMA Tournament. Fighters will be judge on 3 stage, striking, ground game and sparring, where fighters need to show how they put together skills at striking and grappling to convince the judges that they possesses not just the techniques but also the heart and motivation to fight. Selected fighters will go through the ladder match, quarter finals, semis and the contender fights at Paradigm Mall, Petaling Jaya. The grand finals usually are held in a indoor stadium sometime in Oct.

Striking ( photo credit-YK Tang )

Grappling

Put it all together now...

Sabah, as part of Borneo, the headhunters land has always been a succesful hunting grounds for MMA talents. In the 1st season itself, Sabahan such as Allen Solomon Chong and Adrian Tham became the inaugural MIMMA Lightweight and Heavyweight champion respectively. Sabah also is home to reknown MMA athlete such as Rayner Kinsiong, AJ Pyro and Ann Osman, whom all fought as pro in ONE Championship. In season 3 we saw, Sabahan Darren Low defending his Heavyweight belt and 3 Sabahn as grand finalist in Hafizul Hakeem, Felicia Yunus & Effendy Kalai.

Next weekend 12-13 MAC, will see a few martial arts tournament happening. The prestigious Piala TYT Sarawak for Muaythai will be held at Bintulu and Fight Fest : Mata Leao Submission Tournament at Kota Kinabalu. Perhaps this may affect the numbers of fighters coming for the tryouts. As the local fight scene grows this is inevitable. Nevertheless athletes that's interested to make a name for themselves in MMA, can still go for tryouts at other states.

in case you miss out KK Tryouts, these are the dates for other venue

Major gym such as Team Karabaw, lead by head coach Rayner Kinsiong will invade 1 Borneo with at least 40 fighters for the tryouts. Hafizul will return again this year. Will he be able to use the experience from 2015 to secure a belt this year? Experience fighters such as Douglas Gumbilai ( MIMMA3 Semifinalist), Kent Tham ( JFL Heavyweight Champion 2015 ), Masko Franklin ( JFL Middleweight Champion 2015 ) and Erexy Emmenuel will also have another go this year.

Team Karabaw, receiving a visit from Datuk Jahid Jahim last week to show support at their Tamparuli branch

Alpha MMA, founded by Allen Solomon Chong, where Felicia Yunus trains at,  this year will send 4 to 5 fighters, but Felicia will be taking a break from MMA and concentrate on BJJ this year, but watch out for Liew Ming Lun, a product of Persatuan BJJ Negeri Sabah's youth program, Liew is a BJJ prodigy and has been working hard on adding striking to his arsenal. Liew just turn 18 and is very determined to achieve glory in MMA.

Liew Ming Lun...dream of being in the UFC one day.

Meanwhile from the gym that produces Malaysian 1st female pro MMA fighter-Ann Osman, Borneo Tribal Squad, will see 4-5 fighters participating.

Borneo Tribal Squad

Sabah Top Team lead by Italian pro fighter Antonio Battistessa, whom is a regular in MIMMA as one of the officials will be sending 10 fighters.

Sabah Top Team

Meanwhile from Keningau, KMMA, will send 4 fighters. One of them being the Jesselton Fight League (JFL )Bantamweight Champion – Hasbullah Sanmin. The ferocious fighter has develop well ever since his lost in ladder match in season 3 due to inexperience in grappling. He has improve by heaps in his ground game through the tutelage of his coach Mohd Bakri and will be the one to watch for this season.

with Md Hasbullah when he emerge as JFL Bantamweight Champion in 2015

With the help of MIMMA, MMA has become more popular and as more fights gym opens, more fighters are born. Gyms are also bringing in experience foreign coaches to enhance the skills of locals and to elevate local MMA standard.

The early seasons may see many fighters are basically either striking or grappling dominant, be prepared to see this 4th season where fights will be more technical and where fighters are more well rounded in all aspect of martial arts. Many who come will be experienced fighters as some would have participated in the many local tournaments that was held througout the year.

Fighters that presevere and do not give up will eventually reap the reward, just look at what Muhammad Aiman has achieved. He was the finalist in Season 1. Reached the Grand Finals in Season 2, but had to withdraw as he miss weight. In Season 3, he started all over again and eventually emerge as MIMMA3 Featherweignt Champion!

( photo credit-YK Tang )

Another good example is Jace Law from Sarawak. Not satisfied of reaching the semi finals in Season 2, last year Jace came back with a vengeance to dominate the Lightweight division with his signature JKO finishes and become the MIMMA 3 Lightweight Champion.

On branding sides,  making a first time appearance at MIMMA will be VENUM and AMNIG. Venum debut as the official apparel sponsors and AMNIG as the official apparel sponsors. Potosan Corner as the sole distributor of VENUM will set up stall to sell their products.

Bring on the HEAT!

wanna look dapper like these MIMMA referees.....

...get your AMNIG apparel at MIMMA Tryout- KK

wanna fight like a champion in the cage....( photo credit-YK Tang ).

...get your VENUM fight gear from POTOSAN CORNER

...but if you just wanna look cool like Matt Pellino.... ( photo credit-YK Tang )

...then come on down to 1 Borneo at MIMMA4 Tryouts for some awesome MIMMA4 merchandise

Much thanks to all the sponsor, as without them we fight fans will be deprive of MMA action