REIGN IN POWER MMA CHINA : THE MALAYSIAN MIMMA CONNECTION

There's no doubt that martial arts is synonym to China. Being the birthplace of Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Wushu Sanda and counteless other martial arts, it has become part of Chinese culture. With the growing popularity of MMA due to the influence of UFC, China is a market definately any MMA promotions would like to penetrate.

China has seen it's first MMA promotions in 2005 through Art of War Fighting Championship, Then came Legend FC, with it's first event  in 2010 at Hong Kong, which saw  Adrain Pang ( current ONE Championchip Lightweight stalwart ) draw against Yul Chul Nam of Korea. In 2011 Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation (RUFF) enter the picture with it's first event in Shanghai.

Then in 2013, the big boy...UFC enter the game by producing The Ultimate Fighter China, which saw MIMMA Season 1 lightweight champion Allen Solomon Chong being the 1st South East Asian qualify for the selection. TUF China climax at the finale in Macau in 2014 with the main fight card of Dong Hyung Kim vs John Hathaway.

Allen during TUF China photoshoot

In Dec 2014, Asia MMA powerhouse, ONE Championship held Dynasty of Champions in Beijing, which saw a featherweight & flyweight tournament being organised and the emergence of China MMA star Li Kai Wen.

Kunlun Fight, primarily a Kickboxing promotions but they introduce MMA in April 2015. Rebel FC: The Promised One was organised in Qingdao in June 2015.  In Nov 2015, another global organisations, WSOF ( World Series of Fighting ) entered China by launching it's first WSOF Global Championship in Haikou.

But all the above are professional MMA promotions. There is still no local Chinese MMA promotions at amateur level,...till now, enter Reign in Power Fighting Championship ( RIP-FC ).

Reign in Power Fighting Championship ( RIP-FC ) has been formed to unearth local China MMA athletes. Aiming to give a platform to Chinese fighters  to perform and gain experience before moving to the pro field.

The RIP-FC press con in Sept annoucing the event

Their first event is on this Sunday 20 NOV at Kunming, the largest city in the province of Yunnan in southern China. This first event, named Decisive Battle will feature 12 bouts, 2 being pro fight cards.

The Malaysian MIMMA connection here is that the core operation & production team are from MIMMA Malaysia. Yes the people behind MIMMA are collaborating with Wu Jie Sports Development Company to organise, run and produce the show.

The success of Tune Talk's MIMMA since 2013 being the biggest and best run amateur MMA tournament has attract the interest of Chinese sports authorities. They are looking to replicate the same format in China. China with it's martial arts roots and countless martial artists present a huge pool of potential MMA talent. All they need is a tournament to perform and gain the much needed experience.

The MIMMA team is bringing 3 MIMMA fighters for RIP-FC's inaugural event. Reigning and 3 times Flyweight Champion Seah Zhang Yu of 3S MMA will be facing his toughest challenge to date in facing an experience Thai muaythai specialist.

Penangite Seah is on top form as he look to continue his 3 fight winning streak to 4. Seah also recently emerged champion in Optimum Nutrition: Show of True Strength, an exercise contest of fitness and strength.

Also fighting at Flyweight will see MIMMA season 3 Contender Fight Challenger Naimul Othman facing a Filipino muaythai stylist. Naimul has been active in 2016 participating in ONE Silat and most recently he lost a close match in a catchweight MMA fight in Jesselton Fight League. Naimul is fighting out of CTR313 & Monarchy MMA .

At Featherweight, Ridzuan Dahari, is fighting out of Kalai Bother Boxing will face American Cash Barnes of Team Quest Thailand. Ridzuan is MIMMA Season 4 semi-finalist with a 4-4-0 records.

Groomed by Eddey Kalai with great boxing, Ridzuan is a pro boxer. His most recent boxing match was at Singapore Fighting Championship 2 in the final of WBF Asia Pacific Light heavyweight title fight, which he lost to Sabahan Hisyam Sam.

Ridzuan is from Labuan. He left his home island to Kuala Lumpur when his mother pass away and has gone through lots of challenges in life. He use to hang out with Naimul when he was in his early 20s and they used to got into many street fights.

Martials arts in a way saved him and Naimul, as it instill discipline, respect and honour into their life. Furthermore Ridzuan felt it's better to fight in the cage as it's safer and get rewarded.



Another Borneon, Mohd Hasbullah Sanmin from Team Karabaw Keningau will also be feature, facing another Filipino in Flyweight. Hasbullah was MIMMA 4 Semi-Finalist. But in Sabah he has achieved much, being the Jesselton Fight League 2015 Bantamweight champion and Fight Fest 2 Super-4 Champion. He most recently won Fight Fest 3 Flyweight Superfight vs Joel Nickolson of Sabah Top Team with a ground and pound finish.

In the main event pro cards, Welterweight action will feature Glenn Sparv of Finland fighting out of AKA Thailand with a 12-4-0 vs American James Chaney. James fought in The Utimate Fighter 16 (2012) and was known for controversially biting his opponent in order to escape a choke.

In the 2nd pro card will see American Edmund Bordes vs Artur Taruharov. Edmund is muaythai specialist and a familiar face to Malaysian fight fans. He fought pro muaythai in D1 Fighting Championship and was in Sabah few months ago, training Brazilian Luta Livre under Antonio Battistessa at Sabah Top Team before he moved to KL to teach in  Gymba Muaythai.



Warriors of Borneo wishes all the Malaysian fighters all the best. Fight hard, fight smart, fight with all your heart.

All the best to the Malaysian fighters

Seah, Naimul & Ridzuan with the Malaysian team

Ridzuan & Naimul proudly showing their support to their sponsor RANGER

MIMMA fight photo team of YK Tang & Mahesan with Seah, his coach  Kenny Ng and MMA referee Isaac Yap

FIGHT FEST 3 - JOEL VS HASBULLAH (MMA Flyweight Superfight)

Fight Fest 3 will be bigger this year, as it combines not only fights ( grappling, K1 and MMA ) but also activities from the gaming scene (Cosplay & Console Games). There will also be trade booth from sponsors and retailers from the combat sports and gaming industry displaying and promoting their products.

The highly anticipated fight for MMA will be Joel Nickolson Lawrence (Sabah Top Team) vs ( Md Hasbullah Sanmin) in the Flyweight category. Both are looking to capitalised on weight advantage by cutting from Bantamweight. 

Joel is an ethnic Sabahan Dusun from Tambunan. He attended Sandakan Vocational College and came to KK to further his studies. Active in Taekwondo since young, he represented Sabah in national level competition and also in the MOHE-UMS International Taekwondo Fiesta. 

Joel also does some coaching of Taekwondo under Courage Martial Arts Club. But to continue fighting competitively he began to look for an MMA gym to widen his repertoire, and found Sabah Top Team. Coming from TaeKwonDo background, with a 3rd degree black belt, his footwork is his main weapon. But he has add on wrestling and Luta Livre grappling into his arsenal through the guidance of coach Antonio Battistessa.

With coach Antonion ( center) 

This year was he first attempt at MIMMA. And Joel did well and progress to Semi-Finals where he met eventual bantamweight Champion Damon Soo. He lost the fight by submission as his injured knee disable him to counter fast enough.

After a month of rest he signed up for Jesselton Fight League and fought Australian Nathan Hynes, winning by a front choke in round 2. ( check out his JFL fight here below)

Joel acknowledge that Hasbullah is a tough opponent. But he has come well prepared. He is polishing his ground game with Antonio Battistessa with more complicated Luta Livre move and brushing up on his kicks and boxing. Joel is confident that wherever the fight go, ground or stand up, he can dominate.

Md Hasbullah Sanmin, created an impact in 2015. In Sept 2015, He fought in Fight Fest 2 in Citymall. Competing in the Bantamweight super 4, he convincing win with great submission techniques to emerge as champion.

In Jesselton Fight League (JFL) Semi-finals match he went against the odds by winning vs the highly touted Ahmadjon Karimov from Gymbox Kuching. Hasbullah then progress to the grand finals in Oct 2015, and fought a crazy round of war vs Sabahan muaythai specialist, Dean Hamsah to emerge as the winner for the Bantamweight belt.

Then he further add to his collection the medals of Bantamweight champion from Borneo Amateur Challenge - Labuan in Jan 2016.

Hasbullah's journey in MIMMA was not as successful as in season 3, he stumbled in the ladder match, but this year he manage to reach semi-finals. Hasbullah explained that in Season 3, his lack of grappling skills was the cost of his lost.

But after that lost, he focus on his ground game, learning earnestly BJJ from Allen Solomon Chong and Luta Livre from his coach at that time Mohd Bakri of Keningau MMA, he also took seminar of Luta Livre from Coach Antonio Battistessa of Sabah Top Team.



The improvement of his ground game is significant as can be seen from his victory in JFL, and Fight Fest 2. Even though he manage to improve on his MIMMA journey this year, but Hasbullah was not really happy with his performance. As this year he has venture out on his own. He now is in charge of Team karabaw Keningau branch.

Setting up the Karabaw branch, coaching and recruiting new members took up much of his time and he didn't have the time to train for his own fight. But now that Karabaw Keningau is up and running, Hasbullah have more time to focus on himself.

He promise that the old Hasbullah will be back and will put up a show for fight fans to enjoy.

COme and watch Joel vs Hasbullah. It's going to be a action pack weekend , don't miss out Fight Fest 3 at Suria Sabah.

Fight Fest III : Kingdom Comes, coming your way!

The 3rd instalment  of Fight Fest is named Kingdom Comes. This time around, it is going to be a hive of activities, which require a bigger space, and hence location is confirmed at SURIA SABAH.

Last Sunday 16 OCT 2016, Fight Fest held a meet the coach session at FitLine Center, Penampang. This session was held to give organizers, gym owners, & ISKA Borneo representative to meet and clarify on competition rules. It's also where main sponsors FitLine can give a briefing on how their products can help fighters achieve peak performance.

Among the subject discussed:

• K1 Rules & Regulations
• K1 Scoring System
• FitLine supplementation
• ISKA National Tournament
• Fight Fest 3 : Kingdom Comes program update 
• Fight Fest 2017 plans 

It was conducted by organizers & Fight Fest founder, Johan Julian of Kinabalu Fighters and ISKA East Malaysia representative, Alvin Chong of Borneo Combat Gym. As for FitLine supplementation talk was given by Mr. Thomas Tay.

Fight Fest III will be a platform to select the best fighter from Sabah to compete in ISKA National tournament, which is plan to take place next year.

Briefing by Johan Julian

Briefing by Alvin Chong

Briefing by Thomas Tay on FitLine supplementation

Fight Fest 3 will create history in Borneo as the 1st hybrid martial arts event. It combines :

• Grappling event :SHOGUN for gi, MATA LEAO for no gi.
• MMA
• K1 Kickboxing

There will also be a free Luta Livre seminar to be held on 28 OCT. conducted by Luta Livre Blackbelt Afonso Cego & Luta Livre Brownbelt Antonio Battistessa.

For non martial arts activities, in colloboration with HOBBYCON there will be :

• Cosplay activities and competition
• Console Games
• Fitness challenge and activities
• Booth from fitness apparels & gears, food & beverages and other sponsors

It is truly becoming an event for whole family. Those that likes to watch fight can do so and their family and children can enjoy the Cosplay and Console games activities. Those not into martial arts but are fitness freaks, SFAS (Sabah Functional Fitness Association) will conduct a fitness challenge. Celebrity Fitness guru Michelle Koh will bring fun in exercising through her FUZE FITNESS session.

The event will be divided into 4 areas, 

• Mat area for grappling matches
• Ring for K1 Kickboxing and MMA matches
• Stage area for Cosplay, Fuze Fitness activities
• Booth area for trade booth

The hi-light will be the K1 65kg Superfight between Muhd Afandi of Team Revolution, Sabah vs Anil Mehta of Team Relentless, India. This fight will determine who is the owner of the shiny ISKA-FIGHT FEST belt.

Will this title belt be kept in Malaysia or be brought back to India?

Another fight that is highly anticipated will be the MMA fight between JFL 2015 Bantamweight and FF2 Superfight Champion Mohd Hasbullah of Karabaw Keningau vs the MMA raising star Joel Nickolson of Sabah Top Team. 

Check out the schedule below:

Personally I'm very excited about this event. Because they are so many things to see and do. I just wish I can multiply myself and watch all the event.

This is definitely an event that will keep you entertained whole weekend and satisfy your thirst for martial arts action. Entrance is free!

Check out Fight Fest FB for updates or call Johan Julian if you need more infor ( 016-831 1440 )

Fearless Warriors from Keningau

Keningau is an interior town 3 hours drive from Kota Kinabalu. More well known for it's natural forest resources and agricultural produce, you will least expect this place to produce talented MMA fighters, but then again,...if you look at the history, this is the place where fierce Murut warriors come from.

Keningau is also the home for KMMA (Keningau Mixed Martial Arts), helm by Md Bakri aka Matt Buvvart. My first encounter with fighters from KMMA was when I saw Yuri Adana in JFL trial in 2013. He displayed great fighting spirit. Then in JFL quarter finals, Writh Kapotosan vs the seasoned fighter - Eddy Kalai. Even though outskill by Eddy, Writh put up a great fight. He was relentless and kept coming forward.

Then came the fight that brought the house down in JFL Semis. Md Hasbullah won against the favourite Ahmadjon Karimov of GymBox Kuching. Hasbullah (Hasb) was a person on fire that night, he came in like a bull and outstrike Ahmadjon.

Who is this lad  Md. Hasbullah Sanmin? 'The Geragas Man' as he's being given the nickname, means rascal in the local Dusun language. Yup, he was a rascal before. Always got into fights in school & in the streets of Keningau. He did learn some Taekwondo and some boxing before, but not seriously.

He was introduce to MuayThai at Jacky Fitness Gym. He learn fast & as his skills grew he's interest in competition also grew. He was not very familiar with MMA. His initial understanding was that it was kind of like underground fights that he saw in TV. When he first attended Borneo Fighting Championship, he felt that it was something he wanted to do. But his coach at that time felt he was not yet ready for MMA.

Hasbullah participated in D1FC in Ranau in MuayThai, he lost, but redeem himself in a MuayThai event in Aug 2014 in Tg Aru , KK by winning gold. Then work got in the way. He work in logging camp & did not find a regular time to train. Later when work at camp ended, he was introduce to Matt Buvvart. Matt started martial art training at Keningau Sport Complex. A bunch of same interest friends came together and train there for the initial few months before KMMA finally got a permanent place in town.

No pain,...No gain

Hasbullah learn MMA from Matt. It was like putting fuel to fire. He soak up all the knowledge and skill being taught. In 2014, Hasb won gold in the no gi category at Borneo Headhunters Jujitsu Challenge at Citymall KK organised by Alpha MMA. Till today...Hasb still does not own a gi. " I'm still saving some money for this"

No equipment? This is no excuse not to train...we will build our own!

When coach Antonio Battistessa gave a MMA seminar in KMMA, Hasbullah gain more knowledge, especially from the ground skill taught by Antonio in Luta Livre. Finally Hasbullah register to fight at JFL. From the advise of Sensei Rayner Kinsiong, Hasbullah fight at bantamweight. At the ladder match, got a walkover win when his opponent pull out. After all the training and no fight??!!, he was itchy for a scrap so the next day he participated in Badak Open Grappling organised by Alpha MMA and won gold in no gi.

April 2014, KMMA send him for MIMMA3 tryout at 1Borneo Mall. He was not ready on the 1st day. After registering he was immediately asked to warm up for the stand up & ground skills try out. Then the sparring session met Eddy Kalai, he didn't perform well as he was fighting on an empty stomach. Obvious result  - he was not selected. 2nd day, he was more organised and prepared well and from his better performance on day 2, he was selected to fight at the laddermatch.

At ladder match in KL, he faced Khoo Teik Guan of KL, Hasbullah lost the fight in split decision as he was dominated by lots of take down. Hasbullah felt it was a good learning from that lost, back to the gym to work on the weakness. His focus now is to do well in JFL Semis.

at MIMMA3

And he certainly did. It was a night to remember on 23.5.15 when he fought Ahmadjon Karimov 
( read the review here ) of GymBox Kuching. Ahmadjon was expected to win due to his reputation as a heavy striker. He TKO Effendy Kalai in the JFL ladder match.
Hasbullah shocked the crowds by a convincing win over Ahmadjon, by outstriking the striker.

winning the JFL semis

The win was also made sweeter as he was sick on that day. Came down with fever, he was already doubting himself to even make it to the cage. Matt gave him a prep talk...
" You either take this or leave this, this is your biggest opportunity to proof to others what you are made of ".
With that, Hasbullah picked himself up, did light jog to build a sweat and decided that to show up is already a win. The rest he leave it to God to guide him.

From this convincing win in JFL Semis, Hasbullah realised he can do anything as long as he put his mind to it. He had a renew spirit to train harder. In FightFest 2 5 SEP 2015, saw him fighting in the MMA Super4. His first fight he swung into action by locking in a viscious armbar that end the fight in 33 seconds.

Proceed to final, he met Teo Seng Ming of Tomoi Labuan. At the disadvantage of height, but Hasbullah connected with a overhand right that drop Teo and he finished the fight with ground & pound.

at Fight Fest 2

Now thanks to sponsors from Shape Up Fitness Gym Keningau Hasbullah has a great place to do his strenght training

Looking to have another finish for his JFL Grand Final, but aware that his opponent Dean Hamsah is a formidable fighter that he can't take lightly, Hasbullah will utilise all his arsenal for the battle in JFL final.

Including Hasbullah in the Championship bout for JFL, KMMA will be sending another 4 fighters to compete. They are Writh Kapotosan for Bantamweight Super4, Md Shafirul for Cage Boxing Super8, Matthew Tien Loong for Flyweight MMA bout and Shaharuddin for Welterweight MMA.

Catch their appearance at JFL Grand Finals 3-4 Oct 2015

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I managed to have a short interview with Matt Buvvart, the founder of Keningau MMA

Hi Matt, how did you started in martial arts?
I started with TaeKwonDo (ITF), competed at state level. Then progress to Boxing…subsequently to MuayThai and now MMA.

What about the ground game?
My BJJ I mix with BLL ( Brazillian Luta Livre ), we focus on no-Gi. Coached by Antonio
Batisttessa of Sabah Top Team.

Matt earning his Luta Livre belt from master Afonso Cego with Coacj Antonio on the left

When did you start coaching?
Around 2013 , coach MuayThai. Then I stop d

ue to work commitment. Early 2014 I started KMMA & began coaching again.
We use to train at Keningau Sports Complex…but now I’m thankful that we have a permanent place at Appolo Atrium to call home.
It’s small but at least there’s a proper place to train for the team.

How did you train your fighters to be fearless?
It’s all from their heart, I’m just there to find ways to better explore and expose their potential

Any special mental training?
Not really, it comes from their own never give up attitude. Obviously you need to have the passion and the huge interest to fight.

KMMA - a great place to train for MMA in Keningau

What’s your view on Sabah MMA?
It’s great, we have produce many champions, such as Ann Osman, AJ Pyro, Allen Chong and Rayner Kinsiong, to name a few.
This indirectly promote Sabah. MMA is a lifestyle, lots of people are still ignorant about it, thinking that it’s a violent sports. To me it’s a lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle.

To fight in MMA you gotta have discipline to train hard and eat clean. Parents should allow their kids to take it up. It builds character,…better than having them loitering around aimlessly.

Thanks Matt for your time. Wishing your KMMA team all the best for JFL.

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Matt's is not only an artist in the martial way but also in the aesthetic way. He runs a business doing photograhy and graphic design.

He produce the artwork for JFL fight cards , souvenir programme and fighter's profile.

Look him up or PM him if you need to train or wants to engage his artistic services 

( https://www.facebook.com/buvvart  )