MALAYSIAN FIGHTFEST - RISE OF THE WARRIORS

It has been relatively quiet for MMA in Malaysia after MIMMA (Malaysian Invasion MMA) season 5 crowned its champion in Mac this year. Looking at the calender of events for MMA in Klang valley it seems like there's a lack of event that focus on amatuer MMA, which seems ironic as Klang valley has the highest concentration of martial arts gym that offers MMA lessons.

The closest event MMA enthusiast in KL can head to is F3 Championship. As one of the earliest event in KL, F3 offer a diversity of fight, ie: MMA, Boxing, Muaythai & Kickboxing. But their MMA fight is inside a ring.

Head down south to Johor Bahru, you will find Ultimate Beatdown reign supreme as the pioneer and longest running promotions in Malaysia for amatuer MMA. It is still running strong today and they have introduced Kickboxing, Boxing and even grappling into their event.

Up north, we use to have Warriors FC , which has evolved into Golden Warriors and now Penang Fight Night. Also in the north, Pusaka Ultimate Fight fills in the gap for freestyle fight with hybrid Silat ruling.

Travelling to fight is a huge cost for amateur fighter hence the birth of many promotions in Borneo, to cater for local amatuer MMA fighters. The MMA scene is kept busy mostly with events in Sabah such as Rampage MMA FC, Jesselton Fight League (which has transform into Ultimate Beatdown Borneo), Fight Fest, Borneo Amatuer Challenge (in Labuan) and Borneo King of the Cage.

MIMMA was created in 2013 to unearth Malaysian MMA talent, but as the scene grows and fighters become more skillfull and the prestige of MIMMA grows, the level of standards becomes higher, which becomes a hindrance to newcomers.

For newbies in Klang Valley, it has become a norm for them to travel out of Klang Valley to seek fights to gain experience. There's a huge pool of newbies in Klang Valley that's eager to enter the cage to gain much needed experience.

This is where Malaysian FightFest (MYFF) comes into the picture.

According to the MYFF management, it is created with the objectives of :
i. To provide a platform for NEW amateur MMA athletes to gain first fight / debut experiences and improve their skills.
ii. Increase MMA awareness and the growing martial arts community in Malaysia.
iii. Create an opportunity for brand exposure and various sponsorships.

Launched in April this year by the team that brought you MIMMA, expect the same high quality management and event organising efficiency. 

Registration was open in May and ended in 31st July and the response has been encouraging. Nearly 100 fighters submitted their profile. MYFF management was busy doing the match-making to provide each fighters with the best and fairest match up possible.

According to a Henry Goh the spokeperson of MYFF, there are many applicants but adhering to the objectives to give a platform to new fighters, some applicants has to be declined due to not able to find a fair match-up.

For the inaugural event this Saturday 25 Aug, these few categories has been confirmed. Women Strawweight. Male: Strawweight, Flyweight, Bantamweight, Featherweight, Lightweight & Welterweight. Below is the bouts that has been release in MYFF Facebook page.

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Some fights to watch out for;

Male - Bantamweight.
MIMMA 5 Flyweight finalist Jay Jay Anak Muran, is back after losing his flyweight grand final fight to Naimul Amal in Mac. He will face another MIMMA alumni, Jenarten Radhakrishnan. 
This is a comeback for Jenarten in MMA after losing the title challenge fight to Prabu Somainadu in MIMMA season 2 four years ago.

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Women Strawweight will see some familiar MIMMA faces. Amirah Najwa & Ng Pei Wee will be back after their first MMA experience in MIMMA 5 League. It's worth noting that Amirah has a win over Ng Pei Wee in MIMMA 5 league 7 and a notable win over MIMMA 5 Women Champion Eunice Ong in MIMMA 5 league 1.

Colleen Augustin vs Lee Yin Mun should be a good fight. Colleen Augustin is an upcoming amateur fighter from Monarchy MMA. She has collected two win fighting out of her hometown KL, once in Rampage FC Kota Kinabalu in May and then another win in Bangkok's Bigbox Beatdown 1 in July.
Lee Yin Mun debut in MMA last year in MIMMA5 league collecting a 3-2-0 record.

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MYFF is open to all nationality. In the featherweight cards, watch out for one Japanese , Tasuku Ushigaki, this young 20 yr old BJJ prodigy from Monarchy MMA is on a two fight win streak. His most recent win is in BigBox Beatdown 1, via ground and pound. In Nov 2017 he created an impact in Copa Da Malasia Grappling when he beat BJJ exponents more senior than him.

Another international fighter, Omer Jemal a Ethiopia national will be stepping into the cage to face Nidal Mahmoud, Omer won a bout in One Silat, with hybrid MMA rules set in 2015 and most recently won a bout in Muayfit Malaysian Fighting Championship Semi-
Pro Series via ground and pound in April.

Nidal is fondly known as King Joker for his signature way of appearing in a joker mask during walk-in. He debut in MMA in 2016 winning one bout in Pesta Selangor. Last year he fought in MIMMA 5 league series. He holds a 3-3-0 record in MMA. But he has tons of experience and championship achievement in pro Kickboxing and Muaythai.

This lightweight bout can potentially be an all out stand-up war that will end up in a KO finish.

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The venue for the 1st MYFF is at Quill City Mall. An MMA cage will be set up at the centre atrium with good visibility throughout the various floor. Quill City Mall will also sponsor a LED screen next to the cage to improve viewing satisfaction to the crowd.

Viewers at home can follow MYFF action through Crap.TV . The livestream will be sponsored by Tunetalk.

According to Henry, MYFF are non profit. Many in his team are volunteers. Even the judges and referee team are volunteer. All coming together with great passion for MMA, to further grow the sports in Malaysia.

Sponsors came in as partners, sponsoring prizes for the winners and covering some operational cost.

We will also get to have the pleasure of having Jon Nutt as the emcee. His familiar voice will surely liven up MYFF and keep everyone entertain. As hectic as he is in Bangkok and Singapore but Jon truly supports grassroots development of MMA in Malaysia.

Fighters will also get their cage action captured by YK Tang, the well known combat sports photographer in Malaysia. YK will also be doing his part volunteering his professional service supporting Malaysian grassroot MMA.

MYFF is using the International MMA Federation (IMMAF) rules set and endorse by MASMMA.

As usual , Warriors of Borneo blog will also do it's part by bringing you updates and news coverage of MYFF

MIMMA 5 : NAIMUL AMAL'S HARD WORKS PAID OFF

Standing at the backstage, Naimul ‘the Convict’ Amal Othman can hear the intro video playing in the hall, as he waited for his name to be called for the walk-out. It's the second last bout of the night. Between Naimul and Jay Muran for the vacant flyweight title. Stadium Juara has been rocked with 6 other exciting fight that night on 30 March 2018.

Naimul’s brother Dhiaaul earlier on had emerge victorious winning the Bantamweight belt. Now it’s for him to fulfil his end of the bargain, to go home together as champion.

Tupac Shakur’s Soldier came on. He listened to Tupac’s music since he was a teenager. The song Soldier meant a lot to him. It reminds him of his struggles to reach here in MIMMA 5 grand finals. Naimul calmly uttered a prayer, then breathe in deeply and began his walk-out accompanied by his coach Joe Lorenzo Kitingan and Dhiaaul.

As he walks, he felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. But the further he walk, he felt he is leaving all the tension and stress behind. He is leaving everything to ALLAH now.

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The flyweight championship fight was 3 rounds of thriller. Jay Muran is known for his ground game, but Naimul was the one that was well rounded. He dominated the stand-up and the grappling exchanges. His gas tank was also not depleted compare to Jay.

Both engaged with some wild exchanges in early round 1, but Jay was quick to attempt take down. He scored one ala Khabib Nurmagomedov by carrying Naimul across the cage & dumped him near his corner.

But Naimul was very hard to be kept down. He managed to reverse and continue to trade blows. But it was Naimul gaining the better of the exchanges, ending round 1 with 40 seconds unleashing ground and pound on Jay Jay.

Naimul open round 2 with a feint punches that set up for his left high kick that caught Jay Jay’s chin. At one point Jay Jay got Naimul’s back but Naimul control his hands well and managed to turn into Jay Jay’s guard and gain top position. After few seconds he stood and let Jay Jay back on his feet.

As they were pacing each other, Jay Jay pointed to something on his opponent’s face, but Naimul did not acknowledge and wants the fight to continue, until ref Dana intervene and cleared what seems to be a detached contact lens from below Naimul’s left eye.

Round 2 ended with Jay Jay caught in Naimul’s body triangle.

Round 3 Jay Jay got a take down but look exhausted to keep Naimul down, a few scramble later and a weak attempt by Jay Jay on a single leg led Naimul to get on top, with knee on belly he unleashed numerous strikes from top that the ref had to stop the fight at round 3, minute 1:39

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A win that was truly emotional for Naimul as he rushes to climb on to the cage , raised his hand to acknowledge God.

In a post fight interview, Naimul remark about the fight:
" I’m not surprised of Jay's gameplan, I knew he's going to take me down and fight me on the ground. But I was prepared for any situation. Stand up or ground just bring it on. I was prepared for war."

a visibly ecstatic Joe Lorenzo celebrating Naimul's win

Ask what was on his mind each round,
"Each round what I was thinking is that I will break his heart. I will make him doubt his own ability. All of his attempt will not work until he's tired."

Who he wants to acknowledge for his victory.
"Firstly I thank Allah, I pray to Allah to give me the victory and give me the ability to go through all the obstacles in my life and everything. I thank my parents, my in-laws for blessing me in this career. My wife, the backbone, she prepared for me almost everything, motivates me, hear me, and believe me. My coach Joe Lorenzo and my brother Dhiaaul in training. All my family members and All the true friends. I thank Allah for giving me all this companion in my life."

Emotional embrace with his parents after the victory

"And a great shout out to my sponsors Hutan Ration and HEAL Studio. Thanks to Tune Talk and MIMMA; there's always something sentimental with MIMMA as this is where my MMA path kick started, it means a lot for winning the MIMMA belt. Alhamdulillah."

strong support from family and friends

strong sponsors support

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Earlier before his fight that night, Naimul was cornering Dhiaaul in his bantamweight fight vs Sabahan Effendy Kalai. Dhiaaul endured Effendy’s heavy hands and eventually got hold of Effendy's arm and locked in a tight armbar for a finish.

Naim admit he was nervous at first but he was not worried, he knew Dhiaaul could handle the initially heavy onslaught. He has been training hard with Dhiaaul under Joe Lorenzo and has the utmost confidence for Dhiaaul to be crowned the Bantamweight Champion that night.

Back in 2015, in MIMMA’s season 3 Contender Fight, Naimul had to fight Dhiaaul for a place in the grand final flyweight category. It was a difficult decision but, being in the top of the flyweight division for both, it was inevitable for them to meet each other. They were very professional and went into the cage with full commitment of a good performance.



Dhiaaul emerged winner via armlock in round 2 and went on to challenge Seah Zhang Yu.

It is certainly dream come true for the Amal brothers this year as they both emerged as champion on that night. Very emotional win for Naimul as the hardship and sacrifice he had made ( read his pre-event story here ) finally bear fruit

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In the holy month of Ramadhan Naimul took time to be closer to God. Fasting and praying and ever thankful for every blessings and challenges God has given him. He also took time to help his close friend of 12 years and fellow MMA athlete Ridzuan Dahari in business.

They operate a stall in the Ramadhan Bazaar at Kompleks PKNS and selling Ridzuan’s famous Mafioso Seafood shellout. Business is good.

Naimul (R) with Ridzuan (L) and a friend

This year Hari Raya Naimul look forward to spend quality time with family and enjoy the good food during the festive period. He will spend the first two days of Raya at Shah Alam and following 3rd day at Muar Johor, his wife’s hometown.

Food wise, during Ramadhan his favourite ‘buka puasa’ dish is Nasi Briyani Kambing! And this coming Hari Raya he is craving for ketupat palas and lemang which goes perfectly well with the delicious rendang that his mom is best known for.

With his shiny MIMMA 5 Flyweight belt on his side, this Hari Raya will definitely be a time for Naimul to cherish and remember for a long time to come.

Warriors of Borneo wishes the Amal brothers, Naimul and Dhiaaul and their family a happy and joyful Hari Raya Aidilfitri .

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Story by Tan Wallace

DAMON SOO BECOMES THE FIRST MALAYSIAN TO WIN MIMMA TITLE IN TWO WEIGHT DIVISION

There’s no denying that the fight game world can be very superficial sometimes. Combat sports is a visual feast where we like to see two fighters go at each other.

As fight fans, a lot of the times we make judgement by the outer appearance. We see some fighters that have a buffed body and wins easily and our mind began making an opinion that he had it easy because he is blessed with good gene and gifted talent. Not knowing the amount of sheer hard work and sacrifices they have to make to achieve success.

One such fighter fights in MIMMA. One look at Damon Soo and he looks like a fitness model who won’t look out of place on a fitness cover mag cover. 


Damon was MIMMA 4 Bantamweight champion. On 30 March 2018, he was crowned MIMMA 5 Featherweight Champion. Thus, becoming the first Malaysian to become MIMMA’s 1st two weight division champion.

As a kid growing up in Kuala Lumpur, Damon had an interest in martial arts & he took up Karate. But after he got into a fight with his brother, his mother stopped his Karate lessons.

As a young adult he attended HELP University College taking a Diploma in Business. His interest in martial arts again surfaced and he tried Wing Chun but then quickly switched to Muaythai. 

It was in 2013 that he watched MIMMA 1. It left a huge impression on him that he made a firm decision to be part of it in season 2. 

He quit his job as a real estate agent and started training full time, enrolling in Leverage BJJ, MEBJJ and Wesgatos Fight School to prepare for MIMMA.

Two years in a row Damon’s MIMMA 2 & 3 journey ended at the quarterfinals. But this loss does not dampened his spirit. With renewed vigour, he made sure he is well prepared for 2016.

Damon takes his preparation very seriously. After stumbling twice in MIMMA, he is more determined to improve on his skills. Towards the end of 2015, he took some personal savings and borrowed some money and flew all the way to Brazil to train in his BJJ coach’s Prof Marcos Escobar team - Nova Uniao (this is also the former UFC featherweight champion Jose Also’s team). Damon trained there for 5 months. 

“Training there was insanely tough as the Brazilians train hard and spar hard as if it's a real fight (I got knocked out once, also fractured my nose and got other injuries during MMA sparring over there). 

The experience of training there definitely improved my MMA game”

Coming back to Malaysia, he put in hours of training to sharpen his skills. MIMMA 4 was his time. In the tournament, he won 4 fights in a row and met Effendy Kalai in the grand finals. It took Damon less than two round to win the bouts via choke to be the new Bantamweight Champion.

Season 4 achievement was certainly hard earned as he went through some tough journey. The biggest challenge was to maintain weight. Walking around at 73kg, Damon had to cut to 61kg for all his fight in featherweight. 

cutting weight is pain in the butt but necessary evil

Then it was dealing with multiple injuries, not just from the fight itself but also from training as Damon always go hard during sparring. One of the injuries was a cut below his eyes. It got worst when it was infected. Damon had to bear with it as he took.

MIMMA 4 Championship belt firmly on his waist

"In season 4, I almost gave up a number of times because of the big weight cuts and injuries I sustained before the Contenders and Grand Finals fight. 

Because of all that, the sweet victory will definitely be remembered by me for life;

it proved to me that success will follow with hard work, perseverance and sacrifices."

In 2017, Damon actually planned to take a break and focus on his BJJ by training more and also compete more in grappling, but there was too little local BJJ comp. Most comp are out of Malaysia and it was costly for him to travel often.

The idea of winning another weight division in MIMMA appeal to Damon, because if he succeeds, he will go down in history as the 1st fighter to do so. Furthermore season 4 new league format intrigue him as it present an opportunity to keep active.

“The desire to compete more frequently was the drive and the motivation was the prize of being able to be the first Malaysian to become MIMMA champion in two different weight categories.”


But Damon’s season 5 plan did not start well. He was experiencing headaches and feeling tired most of the time. Worried, he went to had it check. When league 1 started, the medical results was not back yet and Damon had to miss it.

It was a huge relief for Damon when the results came back and proof that he is in perfect health. So he confirmed his participation for MIMMA 5, this time in featherweight to avoid the stress of cutting weight as the new league format requires fighter to fight 9 months in a row from league 1 to grand finals).

At start of the league, looking at the featherweight pool, Damon was confident that he can win it, the real challenge was keeping himself healthy and injury free throughout season 5. But that was tall order, he was injured but he fought through it.

By league 2 he was ready, but his opponent pulled out. He won league 3 & 4 by submission. Dropped league 5 as he sustained a knee injury. League 6 again his opponent pulled out. League 7 & the semis, he came out victorious both times via arm-lock. 

winning in league 3

winning in league 4

Damon win all his league fights and the semis by submission. This was part of the plan even though he trains equally hard in striking. The plan was to bring the fight to the ground to avoid injuries. Standing and striking puts himself at a higher risk of injuries as anyone can get a lucky shot when trading blows but, on the ground it’s all about skills.

“For the finals I felt comfortable with striking more because even if I get any injuries its already the last fight anyway so I can take time off to recover."

"I wanted to showcase my striking and prove to everyone that I am not just a one-dimensional MMA fighter who is only deadly on the ground but also dangerous standing up.”






Though Damon won MIMMA 5 featherweight title in record time, but season 5 was a tougher journey compare to season 4. On paper his medical results showed that he was fine. But he does not feel so right inside. The headaches were gone but he couldn’t shake off the fatigue. He sometimes gets rashes on his chest.

“I had to drink lots coffee to push myself through training and on sparring days I would get punished and eat a lot of strikes or get taken down hard as I was not 100%. 

I guess because of this, I suffered a lot of injuries too.”

Physical challenges he can overcome, what really affected him was the mental challenges.

Started when his grandmother in Ipoh fell sick. She called him during his training. Damon promise to return call but forgot all about it. Little did he know that it was the last he got to talk to her as she pass away shortly after; making Damon felt very guilty. He was focusing on his training so much that he didn’t have the time to travel back to Ipoh to visit her when she was sick, and he didn’t expect her condition to worsen so fast.

The guilt seriously affected him mentally and causes him to be bulimic. He ate a lot to comfort himself but afterward vomit it all out again. This problem persist during his league matches and he was considering pulling out a number of time.

remembering his beloved grandmother

“The one time that I seriously made up my mind to give up was 2 weeks before the grand finals but Aaron Goh managed to talk me out of it.”

Aaron Goh his BJJ coach in MEBJJ Academy is truly a pillar of strength for Damon.

“He isn't just a BJJ coach to me but he is like an older brother I never had before. 

I don't talk to people about my problems but I do talk to him and ask for advice. I believe to him I am also the younger brother he never had, he is always there for me, ready to guide, advice or help." 

clelebrating a win with Aaron Goh

"Character wise, Aaron is the same as I. He doesn't like to share with others his problems but he shares his problems with me. 

I guess it’s only natural that we are very close as we see each other 6 days a week.”

Ask on who impressed him most in this season's featherweight.

“Johan performed beyond my expectation. I didn't expect him to win all his fights and also winning it all by finishes and not decision. 

I thought I would be facing Joseph in the finals not Johan.”

Damon took us through his MIMMA 5 grand finals bout with Johan.

“My game-plan of standing up was to set up with my hands and throw a lot of leg kicks to cause damage and mess up his footwork." 

"Also I have watched/studied his last fight and knew that his guard on top was quite open so I knew I could land on top too if I could close the distance. 

During the fight I was focusing on closing the distance. I did some real damage when I countered his jab cross with a right body hook, left hook and right hook to the top but he managed to moved out around the cage and recover though I was on him. 

When we got back to the center of the cage, this was when I felt that I could go in and throw the overhand right which landed and dropped him to the ground.”

As Johan fell on the canvas, like a panther on a hunt, Damon pounced on him and unleased ground and pound. Seeing enough ref Olivier Coste stop the fight at round 1 0:49 sec. 

featherweight belt presented by Ayob of Potosan Corner (VENUM)

“ I have a lot of people to thank for my achievements. My coaches Aaron Goh, Wes Jaya, Alex Gym, Pourya Moradi, Joseph Lee."

flank by Aaron Goh (L) & Wes Jaya (R)

"My whole team from Leverage BJJ, Malaya Boxing, Alex Gym, Team X Fight Academy. 
Cheah Wen Khyn and Shammah my main and most consistent MMA sparring partners. Horng Yaw from Team X for always helping me with weight cuts."

On Damon's right, Cheah Wen Khyn & Shammah

"My sponsors Rendezbrew, Acai Lab, Finix Muay Thai, Aesthetic, Soluxe Protein." 

Fuel for the champion

"Also my head coach Marcos Escobar for always believing in me and giving me the opportunity to train in Nova Uniao, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The experience was really unforgettable and made me improved a lot as a fighter both mentally and physically." 

Prof Marcos Escobar celebrating Damon's MIMMA4 championship victory

"And sifu Kenneth Lam for letting us use his gym to do MMA sparring as his gym has padded walls and is perfect for MMA sparring.”

On what he thinks about MIMMA 5 league format
“I think the league format is good for fighters to gain more fights and experience as win or lose they still will get to fight a number of times. 

However, I think the amount of rest time in between fights need to be increase as fighting once per month for 9 fights takes too much out of a fighter's body. More time is needed to recover and avoid injuries." 

Stretching is an important routine for Damon for recovery of sore muscles

"Also, I feel that for the champions it is a bit unfair that they don't get to defend their belt anymore and they have to start from the bottom again if they want to be champions again.”

Currently turning pro is not on his mind as he noticed that pro MMA fighters in Malaysia does not get paid that much, unless they get a huge sponsor. What is on his mind is to able to cope financially for his own training, supplements, food and injuries treatment. 

To celebrate his victory of MIMMA 5, Damon and team mates went for a simple meal in a café. To them the job is still not done yet as they still have another hill to climb in Copa da Malasia Grappling comp in April.

Damon in 2017's Copa Da Malasia

Getting to know what Damon went through gave me a newfound respect for him and our other local fighters. The amount of hard work they go through, the sacrifices they have to make, even at amateur competition level are something we all should keep in mind when watching them fight. What we see for 3 or 5 rounds is the culmination of weeks & months of preparing the body and mind for battle.

Athletes like Damon Soo are the ones going through hardship to step in the cage, perform to their best abilities to give us all an entertaining fight to watch. They are truly warriors.

Warriors of Borneo salute Damon and all the MIMMA fighters!