BRYANT TAN : COMING BACK FOR A FIGHT

October last year was a bitter sweet time for Bryant Tan. Sweet because in his first foray into MMA. he managed to go all the way in MIMMA season 4 to the grand finals for the Middleweight category.

Bitter because, in the Grand Finals, going against the towering Muhd Meeraj ( defending Middleweight Champion ), Bryant lost by TKO in round 1. Meeraj clearly have the upperhand in the striking game from his years in Wushu and also a pro boxer.

Challenging Mirage Khan for MIMMA4 Middleweight title last year

(Click here to read about how Bryant started his martial arts journey) 

After all the hard training and preparation, no doubt Bryant felt dissapointed with the lost. Nevertheless he thank his grappling coach Albert Lim, his boss at that time Olivia Ling and his Muaythai coach Lucas Lau for being there supporting him through his MMA journey.
"As the Chinese saying goes..., for the 3 minutes show people see on the stage, there are 3 years of  hard work behind it. People usually only see the end result but not the process" 
uttered Bryant.

After MIMMA, returning back to Kuching, Bryant went back to training and coaching but he felt that something was not right. he was not in the right frame of mind,...somehow he felt he lacks motivation to go forward. Deep down inside he felt the the need for change too. A change not to something new but a change back to familiar ground. Bryant felt that he needs to go back to his home town Sibu and back to his home gym Borneo Top Team

The gym he was coaching at - URBAN APE went through partner changes, which gave birth to Rebel Fitness Studio in May this year. Bryant continue to work at Rebel Studio till July. After the break up with his girlfriend, he made the final decision to move back to Sibu.

"I want to thank Rebel Fitness Studio, for giving me chance to learn and work with them. They all are good! Special thanks to my boss Olivia Ling, my teammates; Andrew, Aaron Yung, Gerald Tan, Stephen Onn, Chloe Tay, Malcom Wu & Rafael."

with his ex colleagues at REBEL during its official opening

"I'm coming home to Sibu, as a fighter I felt Borneo Top Team (BTT) is best for me. It's a real fight gym. Since July I became the head instructor of BTT, teaching all the fitness class such as, Core Extreme, Boot Camp Circuit, Spartan 100, Abs Class and Combat Sport, Boxing and Muaythai. As for Brazilian Luta Livre (BLL) its handle by Brandon Song, a BLL Blue Belt, I myself am learning lots of great ground techniques from him."

Back home in Sibu, Bryant felt rejuvenated and the motivation to train now comes back to him.

In  August, Borneo Top Team invited top ONE Championship lightweight contender Ev Ting to their gym. Ev was on a holiday after his dominant victory from ONE Championship: Quest for Greatness in Kuala Lumpur.

with Ev Ting

Sibu is the hometown of Ev's parents and he was on a break visiting his grandmother and other relatives. After some great time savoring great food in Sibu, Ev wanted to put in some training too.  He was glad to see a growing martial arts gym such as BTT in Sibu and shared his knowledge and techniques with the members.

"We were all very grateful for Ev to drop by. There was a lot of sharing, joy and happiness during the class. Ev is a very humble guy! Learning lot of great thing from him! "
comment Bryant.

Bryant is always hungry for knowledge and he is the type of person that would not hesitate to go the extra mile to learn from the best. Back in his early days when he started Muaythai, he spend a month in Chiang Mai Thailand for a Muaythai Camp. 

In Sept while scrolling through Instagram, he saw that Ido Portal was organising a Movement Internship in Phuket Thailand cost at USD6250! Bryant immediately sign up and at the end of the course from Oct 9 - 16, Bryant felt it's all worth the money he spent.

with movement guru Ido Portal

For those who don't know who Ido Portal is, I believe you would have seen the funny looking movement or exercise Conor McGregor was doing while preparing for his fights. Lots of viral video and memes was spread around mocking him. But infact those funny looking movement was thought by Ido Portal and was one of the key factors that contribute to Conor's success in the fight game.

Check out Ido Portal's website www.idoportal.com/culture  to learn more.

"Ido is a best best best teacher met! His teaching skill, languages etc, all are good ! What I can said is, USD 6250 USD is worth every dollar! During the movement internship, I learn lot of different body movement, on his theory and how to control body well. Human are born to move. His movement teaching are very helpful for fighter!"

Bryant has been applying what he learn from Ido Portal's internship to his martial arts training. He is still in the process of improving and learning, but he definitely feels that it gave him better judgement of distance and fluidity of techniques.   

"I keep practice with the movement and footwork drill. Try to improve and move my body more efficiently and utilizing brain control and reaction."

Since returning back to Sibu, Bryant also has been training with former two times SUKMA Gold medalist,  Zurkanain Majidi Wong in boxing. Boxing is not new to Bryant as he has started it few years back under Fred Mandagi - former Sarawak state coach.

Bryant felt he made the right decision to go back Sibu. He has a new sense of motivation. He enjoys teaching in BTT and at the same time supplement his income with part time modelling and photo shooting.

Food is something Bryant is passionate about. He has great knowledge of meal prep using healthy ingredients and helps his clients and gym member on diet and meal advice. But Sibu being a haven for food, Bryant does occasionally break his diet plans to enjoy the numerous Sibu's delicacies such as Sarawak laksa, Kompia and Mi Sua.

He buys his own ingredients and prepares his own meal for the weekday. He would start off with two hard boil eggs before workout. Post workout is 2 scoop of whey protein shake. Come lunch he prefers to balance his meal at 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fats/fibers. End with dinner with protein (egg, fish, and meat) and fats (walnuts, bean, coconut oil, avocados).

He supplement his meal with fish oil, calsium and glucosamine, preferring the brand of supplements from AMWAY.

As for his work out regime:

"Week day normally I wake up at 6.30am and after a light breakfast start training at 7am. Mostly cardio at morning: skipping and jogging. 

After that I will do my another session of training at 2pm, start with mobility workout, then get into movement and slowly to technique, shadow boxing, padding, sparring. End my afternoon workout at 4pm.

My last workout will be at 5pm, sometimes 7pm. Normally I will go to stadium jogging if I go at 5pm, and if I go at 7pm, I will go for a swim. That’s weekday.

Saturday I will just work on one session that’s 4pm, jogging 30min at stadium and doing some light bodyweight workout: burpee, push up, sit up and others.

Cheat day is on Sunday, if no fight, I will just eat whatever I want. If fight coming up, I will just skip my cheat day, still prefer eating clean.
I believe proper nutrition is the key to get strong and live long!"

As a fighter, all those months of training will need an avenue to test the outcome and results. In end of November, Bryant has set to make a comeback to competitive combat sports and Golden Gloves will be his target.

Golden Gloves is a National amateur boxing tournament organised by Persatuan Tinju Malaysia. For the last two years it was held in Kuching. This year will be held in Dataran Sibu - phase 2 from 27 Nov - 3 Dec. This year will see the participation of more than 80 boxers from all over Malaysia.

Bryant will be competing in the 81kg-91kg category. This will be his journey back to the top and he wants to end 2017 with more competition under his belt. He will continue to compete in other combat sports. In plans are MMA and Kickboxing fights in December and also targeting MIMMA season 6 next year.

We wish to see more actions in the ring/cage by Bryant and wish him all the best in his journey back to combat sports glory.

LUTA LIVRE EXPANDING TO SIBU

Most of us would have heard of Brazilian Jiu Jit Su. This martial arts has already made it's mark in Borneo, with the establishment of Persatuan Jiu Jit-Su Negeri Sabah that has organised numerous grappling competition such as Headhunters Challenge, Sabah Open and Badak Challenge.

Usually day one of the comp are BJJ (with gi), and grappling challenge (no gi) for the second day. This no gi challenge is actually a martial arts by itself and has it's own history, heritage and development and it's call Brazilian Luta Livre ( BLL). In Borneo BLL was introduce by Antonio Battistessa. Do check out my story on him to learn m ore about BLL, click here 

BLL is now spreading it's wing to Sarawak, via Borneo Top Team (BTT), lead by Lucas Lau. Borneo Top Team is home to MIMMA4 Middleweight Grand Finalist Bryant Tan 

This 9-11 December a BLL seminar will be conducted by Prof. Gustavo Muniz.

Warriors of Borneo manage to have a chat with Lucas Lau on this.

Greetings Lucas, can you introduce yourself to the readers

My name is Lucas Lau, 34 years old born and raised in Sibu. I came from a humble family background. I am into construction and renovation business for many years.

How did you started BTT?
Since Martial Art has always been my passion and interest, I’ve decided to setup a Muay Thai gym and hire a trainer from Thailand. The initial idea was to just have fun with some friends and to train among ourselves but slowly more and more people started to know the place. The gym was officially open for public in 2012. It was known as Muay Thai Fitness Gym by that time then renamed to Borneo Top Team soon after that.

Tell me about your personal martial arts journey? When you started & why?

My father was a Chinese martial art practitioner and I was influenced by him at a very young age. I started practicing Taekwondo since I was 7 years old until middle school. I was actively involved in athletic competition, basketball, rugby and soccer and that is one of the reason I stopped my Taekwondo journey.

Somewhere in 2011, I’ve decided to pursue my dream and embrace my passion. I packed my bag, bought myself a ticket to Chiang Mai, Thailand and trained in a Muay Thai camp for some times. Going to Santai Muay Thai Gym gave me an opportunity to know many friends from around the world. 

One of the guy that I’ve met, a Canadian, Jay Davies. He is a good man and a good friend. He introduced me one of his student from Canada, Andrew Babcock to come to my gym in Sibu to teach BJJ and MMA. From just doing Muay Thai, we soon explored ourselves into MMA and BJJ.

How did you get into Luta Livre?

Prof.Antonio Battistessa, BLL brown belt, owner/founder of Sabah Top Team introduced Brazilian Luta Livre to me. Knowing Brazilian Luta Livre (Free wrestling @ direct translation from Portuguese) is actually a no-gi grappling, it caught my attention in no time. Since we were doing no-gi grappling all these while, (No-Gi Grappling is known as BLL) I didn’t hesitated to open up to Brazilian Luta Livre.

How did Master Gustavo get into the picture? Is he permanently base in BTT?

After a few phone calls with Prof. Antonio Battistessa, I’ve decided to find a BLL coach to come and teach in my gym. He made some calls and finally Master Afonso Cego from Brazil (BLL Black Belt stationed in Manila, Philippine), responded with a great news, saying his friend from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would love to come and teach in my gym! Soon, we’ve arranged Master Gustavo Muniz to come. He is now BTT Head Coach and co-owner of BTT. He is now permanently based in BTT. 

Can you tell us more about prof Gustavo?
It was a great honor to have Master Gustavo Muniz, a 3rd Dan Brazilian Luta Livre Black Belt, to come all the way from Rio de Jainero, Brazil and coach in our gym in Sibu. He has more than 20 years of experience in Capoeira and Brazilian Luta Livre. 

Master Gustavo Muniz won lots of competition and championships. Just to name a few, Greco Roman Brazilian Champion, Brazilian Luta Livre State Champion, Island Cup Champion, some Muay Thai and MMA championships as well. He is the founder of Honor Fight Club, which is now expanding to 7 countries worldwide.

Tell me a bit on martial arts scene in Sibu? I know a lot of people always say Sibu have lots of gangster, did it happen before that gangster disturb you or your students?
There aren’t many martial art gym in Sibu, especially MMA or grappling gym. We are the only gym in town teaching MMA and Brazilian Luta Livre. It was a tough work promoting and introducing the sport to society in Sibu. 

The growing family of BTT

And yes, you are right, other than our delicious local food, we are popular for being a gangster town but it is not as terrible as how people projected it. It is a small town and I never have problem with gangster coming to disturb the gym or the students.

Is it easy to get Sibuian to take up MMA? What is the overall response?
It was very tough when we just started. MMA is not a stranger to them but many think that is a violent sport. Through some roadshows and demos in publics, people started to see it as a sport just like other martial art. Right now we are doing lots of public events to educate and to create awareness to the public the benefits of practicing MMA. 

martial arts demo by BTT

We have a roadshow in Wisma Sanyan on 31st December 2016, from 1:30pm to 5:30pm. We will be doing real life demo on how to protect ourselves when bad thing happens. Also, we have a BLL & MMA training camp coming on 9th to 11th December in Sibu. Some participants are from Indonesia and Singapore. We hope to have more locals involving in the training camp.

Tell me some of the achievements of BTT.
We’ve won some competition from time to time. 1 of our fighter, Bryan Tan managed to compete in MIMMA Grand final last October in Stadium Negara. Even though he didn’t win the fight, we are still proud of him. 

Lucas (L) with Bryant (center) and Brandon (R)

The last competition was in Fight Fest3 and we won 2 golds in MMA. Next competition will be Warriors FC, Penang. My student, Yannis will be going against an experienced MMA Fighter with 13 wins and 2 loses record. We are looking forward to this fight. We hope to join more competitions in the near future to gain more experiences and knowledges.

Yannis will compete against Niker Tan ( MIMMA3 Finalist)

A lot of people does not realise that most fights go to the ground and will have lots of grappling and scuffling. This is where a grappling martial arts is very effective and Luta Livre is certainly perfect for this situation as you learn to grapple without using a gi ( martial arts uniform ).

Be it you looking to learn self defense or adding to your arsenal as a martial artist, do take this chance to learn this unques and very effective martial arts, sign up and learn from the expert.

Warriors of Borneo wishes BTT a very successful seminar.

Bryant Tan - Sarawak's Pride

Love is a powerful emotion. It can motivate & inspire and move people to do unthinkable things. Bryant Tan uses it in a positive way. Ironically the lack of love causes him to do so. In college during his business studies Bryant fell in love. He was head over heels over a girl. Thinking that the girl was going to be his soul mate he was definitely crushed when the relationship fell apart after 9 months. Brokenhearted and very much overweight he sulked for 2 months. Then Bryant decided to make something out of this. He made a decision to shed off the extra pounds. Knowing that an image change will definitely boost his confidence and inflict sweet revenge on his ex.

Bryant's journey of martial arts transform his body to a fighting fit machine

In 2012 July, meeting his first Muaythai coach Lucas Lau of Borneo Top team was a crucial point in Byant’s life. Lucas mentored him in his weight loss journey. Lucas pushed and challenged Bryant to go beyond his comfort zone. Seeing the potential in him, Lucas signed Bryant up for his first Muaythai fight. Being the only son in the family this did not go down well with Bryant’s parents. Although feeling disheartened for not receiving his parents full support, Bryant continued training. After much persistence training with blood, sweat and tears he was fruitful in that first fight, claiming a 1st round KO victory.

with Lucas Lau (L) as Bryant began his martial arts journey and (R) after a year of training

victorious in his 1st Muaythai fight

After tasting success, Bryant realized that martial arts has a positive effect on him and he decided to leave behind the ego of revenge and focus on achieving more in his martial arts journey. His success caught the eye of Sarawak boxing coach Fred Mandagi & selected him for the 2014 SUKMA Games in Perlis. But Bryant had to miss it due to his commitment in his studies.

Bryant was born in Sibu, Sarawak and grew up in Daro, a small village accessible by 2.5 hours ferry ride from Sibu. His family own a farm in Daro, planting vegetables and bee farming and bird nest. Bryant graduated in Diploma in Business Management from Methodist Pilley Institute(MPI), Sibu.

Bryant's family farm in Daro Sarawak

In 2013 May after finishing his studies he decided to further his martial arts training in Thailand. Coach Lucas recommended Chiang Mai. Where the hard core pure Muaythai training are at. Bryant ended up in Santai Muaythai, in the rural area of Sankamphaeng, Chiang Mai; touted as the most technique orientated Muaythai Gym in Northern Thailand.

Memories at Santai Gym

At only 19 at that time and travelling for the 1st time in his life on a plane to a foreign land where not much English is spoken, it was certainly a nerve wrecking experience for him. But his mind was set. He was not on a holiday, but on a lifetime learning experience. Living there for a month of pure intense Muaythai training.

MIMMA4 is Bryant first foray into MMA. At only 22 this year, he is now part of the Urban Ape & Borneo Top Team family. Training boxing at Urban Ape under Coach Fred Mandagi and adding grappling into his arsenal at Studio 23. As for his strength and conditioning, it is being taken care of by the very highly qualified Sean Trevena. Bryant is working as a personal trainer at Urban Ape and heading up their Fightclub along with coach, Fred.

with the Urban Ape team . Sean Trevena ( middle ), Andrew Liew (2nd from right)

Hi Bryant, congrats for reaching the contender fight at MIMMA4
Please give us a profile of Urban Ape?
The Urban Ape concept was originally envisioned as a strength and conditioning brand for youth rugby, developed by one of the partners while he was living in the United Kingdom. The A.P.E stands for Athletic, Performance, Enhancement and the Urban part, well that simply comes from the fact that the clients we mainly work with are from cities or towns.

In 2012 my bosses, Olivia, Andrew Liew and Sean Trevena worked together on another project in Kuching and they realized that Urban Ape was a catchy and unique sounding name. They decided that by setting up a training facility that encouraged people to enhance their lives by performing more athletically they could provide a service to many people while helping to promote health and fitness in Sarawak.

Urban APE's mantra is "Devolve 2 Evolve" and at its very core we teach people to value health and nutrition so that they can live a healthier life.

with Boxing coach Fred Mandagi

The services that we offer are wide and varied and include everything from 1-to-1 Personal Training, through to our recently launched Urban Ape Fight Club #UAFC where I and Coach Fred (he's the main man when it comes to all things boxing) head up the classes.

What motivates you?

I believe in continuing my MMA journey because I believe in living a life with no regrets. To live life to the fullest and not miss out on any opportunities. The last thing I want happen is to be 60 years old on a rocking chair and not knowing what it feels like to be in a caged MMA fight. I also get a lot of motivation from my coaches and YouTube motivational videos.

I believe this is your 1st MIMMA right? Any other martial arts competition u have join before?
Yes, as far as MMA competitions goes, only MIMMA. I joined an amateur Muay Thai fight once and 3 professional Muay Thai tournaments. I was also chosen to represent the Sarawak State boxing team during SUKMA XVII. But because of my final exams, I couldn’t make it to the fight at Perlis.

Fighting in Pro Muaythai

Your strong area I believe is Muaythai right?...What about grappling?
Yes, I had been trained mainly in Muay Thai for 4 years, Boxing for about 1 year and most recently BJJ about 1 year. I’m looking to go into Taekwondo next potentially.

winning his pro Muaythai match vs a tough Pakistani opponent

Who help you most in during your fight camp? And why?

The person who help me most in my fight camp there’s a few people. One is Sean Trevana, he was my strength and conditioning coach, who provided me with all the S&C program. Next, my boxing coach, Fred, he has over 22yrs experience in teaching boxing. He trained my stamina, speed and agility. Then, Andrew was my mobility trainer and helped me with muscle pain release and rehabilitation. Chloe Tay my flexibility trainer, she trained me with yoga. And lastly Albert Lim from Studio 23, my BJJ coach, he is a BJJ brown belt. He has had a huge impact in my preparation training. Especially when it came to my game plan on what to do and not to do in the MMA ring. I believe fight psychology is critical and that 80% of all success, especially in MMA is due to this, only 20% is about your stamina, skill, strategy.

What is the toughest fight so far for you?
I believe every fight I fight becomes tougher. Because I constantly remind myself that I’m not in competition with just my opponent, but also myself. I will always watch my fight replays and constantly improve myself, especially when it comes to my weaknesses, and turn my weaknesses into my strengths. I would say that’s my secret or any other fighter’s secret to success.

As a Sarawakian...and just celebrated for 1st time Independence Day on 22 July...how do you feel representing Sarawak in MMA?
I feel pretty proud actually and humbled for the opportunity. I also want to take this chance to thank all my supporters, followers and my haters. You all are my source of motivation.



Please share with readers what is your personality like?...how do you describe yourself?. What is your principle in life?
I would guess I’m a pretty nurturing person. I believe in the importance of trust and relationships between my family, friends and especially my coaches. But at the same time I value the importance of freedom and success. I might be young but I think I am pretty mature for my age. I value respect, the giving and receiving of it. Finally, my main principle in life is the Principle of Discipline and Being Patient. Consistency over time, is what guarantees success, whether in the ring, in business or just life in general. Lastly, be confident. Confidence is the KEY to success

Bryant’s path to the MIMMA4 Contenders Fight on this 3 Sept 2016 is a win over Richael Amatus of Sabah. Beating Penang’s Tan Chun Keat in the quarter finals and a win over Mohd Samsuri of KL in the semi-finals. Bryant will face Faiz Faisal in the Contenders Fight to determine who the worthy opponent to face defending middleweight champion - Mohd Meeraj.

MIMMA4 Contenders Fight will be happening at Paradigm Mall on 3 Sept 2016. Or you can catch the live streaming on  malaysianinvasion.com

Enroute to winning his MIMMA4 semi finals fight ( pix by YK Tang)