STRIKE IS BACK... AND IT'S REDEMPTION TIME

Brunei's premier combat sports promotion, STRIKE will be back this weekend, 9-10 March 2019 at Jerudong Park Amphitheatre.

STRIKE came into the combat sports scene in 10 Nov last year, with it's 1st ever event named BATTLE OF PRIDE. It was well run and the first time in Brunei where Semi-Pro Kickboxing title fights sanctioned by world kickboxing body ISKA, was organised. It gathered the region's best talent and also featured Brunei's top talent in the main card.

The first day went smoothly until the later part of the day when a rowdy man cause a ruckus. The commotion was shot on video and spread like wild fire in a short instance and the authority had to step in to investigate, thus having the event halted and eventually day two where the main fight was schedule to go down was canceled

The trouble maker has been charge in court. All because of a trouble maker that spoilt the whole event the hard work of the fighters & the organiser was frustratingly wasted. But even though that commotion cause the event to be called off, two positive thing came out of it.
1. When the trouble maker started the commotion, the people around him manage to stay calm and patience, to contain the incident. Many of them are fighters and could have easily taken him out if they want to. The spirit of martial arts was well manifested that day.
2. The martial arts community came together in unity to support the organiser. Which shows that martial arts teaches great values and foster brotherhood and sportsmanship.

The story of STRIKE:BATTLE OF PRIDE was continued in Labuan, as it was featured in BMAEX ( Borneo Martial Art Expo ) in Dec 2018. A kickboxing tournament was held and one title fight between Brunei's Saufi Jaman vs Sabahan Dean Hamsah finally see the light of day, with Dean emerging the champion.

Dean (left) with his coach Rayner Kinsiong after winning STRIKE championship belt in Labuan

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After the first event, the organiser lead by co-founders Firdausi Zainidi and Younis Asmad already started to plan for their 2nd event. This will materialised this weekend, dubbed REDEMPTION. They have put in extra security measures to prevent the previous untowards incident repeating itself. They have been working closely with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and sports to ensure a smooth running of STRIKE ; REDEMPTION.

Day 1 ( 9 March 2019 ) will see Kickboxing tournament on the day time, followed by ticketed event at night where the pro fights will take centerstage. It will be a mixture of 6 Kickboxing and 2 MMA fights.

The organiser managed to match-make an awesome fight cards that promise plenty of fiery action.

Bruneian top Muaythai talent Wali 'the Beastmaster' Rahman of Silverback Muaythai will take on young Muaythai specialist from Sabah Kenny Jafili.
Wali is a certified Muaythai coach and has been plying his trade and actively competing in Malaysia for the pass 5 years. He is back in Brunei and will use this fight to showcase and proof that Bruneian can be successful in martial arts career.

Wali Rahman

Bruneian Saufy Jaman of Nak Muay Fight Gym will have a chance to reverse the results in STRIKE : BATTLE OF PRIDE part 2, Labuan where he lost to Dean Hamsah. This rematch will be a 62kg MMA bout. After the lost, Saufy put in extra hours in training to sharpen his techniques. He is eager to showcase this, having learnt much from his first encounter with Dean last Dec. He definately will be motivated to do well with the home crowd support.

Saufy Jaman

Another rematch will see Bruneian from Project Mayhem, Aaron Lim take on Aziz 'The Shantung Zhai' Gwojye. This two met in the 1st BMAEX in Labuan in 2017. It was a very close fight with the BMAEX Championship belt won by Aaron.

At 34 Aaron nows run two Project Mayhem gym. He left a lucrative job in the oil & gas sector to focus on his passion for Muaythai. A proud Bruneian, Aaron plans to repeat his victory over Aziz to ensure the STRIKE belt stays on Brunei soil.

Aaron Lim

In the main fight of the night will see a great international match up between Sunny Sabornido of Borneo Combat Gym- Deaf Combat Gym from Labuan vs Arie Ananda Putra of Volkz Lutador Academy, Indonesia

Sunny is a deaf fighter mentored by Alvin Chong of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan. As a kid he was often bullied due to his disability. He wanted to learn martial arts to defend himself. But to learn it was definately tough not just for him but for the people who teach as communication was a huge obstacle. But Alvin Chong saw the potential in him and he took the trouble to learn sign language and vow to mould Sunny into a skillful athlete.

Till this day Sunny has won various combat sports title, but I believe the biggest achievement does not lie just in the titles he won but being able to lead something on his own...he open a Muaythai gym last year in Labuan named Deaf Combat Gym. With the support of Alvin & BCG, Sunny wants to give back to society and work together with Labuan Deaf Association to promote health and fitness through martial arts.

For the Borneo ISKA 57kg Title belt, Sunny faced a tough Indonesian opponent - Arie. He is the winner of IBC & finalist of  BFC MMA Championship.  Arie stepped up showing his warrior spirit in 2 weeks notice, replacing Hasbullah Sanmin whom got injured.

Sunny (right) with his mentor & coach Alvin 'AC Poseidon when he won the Sabah Fight Muaythai Championship in 2018

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Aside from unearthing and developing new talents in Brunei, STRIKE also wants give back to the local community. Various special needs organisations - Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam, Persatuan KACA and Persatuan Orang Kurang Pendengaran Kebangsaan (OKP) - have been invited to attend the event, through the sponsorship from Setia Motors and BruPay.

MILO will sponsored free chilled MILO drinks to participants and visitors, and some prizes for winners that particpate in activities planned by organisers.

Go grab your tickets today to be part of Brunei's pioneering combat sports event and experience full impact action on 9 March, click for purchase of tickets at https://www.brunei.events/ticket/strike-redemption/

Come again on Day 2 to see some amateur boxing action. Brunei Darussalam Boxing Association will host the boxing tournament on Sunday.

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STRIKE : BATTLE OF PRIDE PART 2, SETTLING THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS

The first martial arts promotions of Brunei, STRIKE is back. ( read about what STRIKE is all about, click here )

The ISKA sanctioned STRIKE: Battle of Pride was held on Nov in Airport Mall Brunei. It started smoothly on the first day, until later towards the evening a thug started to verbally abused athletes and coaches which ended up in a brawl.

It was quickly contained & controlled by many sane minded martial artist ( so who said fighters are eager to brawl? They only do it inside the ring ).
 
The noble effort of it's organiser to promote martial arts & healthy lifestyle in Brunei came to an abrupt end when authorities decided to cancel the day 2 of the event to facilitate investigations. This resulted in many of the amateur category Boxing/Kickboxing semi-finals & finals bouts, 3 Kickboxing Super fight for semi-pro title didn't see the light of day.

Not only is the cancellation a big let down to the organiser and business owners who has sponsored and some have taken up exhibition booth there but also a huge disappointment to fighters that had work very hard and prepared to give their best representing their country and gym.

Many is of the opinion that STRIKE is a big boost for combat sports in Brunei. According to Eazy Anuar, Brunei's pro MMA fighter & owner of Khalifa MMA,  
" STRIKE was well ran with good planning, logistics & great prizes."
He also adds that he was saddened that due to fault of one rascal resulted in cancellation of day 2, and he said the authorities should not let bad hats marred an event that is beneficial for the general public.

According to one of STRIKE's founder, Nate Younis the culprit has been caught and as organisers they wanted to make a police report but kudos to the police they beat them to it and has charged the offender. The case is now pending court hearing. The organisers has met Brunei's sports authorities to clear the air and has their support for their next event STRIKE : Redemption planned for March 2019.

When the commotion happened, ISKA representative Alvin Chong was there on the ground and as organiser received news that authorities are cancelling their day 2 event, in the spirit of martial arts brotherhood he quickly offered a solution by offering to let BMAEX be the platform for STRIKE : Battle of Pride.

Now we are 1 day away from BMAEX 2.0 in Labuan and STRIKE : Battle of Pride will be on day 2 ( 29 Dec 2018 ). Firdaus from STRIKE explained,

" Understandably some of the fighters that qualify for the finals are not able to make the BMAEX dates, hence the idea of Wild Cards, where either a new participant can replace a fighter who is unable to make it or a participant which did not advance to the semi-finals/finals are given another shot at redemption to earn a top spot. We are fortunate to have five wild cards for STRIKE : Battle of Pride part 2. " 
 


A total of 7 amatuer bouts ( boxing/kickboxing ) will be held at BMAEX and 1 title fight between Bruneian Saufy Jaman and Sabahan Dean Hamsah for the semi-pro Light Welterweight title. The
other two title fight featuring Bruneian Adib Sulaiman & Aaron Lim , prefers to fight at home turf which is planned for the March event. Dean Hamsah will attempt to win two belt as on 30 Dec he will fight under pro Kickboxing rules for the 67kgs ISKA BMAEX Title belt.

STRIKE : Battle of Pride needs a closure and to have it a month after the original event and not dragging it too far is a good move. It's good to see the organiser collaborate with ISKA & BMAEX to make sure it has a platform. Labuan is only an hour by ferry from Brunei and Labuan has close affinity with Brunei.

Alvin Chong further reiterate that BMAEX is not just another martial arts promotions, it's objectives is to unite martial artist in the region to promote talent development, sportsmanship, recognition to contributors of the martial arts industry and improve overall standard of events. He said by having STRIKE in BMAEX is a good example of this and he said other organisers & promoters should not look at BMAEX as a competitor but to use BMAEX as a platform to promote their own event & grow the industry together.

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IT'S TIME TO STRIKE IN BRUNEI

Faced with challenges, usually good people come up with solution. In Malaysia 4 to 5 years back when martial arts promotion starts to gain momentum, most of the available fights are in West Malaysia. For Borneon, these means travelling by air to participate. Accommodation and transport also becomes a concern as all these needs money.

To overcome the logistics problems, many Borneon based event was born.  Sabah in particularly have seen a boom with plenty of martial arts promotion, such as Jesselton Fight League, Rampage FC, Fight Fest, Borneo Amateur Challenge, D1 Fighting Championship, Ultimate Beatdown Borneo, Elopura Fights.

Brunei location in the center of East Malaysia means many talented Bruneian fighters have to travel out of their country to participate. We may think that it's not a problem for Bruneian to travel as they have the 2nd highest per capita income (after Singapore) among ASEAN countries. But not all have the budget and time to travel.

Having a Brunei base event will give opportunity to more Brunei fighters to join. And definitely fighting in their own home ground is something special. Usually fighters have an edge with local support and familiar environment.

Enter STRIKE Promotions Brunei to solve this logistics problem. Their first event will be held on 10-11 NOV at the Atrium of Brunei's Airport Mall, dubbed Battle of Pride. This is good news for Brunei's fighter as they can focus on training and have less to worry on travelling,.... this time let the fighters from Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan & other parts of Malaysia do the travelling. Bringing foreign fighters to Brunei is also a way to contribute towards tourism revenue in Brunei.

With confirmed participation of 87 athletes coming from 16 various martial arts gym in Brunei and around the region, STRIKE is set to be the biggest amateur boxing and kickboxing event ever held in Brunei.

it is officially sanction by Brunei Boxing Association and ISKA and with support from the Brunei's Ministry or Culture, Youth and Sports as well as Brunei's  Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism.

According to co- founder Younis Asmad or better known as Nate , STRIKE aims to be the premier combat sports event in Brunei. Giving a platform for Bruneian fighters to showcase their skills and to unearth & identify talented Bruneian fighters. From here skills development programmes and training schemes can be offered so that local athletes are well prepared to compete in future regional multi-sports events such as the South East Asian (SEA) Games, ASEAN games, The Olympics etc.

He said they are planning to organise 4 events next year and MMA fights are in the plan. But to do that, he needs to make sure the first event is a success. For this, STRIKE  brought in big names from around the region and matching them with top Bruneian talent.

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In the main card, a semi-pro fight will headline STRIKE. Brunei's own up & coming martial arts star, Saufi Jaman of Nak Muay Fight Gym will defend Brunei's pride by battling it out with a season Muaythai stylist Dean Hamsah of Sabah.

Saufi is an all rounder martial artist, from Kickboxing, MMA to boxing , he has done it all.
His opponent Dean Hamsah from Team Karabaw Sabah is back in action after a year off competition.

Dean is Jesselton Fight League 2015 finalist and a pro Muay Thai & MMA fighter.  Dean may have the experience being the fighter with more fights in his record, but Saufi is a high output young fighter with home ground advantage. These two will meet in the STRIKE ring at Light Welterweight.

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Co-Main event is Aaron - Aziz, haha , ok it's not the well known actor I'm referring to (pun intended) but it is between Bruneian Aaron Lim and Sabahan Aziz Hoo 'The Shantung Zhai'.

This two has unfinish business to settle as they last met at B-MAEX Labuan on 31 DEC 2017, fighting for the B-MAEX championship title. The fight was very close but decision went to Aaron. Aziz corner was adamant they won that fight, hence this rematch will be a chance for both to proof who is the better fighter.

Aaron has good fighting spirit and technically have improve over the year, with home crowd support will surely give him an added psychological edge. Aziz has been very  active after B-MAEX, fighting in various event. Recently in August, he took home the Grand Merdeka Super Fight title belt.

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Another Semi-pro fight in the co-main event is at featherweight. Brunei's MMA poster boy Adib Sulaiman will be facing Sabah's Muaythai specialist Mohd Rayyan. Adib will trade his MMA glove with Kickboxing glove this time.

Coached by Brunei's BJJ pioneer Eazy Anuar, Adib at 27 has recently open his own martial arts gym - Wolfpack at Tutong. He recently represent Brunei in ONE Warriors Series. Adib is a relentless workhorse and has good footwork.

His opponent Rayyan or better known as Black Mamba has numerous successful Muaythai fight under his belts. Last year at only 19, Rayyan open his own gym - Black Mamba, possibly being the youngest gym owner in Sabah.

Although Adib is a well known athlete in Brunei's martial arts circle & will have home ground advantage, Rayyan will not feel the pressure as he has extensive experience fighting in many different places outside Sabah.

This featherweight fight promises lots of sparks and will guarantee to keep everyone on their feet.

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From Left to Right, Abu Qusyairi Hj Yacob (Secretary for Brunei Boxing Assocation), Firdausi Zainidi (Co-Founder of Strike), and Younis Asmad (Co-Founder of Strike).

These 3 semi-pro bouts winner will be the owner of the shiny inaugural STRIKE championship belt.

Firdausi Zainidi, Co-founder of STRIKE Promotions had this to say, 

“Organizing this event was a collaborative effort which involved multiple industries ranging from sports, retail, creative, hospitality, food & beverage and logistics. 

Since it is after all a regional platform, we wanted to showcase what Brunei has to offer. One of our sponsors for instance, Mahkota Crystal Sdn Bhd, Brunei's pioneer and only Glassblowing Studio in Brunei was generous enough to sponsor us with mementos for our distinguished guests and a trophy which will be awarded to the gym/club with the highest gold medal tally at the end of the competition.”

Event partner, Kaleidoscope Studios will also be organizing the Fit 2 Fight expo in conjunction with STRIKE: Battle of Pride where they will be sharing the event space adjacent to the competition area. Exhibitors will include :

Feel Good Gym, HJ Enterprise, Hasilhustler, Mini Physio, Bruactiv, Poni Divers, Aewon, Café Bene, Barre Plus, The Acai Bar, Pure Nectar, Kafe Krema, Kyna, RDX Brunei, Imperial Sports and Mahkota Crystal Sdn Bhd.

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In terms of development, Kickboxing instructor course and referee course is being organised by STRIKE. They brought in Master Khoo Meng Yang to conduct the course. Master Khoo aka Red Dragon is the South East Asian ISKA representative and most sought after referee/Head judge in Asia.

He will be conducting the International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA) Ring Sport Referee Course (Level C) on the 9th of November which will be followed by two (2) days practical where participants of this course will be required to referee/judge some of the amateur bouts under his guidance.

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Fighters from outside Bruneian have concern over the expenses they will incur in terms of accommodation, transport and food as Brunei as the highest currency among all ASEAN country.
But according to Nate, rest assure he has arrange for free accommodation for those that needs it at the sports hostel. As for transport, he said it can be arrange separately as he and his management team will offer help as much as they can to ease the burden of foreign fighters and make them feel welcome.

Nate also mentioned that he has lofty plans for combat sports development in Brunei. He wants to build STRIKE as a platform to raise the level of competition and also a place to develop more fighters, enabling them to participate in combat sports to eventually represent Brunei to compete competitively outside; also to develop combat sports into a fruitful activities to improve the lives of Bruneian physically and mentally and perhaps develop talents for future project in the entertainment industry.

“We are building this from the ground-up and we hope to create an industry in the area of combat sports and entertainment. 

In one area, we are working towards a road map where our athletes can pursue professional careers in this industry, not just locally but globally.”

Come and support STRIKE. Watch the action up-close by getting yourself ringside tickets. Single day passes ($15 for Day 1 & $10 for Day 2) and tickets to the main event ($20) are available for purchase by contacting 8227027.

For further information and enquiries:
Instagram: Strike.bn
Facebook: Strikebrunei
Email: info@strike-promotions.com
WhatsApp: +6738227027

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BRUNEI'S 1st BJJ ROLLATHON BY KHALIFA MMA

Ahmed Faez Anuar or better known as Eazy Anuar, is easily the most well known figure in the martial arts scene of Brunei. Coming from a Rugby Boxing background, he has since become the face of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) in Brunei, whom has brought fame to Brunei sports through his numerous victories in BJJ competition around the region.

Muslim around the world observe their holy month of Ramadhan this month with the required practice of fasting. Aside from fasting, Muslim also increase their devotions to Allah through prayers and charity works. For Eazy the founder of Khalifa Mixed Martial Arts, Ramadan is also a time to reflect on his life and to give back to society.

He organised a BJJ Rollathon on 26 May 2018. What's a BJJ Rollathon you may ask. Well it's simply a session of continuous sparring (in BJJ it's call roll) from 5pm of 26 May till 12am on 27 May. At any one time, there must be minimum a pair of exponent rolling on the mat. Those who take part are required to make a donation of either money, food items or personal care items.

Many of us would think of Brunei as an oil rich country of abundance wealth may not have poors. But there are still some marginalised families that require much help and assistance. Eazy has committed 100% of the donations to go to these group of unfortunate.

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It was 9 years ago in 2009, when Eazy fell in love with BJJ. It was not his initial love. He was into Rugby. BJJ was a new thing introduced to him by his wife Norfaziah to keep him and his Rugby mates occupied in the off season. They learn from David, a New Zealander teacher working in Brunei.

2 years later as David had to leave for home. Eazy even though just a white belt then, was entrusted to lead the small group of BJJ enthusiasts, to keep it going. He started a class and coach BJJ in Busiido. Needless to say he didn't just kept it going but he grew it a few fold.

Brunei's 1st Rollathon participants

Brunei BJJ community even though small but has grown steadily and consistently. For a country that has considerably a small of population of only 433,726 it can now proudly boast to have at least 5 places to train BJJ.

Towards the end of 2017 he parted ways with Busiido. Eazy again felt that he is entrusted to bring Brunei BJJ to a higher level. Hence he decided to open his own gym. He named it Khalifa, which means entrusted to do something good. In a short 5 months, Khalifa MMA has grown into the go-to place for BJJ and mixed martial arts in Brunei.

This development even caught the attention of Rich Franklin (former UFC Middleweight Champion), whom went to Brunei for shooting of ONE Warriors Series, which is a series of Rich's journeys throughout Asia to scout for promising martial artists, to be awarded ONE Championship contract.

Eazy with his wife (middle) and Rich Franklin (L)

Now back to the Rollathon. In total 43 Juijiteiros  participated in the Rollathon and 58 made donations. Eazy was overwhelmed with the response but nontheless happy to be busy for a few days segregating the many items to be donated to the poor in Brunei.

WRB: How did this Rollathon idea came about?
Eazy : The idea was in the pipeline since we opened Khalifa, thought it would be a good idea to bring people together for a good cause and create awareness about the jits community and the public would know that we can do other things besides jits. It was mainly an idea from my wife! So we decided Ramadhan would be a good month. Besides who doesn't love a good old open mat (open training session).

The 43 Juijiteiros that participated came from Khalifa MMA, The Refinery, Wolfpack Traning Ground, Jits Irmao and the Whiteroom.

On 2nd June which is the religious holiday of Nuzul Al-Quran in Brunei, the Brunei Jiu-Jitsu community came together to bring the much needed donations items and money direct to 50 families around Tutong and Bandar Seri Begawan.

Eazy: The Brunei BJJ community is a tight-knit community of people of different ethnicity, religion, culture, language and background where on the mats we compete against each other but as soon as we step off the mat we celebrate each other's victories. With this Rollathon and donation, we strengthened our bonds by focusing on a mission bigger than ourselves: giving back to those less fortunate.

segregation and planning of distribution

"This is one of the meaningful ways Khalifa MMA proves its dedication to build better human beings, and support the mission to encourage more Bruneian women in BJJ and most importantly for Brunei BJJ to create and cultivate a community that cares."

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In Ramadhan, even when he fast, Eazy does not stop training. Before training, his favourite break fast food are dates and iced coffee. Then off he goes for training. After training he goes for a big meal of rice and protein ( plenty of chicken & fish ). Yup, you read it right. Those who knew Eazy as a vegetarian, well sorry to disappoint, he has join the dark side early this year...LOL

Eazy supporting a local Brunei brand Dark Arts

As for the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri to mark the end of Ramadhan, which is roughly less than two weeks away Eazy can't wait to dive into plenty of Nutella cakes!

Hari Raya is celebrated joyously with plenty of delicious food in Brunei. Go ahead celebrate with friends and good food. But after days of feasting do visit Khalifa MMA, and its associate gym around Brunei to get yourself back in fighting shape.

Warriors of Borneo wishes all the Bruneian BJJ community a blessed Ramadhan and a coming wonderful Aidilfitri!

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