STAND delivered as the Biggest Martial Arts Tournament in Malaysia

pix credit: Matt Buvart 

STAND happened on 21-23 April 2016. Brought to us by Borneo Majubina and Fight Five Gear. With the view of white sandy beach, blue wave from the sea, coconut tree leaf swaying with the background of Nexus Karambunai Resort certainly present a fresh new settings for fight event in Malaysia.

184 fighters registered, making it possibly the biggest fight event we have seen so far in South East Asia. 31 martial club/gym took part, out of which, 8 gyms from outside Borneo participated.

STAND offered two categories of fights, amateur K1 Kickboxing and amateur Boxing; With an event highlight of Super8 Pro Am Featherweight title belt Kickboxing. A total of 172 bouts were held and fights begins from morning till late night on Saturday and Sunday.

The dizzying numbers of fights was certainly a huge task to organize. The limitation by venue sponsor to allow bouts go beyond 10pm resulted in fights in day 2 had to be shortened per rounds in order to finish all bouts. Kudos to the management and the team of judges that work hectically throughout the tournaments.

Event Director & STAND founder Rayner Kinsiong of Team Karabaw invited a number of VIPs to witness the event. On 21 APR ( FRIDAY ), weighing-in day saw the presence of YB Datuk Hjh Jainab, Sabah’s Minister of Community Development and Consumer. Member of Parliament of Sepanggar Datuk Jumat Idris watch the fights on Saturday. Datuk Yaakob Khan & Datuk Raiman Unggi witness it on Sunday.

VIPs in attendance

These invitations was done to expose to the authority the potential of fight event as a tourism product and to showcase them the martial talent pool that is available locally.

The venue of Nexus Karambunai Resort was a drawing factor for lots of participants to join this event, with good room rate offer, which fighters and team stayed in and had a weekend break at the same time. Some fighters can be seen chilling out at the pool and some laying under the big rain tree on the field with their family and friends as they take a break to recover before the next fight.

A new concept of fight event in Borneo...fight and chill

Fights aside, personally I felt a number of things could have made the event better. Example; the surrounding area of the ring that places the apparel booths, drinks stalls, and where crowds hang around, if it were lighted will make the atmosphere more inviting. Also the original idea of having BBQ food stalls, if it was allowed would be a total blast! But Alas, due to some differences with venue sponsor, this didn’t materialized.

Pix credits: Alex Faezi

pix credits - Alex Faezi

pix credits - Alex Faezi

On to the fights. The day 1 action was hard and fast. Many fighters pull no punches in the early rounds which saw plenty of action but also plenty of injuries. With a tournament format that may see fighters fight 3-4 times per day, 2nd day saw a few bouts was won by walkover as injuries took its toll on fighters.

But there were still plenty of good bouts. The highlight was the Super8 featherweight fights. Crowds gathered whenever bouts for this category were on. This was a semi-pro bout, fighters only wore shin guard without headgear. Mohammed B. Mahmoud aka Jordan Boy of Sampuri Gym KL won it defeating Uriel French of Muayfit KL. Being an experience pro Muaythai fighter, Jordon Boy had a fairly easy semifinals bouts defeating Muhd Afandi from Team Revolution, en route to the finals. Uriel’s semi finals against a game Ronnie ‘The Sweet Finger’of Kitakitani may have tooked out some gas from him.

Jordon Boy fellow Sampuri team mates and brother, Nidal Mahmud won the 75kg K1 Middleweight vs Vallent Pierce of Sabah Top Team. Nidal executed a good counter game and plenty of knees; some of which was given warning by the ref as he executed it with a double hand muaythai clinch which is not allowed in K1 rules.

Jordan Boy and King Joker with their trainer and father Mahmoud Omar 

Monarchy MMA Gym sent a team full of experience fighters. Led by ONE Championship fighter Samir Mrabet, the team won all their fights. Conrado Roveri, winning welterweight boxing. The towering Xavier Martinon winning heavyweight boxing. Lee Ai Jin winning women flyweight boxing. Samir himself won by walkover for middleweight boxing as his opponent was injured.

Some memorable fights, in heavyweight boxing semi-finals, Bartholomew from Kinabalu Fighters showed lots of heart in his fight vs Xavier Martinon. No doubt the experience & technically superior Xavier didn’t go all out, but Bart showed no fear even with a bloodied nose he still kept coming. For a guy that had a desk job and took up boxing just less than a year ago at Kinabalu Fighters to lose weight, Bart certainly showed courage and heart.

Xavier went on to win in the finals meeting Mursalin of Revolution Gym.

Bart’s team mate – Stephanie Vung also fought her hearts out in the women flyweight boxing, going against Ai Jin of Monarchy whom is a SEA games boxing vet.

K1 56kg Featherweight female saw Nur Athirah of Borneo Tribal Squad square off against Zaryatie of Revolution Gym. It was fireworks! Zaryatie started strong with many hooks and spin kicks that landed. Athirah weathered the storm and kept her composure with good head movement. Eventually Zaryatie’s aggressive style looses steam and Athirah was able to score points in the later round to secure the win.

K1 female Straweight saw Nur Nurnaznerah of BP battle out vs JFL 2015 Finalist Nurul Khairunisa of Karabaw. It was a back and fourth battle but Nurnaznerah won with her speed and combos.

Athirah clebrating her win with team mates Hisyam & Ann from BTS

Fightfive gear making it's debut in STAND

Welterweight boxing semis was an entertaining match between Conrado of Monarchy Gym vs Elto of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan. Elto of Philippine descent has plenty of supporters cheering him on, calling him little Pacqaio. Going against Conrado was not easy as he possessed good footwork that enable him to throw combos that hit high and low on the body and was quick to move out of danger when Elto counter. For Lightweight boxing, Ronald Tee of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan showed much technical prowess as he darted in & out and excellent head movement to win against Abu Qusairy of PBG.

Kudos to Rayner Kinsiong of Karabaw, Mohd Bakri of Keningau MMA and Kaza Musa Fight Management for organizing another ground breaking combat sports event in Borneo.

I believe the huge participants for STAND proof that there is a huge potential for fight tourism and there's a huge talent pool of amatuer fighters that is eager to test their skills to gain more experience. This type of event is rightly a good platform for Borneo fighters to develop without sacrificing much time & finance to travel out of Borneo to look for fights.

Not only are fighters numbers increasing but also the crowds which include the family, friends, supporters and the general public. This certainly augurs well for potential sponsors to support local events which can expose their brand to the right target market.

According to Zamalani of Kaza Musa whom manage the bouts, many popular weight category such as flyweight, featherweight, lightweight was divided into team A & B to facilitate the high numbers of participants. For the 2nd STAND, winners from the 1st STAND will be invited to battle it out again.

The 2nd installment will probably be held around JULY in PAPAR as the organizers are gearing up to give us another action pack showdown!

                  Are you ready for STAND 2?

Come STAND with me

The sun is setting and its ray strike your face but you are not bothered coz you got your shades on. Breeze from South China Sea sweeps your hair as the smells of smoked meat aroused your appetite. Hand on a cold drink, you move your feet on the soft, loose sands as your hearts thumps to the beats from a 3ft speaker. As the sky turns darks,… the sound of bell ring and the crowds roar to life as the attention shifts towards a ring where two warriors are throwing bombs at each other.

Where is this you ask? Phuket? Bali? No people…it’s K.K. (Kota Kinabalu)! Yup, right here in the heart of Sabah Borneo. Bringing to you … STAND. A new concept of fight event in Malaysia, where it will combine the action of boxing and Kickboxing with the excitement of a beach party.

STAND will happen on 22-24 April at the stunning resort of NEXUS Karambunai, just ½ hour drive from KK. This award winning beach resort that has seen many international functions being held at it’s sprawling 65 acres beachfront landscape. When STAND happens there this April it will be the 1st fight event with a beach party concept in Malaysia.

STAND will feature amateur boxing and K1 Kickboxing. Co-organised by 2 of Sabah’s top martial arts gym, namely; Team Karabaw and Keningau MMA (KMMA), with the collaboration with Kaza Musa Fight management .

According to Rayner Kinsiong (Team Karabaw’s founder cum STAND’s event director) STAND will feature boxing & K1 Kickboxing matches. Both at amateur level. Rayner sees that boxing is the least promoted fight sports in Sabah currently and he hopes STAND can be a platform for amateur boxer to build their fight experience. As for K1 Kickboxing, it may not be as well known as Muaythai in Sabah but it’s an upcoming martial sports that is gaining popularity due to its fast pace action.

STAND will open up lots of category for boxing & kickboxing and will be held over 3 days. For K1 Kickboxing 11 category for men and 5 for women will be competed. Meanwhile boxing will have 10 category for men & 3 for women. Day 1 will be registration, weighing in and photo shoot for fighters and team. Day 2 will see fights for all preliminary rounds and day 3 will feature finals rounds to determine the champion. Winners will be bringing back cash prizes and medals.

Fight Five is the sponsor for fight gear. This is a new high quality local Malaysian brand and it will be making its debut in a fight event at STAND. Fight Five apparel will also be available soon, with fantastic design from New York designer....witness it for yourself at STAND.

The organizer is looking forward to large participations by team. For their convenience of accommodation, venue sponsors NEXUS Karambunai is giving a special rate of RM288 per night for any team. Team with most medals collected will get to bring home a big a$$ challenge trophy!

The organizers hope to bring great fight action in the ring to entertain fight fans but around the ring too will be many entertaining activities. Auto and bike show has been planned to satisfied motor-heads. Food and drinks will also be available with a menu focus on BBQ dishes. And of course, DJ’s will be in the house to spin you all the entertaining beats.

STAND’s fight night beach party is inspired by BBQ Beatdown organized monthly by Tiger Muay Thai (TMT) in Phuket. TMT is the No.1 fight gym in Thailand and has produced many top fighters in Muaythai & MMA. Foreigners from around the globe especially westerners flock to TMT as the training is facilities is top notch, great trainers and also the lure of the beach party. Even in Bali now a few fight gym has been set up as they see the success of Phuket drawing in serious fighters and also lots of casual fighters and fitness enthusiast.

STAND wants to replicate the mood in BBQ Beatdown, where fighters can fight and build their fight experience, at the same time his team can stay at the resort for a weekend getaway. Casual fight fans can enjoy watching fights and enjoy a beach party at the same time.

This could be a potential new segment for tourism in Sabah. Rayner was one of the trainer in Amazing Borneo package of tour for Sabah where tourist can come & enjoy the many outdoor adventure activities in Sabah such as climbing Mt Kinabalu, water rafting, scuba diving, jungle trekking and they add in training with ONE Championship fighters which include AJ Pyro and Ann Osman. With this concept from STAND,
I believe Sabah can also be successful in fight tourism. We have great beautiful beaches and resorts in Sabah. Bringing the fights to these amazing places and throw in a great party, this could be a great recipe to boost tourism in Sabah.

Let's get to know the sponsors, giving them the support as without their support we will not be able to watch STAND for free.

STAND is brought to us by Borneo MajuBina ( BMB ). BMB has been strong supporter of martial arts event. BMB also help support JFL and Team Karabaw grand participation in Ultimate Beatdown 17 in Johor Bahru. Warriors of Borneo had a quick chat with Hisham Michael, the CEO of Borneo Majubina.

May I know your role in Borneo MajuBina (BMB)
I am one of three directors in the company. The other two is Aidil Zakuan and Mustaqim.

BMB play a big role in Team Karabaw & JFL...why does BMB chooses to support martial arts?
Me and Rayner Kinsiong used to go way back to the good old Karate days where we used to compete along side in State and National events. Martial arts gave me the proper structure to be the person I am today. And I'd like to give the younger generations an opportunity to build their character whether competing in this sport or in fighting for their career in the same way Karate has given me the opportunity too.

What is BMB's main business? Can you please give the readers some background on BMB?
BMB is actually a construction company, we've been around since 2011. Our aim is to give our clients the best in comfort and ease that our projects are completed in the best possible manner whether it is a school project, government quarters, government offices etc. Our second aim is to bring up young locals that are interested to pursue their career in the construction industry by giving them the opportunity to handle every aspects of this very tough market.

What do you hope to achieve through STAND?
The same way we in BMB are giving the opportunity to young locals to pursue their career in the construction industry, the same way we hope to achieve in the martial arts industry. We hope to be a part of building our younger generations that will eventually be an asset to our society.

When did the idea for a beach party and fights came about?
My team and Rayner had a discussion at a mamak shop in 88 Market in Kepayan. The best ideas come out of teh tarik and roti canai session. We were discussing on how for us to make it interesting enough for the younger crowds to get involved in martial arts, hence the beach party theme event came about.



ELITEZ MMA is also a sponsors for STAND. ELITEZ MMA is the 1st MMA gym in Klang Selangor. It is headed by Andy 'The Bullet' Teh, a pro MMA fighter and recently starred in local chinese movie FIST of PASSION. Sabahan Effendy Kalai & Eddey Kalai of The Kalai Borthers Boxing is also a part of ELITEZ MMA team of coaches.

Andy Teh with the Kalai Brothers

Another sponsors is from the interior of Sabah, Keningau, the land of the legendary Murut warriors. This is where Keningau MMA ( KMMA ) is located. Headed by it's head coach Mohd Bakri, KMMA has produced a JFL bantamweight Champion 2015 in Mohd Hasbullah Sanmin. Find out more on KMMA in my previous posting here.

WARRIORS OF BORNEO supports STAND as a pioneer in fight tourism, fight fans let’s support this together and make it a success. Come and enjoy great fights and good food. Entrance is FREE!
This possibly is a first step for Sabah to be on the map for fight tourism. Let’s have fun and create history!

Check out STAND's Facebook for further updates, or call Rayner Kinsiong 013-888 8379 for further infor.