MIMMA 5 Grand Finals : EUNICE ONG MAKING SURE THE WOMEN BELT STAYS IN JOHOR

MMA is predominantly a male sports, more so in Malaysia. But Sabahan Ann 'Athena' Osman came & broke that stereotype 5 years ago, being the first Malaysian female Muslim MMA athlete.

Ann became the face of Malaysian female MMA. She was a true ambassador of the sports with her fighting prowess, personality and her media savyness. She inspired many women not just to take up MMA but to be more affirmative & confident.

 In 2015 MIMMA decided to introduce the female category as there were already a good healthy number of female MMA prospects and journalist Joanna Yap of Sarawak became the inaugural champion.

Ann announced her retirement last year. With her departure from active fighting, Jihin Radzuan from Johor filled in the void. Jihin was the 2nd MIMMA female champion in 2016. Undefeated in amateur MMA and multiple champion in Kickboxing & Muaythai. This year Jihin has moved up to become a pro fighter under ONE Championship.

Jihin herself, in turn inspired another female to take up MMA. Also from Johor, her name is Eunice Ong.

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Eunice qualified for MIMMA season 5 grand finals on Friday when she beat Amirah Najwa of KL with a split decision in the semi-finals. Going into the semis, Eunice was the leader of the pack in MIMMA5 league standings with 24 points.

This petite girl from Batu Pahat has a background in Wushu. She was Johor state champion for NanQuan, NanKun & Nanbao, and a silver medalist in national championship for NanQuan.

Eunice ( middle )

In primary school, TaeKwon-Do gave her some martial arts foundation. In her secondary school time in Chinese High School, she was active in Ping-Pong and Wushu. After high school Eunice attended Beijing Sports University.She studied sport science with focus on Wushu.

While studying in Uni as she study Wushu, inevitably she learn about MMA. Her interest grew in MMA and when she was back for holiday she began looking for an MMA gym. But no such place exist back in her home town. Mr Google came to her rescue and she managed to locate Ultimate MMA Academy (UMA) in Johor Bahru.

UMA is a pioneer MMA gym in Malaysia. Founded by non other than Malaysian pioneer himself a high school teacher name Melvin Yeoh. She and her husband took up lessons and Melvin shared his knowledge with her. Training together with Jihin, Eunice began to dream of success in MMA and wanting to win a championship belt too.

with her coach and mentor in MMA Melvin Yeoh

Back home in Batu Pahat, Eunice and her husband Golden Tan founded QYS Wushu Academy. Teaching Wushu and self defense to mostly children. 

As she progress her learning in MMA from Melvin in her weekend 100 over KM drive down to Johor Bahru, she started to teach MMA in QYS, making QYS a affiliated gym of UMA in Batu Pahat. 

with her husband Golden Tan

"It's not easy. Batu Pahat is a chinese populated town. Most chinese parents do not mind their children learning Wushu as it's steeped with tradition and the art form is easily appreciated. 

But not MMA... as Chinese parents does not like their children to get hit on the face. Furthermore, MMA in Batu Pahat is still new. Most people's perception of it is that its a brutal sports taken up by rough-lings, and most are very uncomfortable in the grappling style of BJJ"

"So some started taking MMA classes only out of curiosity, but the drop off rate is high."

Building the young generation of Batu Pahat

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In the grand finals she will face Gloria Isabelle Hoong of Sabah. She knew that Gloria has good grappling and being the lightest among the female in her weigh division, she had to work harder on the ground. Which is why Eunice is happy that she gets lots of valuable pointers from Jihin. Eunice and her husband has made more regular trip to UMA to further enhance her game plan form mentor Melvin.

with Jihin Radzuan

training with other UMA team mates

Melvin putting her through the drilss

Aside from running QYS Wushu Academy Eunice and her husband Golden Tan's also is the founder of Motion Art , a sportswear clothing brand with design on sports lifestyle and martial arts. Martial arts is their main source of income.

Eunice and Golden in their Motion Art t-shirt

"I join MIMMA 5 not only to win the belt, but at the same time to promote MMA in Batu Pahat. I hope my achievement can bring more awareness and in turn will encourage parents to send their kids to learn martial arts."

All the preparation is now all done. It's fight night, time for action. Eunice is determine to get that Women belt and she wants to make sure the belt remains in the royal land of Johor.

vs Gladys Molling in league 5

overcoming Amirah in the semis

JIHIN 'SHADOW CAT' TOOK HOME GOLD FROM JOHOR INT. JIUJITSU CHAMPIONSHIP

MIMMA4 Female Champion, Jihin Radzuan aka the Shadow Cat from Ultimate MMA Johor Bahru took home 1 gold and 1 bronze from Johor International Jiu-JitSu Championship.

The two day event 14-15 October was held at Plaza Sentosa Johor Bahru. More than 150 participants competed in Gi & No-Gi category. Gi was contested on day 1 and No-Gi on the 2nd day.

Day 1 Gi category saw 153 entries, while Day 2 No-Gi saw 102.

Jihin participated in two category. She took the Gold in the No-Gi Blue belt 56.5-58.5 kg,
In the Semi-finals she defeated a girl from Checkmat (Pamela Mae) with high elbow guillotine. While in the finals defeated another girl from Checkmat (Hai Qi) with toe hold to firmly secure gold.

Jihin executing the toe hold

No-Gi Blue belt champion. Jihin was happy competing in her now favourite Wonder Women rash guard. It was a gift by her sister

In Female Absolute ( no weight limit ) she went against One Championship MMA athlete, Tiffany Teo. She lost the fight and got a bronze.

"It was a good experience coz the no gi rules is modified IBJJF rules. We play advantage and penalty which mean no one can stalling."

Jihin has dominated in amatuer MMA by winning the MIMMA4 female category and has recently turned pro and took a win in her pro MMA debut in Ultimtae Beatdown 23. JIJC was not her first grappling competition. She first participated in Johor BJJ Open 2 and won a silver in juvenile category.

The 2nd time she competed in Johor BJJ Open, she got 2nd place in juvenile and gold medal for no limit weight female white belt.

She will be competing again this Saturday 28 Oct in Johor Muaythai Open, in the 54kg pro Muaythai.

Ask wheter she will take a break from competing after this...

"I don't think there is a break in my dictionary. After Johor Open Muaythai, I will be fighting K1 Kickboxing in Ultimate Beatdown: Medini Showdown this 4-5 Nov. I will continue competing to gain as much experience as possible"

Monarchy MMA had a dominating performance emerging as champions for for Gi & No Gi. They took home 8 golds and accumulated 98 points for Day 1, followed by Checkmat International A and 3rd placing goes to Fortitude BJJ A.

As for Day 2, again on top with 9 golds and a haul of 111 points, followed again by Checkmat International A & Reps Doberman.

Event coordinater FS Cheng was very happy with the turn out and he thank all the sponsors, team and competitors and their supporters for coming out to make the first Johor International Jiu-JitSu Championship (JIJC) a success. 

sponsors for 1st JIJC

building future generations

JIJC is not FS Cheng  first BJJ event, in total he has organised 4 times Johor BJJ Open before this and JIJC is a rebranding for Johor BJJ Open to bring it a level higher and appeal to the international athletes and he ask all the Jiu-Jiteros to be ready for the 2nd JIJC early next year!

( check out  more amazing pictures in JIJC FB page)

ULTIMATE BEATDOWN 23: LEGENDS NEVER DIE

Ultimate Beatdown fight is back again! 65 bouts of integrated combat sports of boxing, free fight, and MMA in one night! This event also will bring together fighters from 11 different nationalities, namely Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Russia, France, Australia, Timor, Iraq. Tickets are only RM30! VIP ticket only RM100!

Event: Ultimate Beatdown 23 

Venue: Johor Bahru, Plaza Sentosa ( Rooftop - 8th floor )

Date: 15 July 2017   

Time: 3.30pm - 5.30pm Boxing

           5.30pm - 8.30pm Kickboxing
           8.30pm - 11pm MMA

Whether you're a fan of MMA or a movie fan, this is definitely an event you don't  want to miss! Fill your  Saturday night to full-action fighting ULTIMATE BEATDOWN style .

Ticket only at RM30, VIP RM100 .  Tickets can be at Ultimate MMA Academy or online. PM them now for tickets.

click to watch the promo video

check out MMA Latest for the full fight cards

Introducing the main event of the night:

The first ever female main event in Ultimate Beatdown series.

Introducing fighter from left to right:

Jihin"Shadow-Cat" Radzuan (Malaysia)

A full time vet nurse and college student. A home grown Johor talent coached by Melvin Yeoh in Ultimate MMA Academy. Started her MMA training at age of 16 when she still a chubby school girl.

In less than 2 years training she had won FIOGA wushu championship & the MIMMA (one of world premier amateur MMA fight league) title. Just fresh out of pre - SEA Game Muaythai won gold medal last week, she is looking to take another big step into her MMA career. Jihin also represented Malaysia in the IMMAF Asia tournament in Singapore last month.

Hasrina Hamka"Iron Maiden"(Indonesia)

Train and coaching full time in the best and biggest gym in Batam, BFC. The team also provided security service for hire. A master in hand to hand combat of various discipline of martial arts such as Boxing, BJJ and Indonesian art of Pencak Silat, she will be trying to use her weight and size advantage to shut down Shadow-Cat aggression and take away all her fame.

Kickboxing Middleweight Super 4 Championship

Introducing fighters from left to right:

Bangkang "The Hellhound"
Started his fighting career in UB has & has  fought multiple time in the previous UB. This hot-headed Johor native is a raging bull. Being famous for taking every fight as an underdog, he manages to upset the crowd many time. This time he takes on a fight on short notice as a late replacement. He would like to show those 3 big boys what he is made of.


Charlie Pennington"The Sky Scraper"
From Luton, England works in sales Industry in Singapore. Although he just trained in Fight G under the watchful eyes of coach Darren for nearly 2 years, he is very active and won the Kickboxing Welterweight Championship title via a highlight reel head kick knockout in the previous Ultimate Beatdown 22. Right after that victory he immediately asked for a shot at the Middleweight 4-men tournament. He has long reach and keeping his opponent in the distance is his main key to victory.

Wali"The Beastmaster" Rahman
Wali Rahman aka the Beastmaster gets his name by the amount of nonstop work he puts in his training regime. He eats, sleeps and breathes Muay Thai. He is a hardcore practitioner of the "Dutch style" kickboxing. He has been training the fundamental and technical of boxing for 2 years and has been traveling around in search of the art of fighting and now he is with the Red Wolves family. He is well-versed in boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai. UB's : Legends Never Die Super 4 title belt is one of his bucket list that he wishes to cross out after this weekend.

Abin Ag"Carpenter"
He gets his nickname "Carpenter" as he likes to leg kicks his opponent in every fight and chop down opponent legs like chopping a tree. Every opponent had fell victim to his vicious leg kicks. His famous quote :

" The taller then opponent is, the harder they fall,... once their leg gets chop down" 

He would like to get a sweet taste of chopping 2 opponents legs down until they need to be carried out from the cage before the sweet blink of the shining championship belt wrap on his waist.

Anybody like cats fight? If you like women MMA,  here is something you might like to watch!

From INDIA
Akshata "Thug" Khadtare after having trained MMA for a year, she went on to win the first All India Mixed Martial Arts Federation Nationals. She beat 2 experienced opponents to clinch the National Championship. Akshata is the only female fighter on the roster of Team Relentless and also the biggest bully in the team earning her the Nickname "Thug". To earn a spot in Team Relentless its like a hero trying to earn a spot in Avenger, and she is the 1 of a kind.


From SINGAPORE
Tan Shi Yin aka "Little Chilli From Yishun" is a Singaporean MMA fighter fighting out of BJJSG. She has competed and won in Muay Thai, boxing, and grappling competitions and is looking to build her skills and become a well-rounded MMA fighter. Well known for her ferocious fighting style and ironically also her cuteness, she is looking to extend her winning streak in UB 23 to make a name in this sport.

at weigh in today

Ultimate Beatdown Kickboxing Super 4 Flyweight Title.

Introducing fighters from left to right.....

Awin "The Loverboy"(Malaysia)
Mohd Khuzaiwin or as he is fondly known as Buakaw Malaysia is one of the top and upcoming fighter in this fighting arena. He has won fights in Silat, Muay Thai and Kickboxing. His dream is to become the ultimate fighter started at the age of 18 where he won his first Muay Thai tournament. He has never stop training since then. Now as part of the Red Wolves family, he trains under Thai fighter Songkhalek, Ajarn Khairul Anuar and the Khrus of Red Wolves in mastering the art of Muay thai and Kickboxing. He is very hungry for the UB Legends Never Die Super 4 title belt and will not stop till he gets it.

Marco Germani (Italy)
Marco Germani an Eurasian of Italy & Malaysia parentage, fights out of Team Armada Penang will be bringing the warrior spirit of the gladiators to the Ultimate Beatdown 23 -  Flyweight Super 4 Tournament. Marco has been training hard with his coach FS Cheng on a unique fighting style that will be presented in the Ultimate Beatdown arena tonight.

Allan "Super Mario" Ng (Singapore)
Allan is a fitness trainer by profession, running a boutique gym, Grit with his partner.  Rumors has it that Allan can spar for 2 hours without any rest as a everyday training routine. He is also able to break 6 baseball stick using his shin. Allan fights out of Fight G Singapore, and wants to prove that he's on his way to competing at the highest level of combat sports by bringing home the UB belt across the border.

Amir"Akid" (Malaysia)
Amir with the ringname known as Akid KL the son of Sifu Amir KL, one of the assistant coach in Amir KL Squad. After he finished SPM he enrolled and completed the Discover Muaythai Programme at Dragon Muaythai under an ex World Muaythai champ KruSlatan. He has been busy training and get as much fight as possible whether in Muaythai, K1 or Boxing.
With his recent victory in semipro boxing, he now has his eyes on UB's : Legends Never Die Super 4 Title Belt, lets see what this kid can do.

Team Relentless India is back to Malaysia. This time bringing 4 formidable fighters 

from (R to L ) Anil Mehta, Manthan Rane, Akshata Khadtare and Rudransh Azad

Anil Mehta is not a stranger to the fight scene in Malaysia. in UB 23 he takes on Nik Danial Hazeq (Red Wolves MT) in 65kg catch weight K1 Kickboxing bout.

Previously he won the amateur 16 man Under 65kgs tournament at STAND K1 series 2 in Sabah. He then went up a weight category and was a runner up of the STAND series 3 Semi Pro 8 man Under 70kgs tournament. Anil also holds the 65kgs Sabah FIGHT FEST title and won the pro Muayhai SABAH FIGHT VIP Cup. 

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Manthan "Metal" Rane is the youngest member of Team Relentless but what he lacks in age he covers up in combat sports experience.

After winning the Yodhha FC India Bantamweight title in what can be called a stellar fashion, on 15th July he will test his skills against Shihab "Whirlwind" Mustafi in Bantamweight Amateur MMA bout at the Ultimate Beatdown 23.

Manthan won the Semi Pro 8 man Under 65kgs tournament at STAND K1 and is next in line for the title shot for STAND K1 Under 65kgs belt. Win, lose or draw one this is guaranteed that it Manthan is gonna make people sit up and take notice of his skills.

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Akshata "Thug" Khadtare is the only female fighter on the roster of Team Relentless (but the biggest bully in the team). In Women's Strawweight MMA bout, she will take on one of top ranked female fighters in the region, Tan Shi Yin of Singapore.

After winning the AIMMAF National Championship, Akshata will put her unbeaten record on the line in her international debut tonight. Having finished her training camp under the guidance of Darren Senz de Silva, Head Coach and owner of  Fight G MMA , Akshata is confident that she will be able to bring home the victory for the team. Keep a watch out for The Thug as she is just beginning her journey to the top of Women's Straw weight Division

In an all Borneo fight in the Bantamweight MMA will see Aaron Lo  vs Mohd Saufi (ADN MMA Brunei)

Aaron is riding on a 2 fight winning streak. His last victory was Mac's UB 22 in a 3 round decision win. Before that he won over Nazipan in Fight Fest Sabah in last's year October.

This Sarawakian lad is working as an accountant. Aaron use to train under Matt Pellino and his martial arts brothers in arms such Jace Law ( MIMMA 3 Lightweight Champion ) & Stephen Onn Jenggieng ( WBC pro Boxer ) and Ahmadjon Karimov ( MIMMA 3 Foreign pride Champion ) in the Gym Box Kuching.

Aaron has good boxing skills and a underated ground game. His advantage will be his never say die attitude. He keeps on coming like a locomotive.

His opponent Mohd Saufi represent ADN MMA from Brunei. Started in kickboxing, he recently in MMA debut in MMA; fought in Rampage FC winning his fight in 3 rounds decision

Aaron Law fighting in UB ( pix by MMA Latest )

Saufi winning in Rampage FC

UFC's Karate Hottie Michelle Waterson promoting Ultimate Beatdown 23  (click to watch)

* majority infor taken from Ultimate Beatdown Facebook.