GRAND MERDEKA SUPER FIGHT FULL RESULTS

Last weekend was a triple whammy. The weekend of 25-26 August, saw the actions of  KK Int BJJ, Malaysian Fight Fest (in KL) and Grand Merdeka Super Fight. I had to cover 3 martial arts event, but I can only be at one physically.

But organising chairman, Johan Julian Lee Abdullah, kept me up to speed on the going ons at the event.

It was two days of action that happened at KK's latest mall - Grand Merdeka. Located around 30 mins drive from KK. It's good to see local mall coming forward to become venue sponsor for combat sports event. Knowing that combat sports event bring crowds. The participants, their team mates, supporters and families present a ready customers for their mall.

Grand Merdeka Super Fight also became an avenue for development of new talent. 1st day saw junior age kickboxers compete. Out of the 80 participants, half of them are participants in the kids & teens category which fought in 21 bouts.

On the 2nd day, adults category were held. 20 bouts were competed, 2 being the semi-pro title fight.

The event saw the participation of 14 teams + 3 independent fighters collected medals
D' Sha Muaythai from Tawau emerge overall champion with 7 champion & 3 runners-up medals.

 
Below is the results for the day 2 (adults category) :

Bout 1 -10

Bout 11-20

D'Sha Muaythai Team  - overall champion

On Day 1, saw MIMMA 5 Lightweight champion, Nathaniel Lakai of Warmonger Miri in action vs Kyo Kaede, former Muaythai champion whom is making a comeback in combat sports. This fight was specially arrange as the last fight on 25 August, which enabled Nathaniel to compete in KK Int. BJJ on 26 Aug.

It was in the class B catgeory (for fighter with 3 or more fight experience). It was a slow start as both feel out each other in the first round, but in later rounds, Nathaniel found his timing for good powerful combos, which saw an uppercut that put Kyo in an 8 count. Nathaniel won the bout via unanimous decision.

Nathaniel vs Kyo

Day 1 (kids & teens)

Day 2 (adults)

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Johan Julian wants to give shout out to coach Sharon Andrea Gerald of D'SHA MUAYTHAI , whom sent a huge contingent of kids & teens to participate.

Also to coach Dhillon Tahing of REVOLUTION GYM whom brought athlete from SMK Pulau Gaya. Coming all the way from the island to Grand Merdeka mall. Even their school principal & vice principal came to support.

This is good for the development of combat sports, to have committed coaches who sacrifice their time & effort to coach & guide youngsters and encourage them to participate in competition to enable them to grow their skills further & develop sportsmanship & camaraderie among other combat sports athletes.

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Some feedback Julian received is on the results which some coaches felt was unsatisfactory. Julian said he understood their feelings and is certainly something he would look into. But he hopes the coaches & their team understand that the organiser does not have any influence over the results.

As an ISKA sanctioned event, certified ISKA judges and referees are in charge of the decision. The referees and judges are separate from the organising team and organiser follow by the results given by them.

Moving forward, Julian said some gym need to pay attention on their fighters registering but was a no show. He advise that gym should be more responsible for this and have better planning.

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The two hi-light title bouts on day 2 certainly live up to it's name. It was very close fight as both title bouts ended in split decision. (click here to read the pre-event story)

Aziz Hoo Gwo Jye of Kinabalu Fighters won the 60kg Semi-pro title belt against Fadzly Bin Julai of Warmonger Miri. (click here to read Fadzly's pre-event story)

Daenver Randel Raphael of Kinabalu Fighters won the 85kg Semi-pro title belt against Zachenzie Zifyon Douni of Keningau MMA.

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FADZLY BIN JULAI WILL AIM TO BRING BACK GRAND MERDEKA SUPERFIGHT BELT BACK TO MIRI

This Sunday someone is going to go back with a title belt. One of the contender is Fadzly Bin Julai. This 22 year old from Miri will be fighting in Grand Merdeka Super Fight in Semi-pro K1 Kickboxing.

Warriors of Borneo had a chat with him when he arrived in KK after a few long hours drive from Miri.

How did you got involved in martial arts?
"Got involve in martial arts coz thought I would just give it a go. Always loved watching boxing as a kid. I am a Muhammad Ali lover. 

I was bored one day as I was living alone at the time and always wanted to be able to have some defensive ninja skills so I walked in Trevor Salang’s gym Warmonger and signed up. Was 19 at the time and still studying. Without having any martial arts back ground just crazy into football."

That was 3 years ago. Fadzly has since graduated with a Diploma in Hotel Management. Fighting is now his passion. As of date he has gathered experience in 4 Kickboxing bouts. After just 2 win in amateur Muaythai, he moved to pro fight.

"I was young, impatient and hate fighting in protective gears hahaha... so I went pro a lil bit too early and matched-up with some very experience dudes. So my pro Muaythai record isn't so pretty 1-4-0." 

Infact his 1st pro Muaythai fight was against Aziz 'The Shantung Zhai' back in 2016, in Bintulu CM Cup 60kg Superfight. He lost by decision in a 5 round fight.

This Sunday will be his rematch with Aziz. Although it's in Kickboxing rules, but Fadzly is confident to have the results on his side this time around.

Confident because he has put in all the hard work in a 5 weeks fight camp.

"A sample of my normal 1 session 
day of training. I start off with 7-8km run, then 24-30 mins of bag work, then its either pad rounds for stamina or to sharpen techniques or a combination of both. Then I will finish off with some calisthenics.

If I'm not doing pads I’ll be dishing out 6-10 rounds sparring with my team mates depending on their availability.

And if I have a double session for the day. In the morning is usually rope skipping for 30-40 mins, bag work 20 mins, then drilling of techniques, and sometimes finish off with some light sparring."

Strenght and conditioning is 1-2 times a week depending on my coach schedule."

I first saw Fadzly fight was in Sandakan's Elopura Fight this year May. I was eagerly waiting to watch Trevor Salang vs home town favourite, Shah (66 Unicorn). But unfortunately Trevor pull out due to injury and Fadzly replaced him.

Frankly speaking I didn't expect much from Fadzly. Him facing the very experience Shah in front of his home town crowd is certainly daunting but as the rounds progress I was impressed with how Fadzly was able to stand his ground and manage to strike back, although he lost, but he gave a great account of himself that day.

I asked him on that fight in Sandakan,
"That was crazy. Please bear in mind I had only 4 days to train for that fight as I was away in the UK for 6 weeks without training just run and sprints hahaha plus I need to cut 5kgs in those 4 days"

But I just couldn't let anyone else take that spot after Trevor pulled out hahaha again,... impatient."

Impatient he maybe, but Fadzly does not give up easily. He was in Labuan in July for a Super4 fight in STAND Muaythai. He lost the final fight to Champion Sunny Sabornido of BCG Labuan.

 Just a week ago in KL, he took a pro boxing match.

"It was for Lekir Ultimate Fight 2.0 . Got TKO by ref stoppage in the 2nd round. Clearly I wasn't ready for it hahaha.  Pro boxing was no joke. Especially against a real pro boxer from Singapore

But it was a good experience from me though, given that I was actually preparing for this K1 Super Fight this Sunday the whole time."

What is his long term plans...

"Currently I am working on opening a cafe with my brother and our partners. In terms of plan in martial arts, I’ll just go with the flow really. Keep training and fighting as usual. 

His thoughts on WARMONGER,

I go there train, do my thing, grow as much as I can with my team mates. There's not many of us who train to fight. Most of the members are there for fitness instead of fighting really. That's a challenge when it comes to finding different sparring partners I guess."

It takes a different breed of people to train, and step into the ring to fight. Fadzly is one of the rare few from Miri.

Come to Grand Merdeka Mall this Sunday and catch his fight against Aziz entrance ia FREE.

EMILLIA E. RAYNER - WARRIOR WOMAN FROM SARAWAK

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May was the month of Kaamatan ( Harvest Festival ) in Sabah.  In the brand new mall of ITCC in Penampang, Sabah on 12 May Ultimate Beatdown Borneo was organised at the event hall.

Ultimate Beatdown is acknowledge as Malaysia's pioneering MMA promotion. The Borneo edition is the initiative from Rayner Kinsiong of Team Karabaw to bring the Ultimate Beatdown brand for the first time to Borneo. Rayner is the founder of Jesselton Fight League and has rebrand JFL to UB Borneo

Although started as a MMA promotions, it has progress to a multi style promotions, offering Boxing, KickBoxing and even grappling. For the first UB Borneo, 13 Kickboxing bouts, 8 Cage boxing and 12 MMA bouts were on the cards.

One of the stand-out fight was female straw weight MMA, between Emillia Elisha Rayner of Warmonger Miri vs Magdelina Meding of Tomoi Labuan. The fight was very close and each women giving their all in the age. Emillia won the fight by decision.

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Warriors of Borneo talked to Emillia to get to know her better.

Emilia was born in Serian but she grew up in Miri, the oil town of Sarawak. She studied in Miri until 2003 and then moved to Labuan with her parents. In 2006 she went to Kota Kinabalu to continue her tertiary studies in University Malaysia Sabah.

Emilia is of mix heritage. Her dad is Melanau from Kampung Sg. Kut, Dalat and her mother is of Iban heritage from Serian, Kuching.
"I love that I come from a mix parentage.. I can celebrate both Gawai and Christmas. Now I can even celebrate Hari Raya since my sister converted to Islam."

Emillia posses winning attitude. When she put her mind into something she will do her best in it. This was evident when she first got into into martial arts at 9 years old in Tang Soo Do. She was successful in it, winning Malaysia Tang Soo Doo Championship in Free Fighting Category for 2 consecutive years. But when she moved to Labuan, her martial arts training stop. She switched to bowling. In bowling too, her dedication saw her representing Labuan in SUKMA.

Currently Emillia works at Velosi (M) Sdn Bhd as a QHSE Officer & Management Representative. An oil & gas company specializing in inspection and maintenance throughout Malaysia. In the male dominated industry and stessfull work enviroment, it's very common that workers in this field spend their after work hours drinking in the pub. Especially when Labuan offers very cheap booze.

She became a heavy drinker. At one project in Labuan, she spend 2 months consecutively drinking liquor after work, in the likes of 2 bottles per night. Eventually her body gave her the warning signs to stop. The warning was in the form of a mild heart attack. It may be mild, but it was a big jolt to her to realise that she had to stop that lifestyle and take steps to improve on her health. Not just for her ownself, but for the sake of her two young children whom was 4 & 6 years old at that time.

Back in Miri in 2016, her journey of fitness brought her to Warmonger Gym. Although her job requires her to travel a lot, but she put in her best effort whenever she can. Instead of being at the bar at 4pm, now she is at the gym at 4pm. Martial arts has changed her life and she is proud to have make the change.

Team Warmonger Miri

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In Warmonger she trains under Sarawak's top notch Muaythai specialist - Trevor Salang and MIMMA 5 Lightweight champion Nathaniel Imang Lakai.

"Warmonger is a place where I normally get bullied in a good way...especially by Nat. He's the king bully of all time. And also Trevor and Gavin...as I'm always the 'stubborn' one in the team, haha"

Warmonger's: Miri Grappler420 members earning their stripes from Prof Mike Yates

"One thing about Warmonger is that, everybody we treat like family. We train together, eat together, drink together, etc. Practically everybody is like a brother to me. When you're a family, you have the tendency to push each other to their best. In Warmonger, everyone are welcome. The doors are always open."

Just 6 months into her training, she decided to join Fight Fest to compete.
"I love fighting because it's the only place where you can punch people in the face without getting arrested...LOL. 
What motivates me to fight? I don't know.. maybe its about me testing my own limits. On how far I can go."

Ask on her UB Borneo fight.

"It was a close fight. No doubt about that. I give credit to Mag for a good fight.. that's when we can learn more and improve "

On what went through her mind in that fight."

"I want my Guinness back LOL, because the fight took me away from my stout! "

Well she certainly got her Guinness stout back. Warmonger got 3 MMA win and 1 Kickboxing victory from Ultimate Beatdown Borneo. Emilia and her team mates celebrated at Waterfront KK with plenty of stout and long session of karaoke till the wee hours of the morning.

The next day Emillia decided to get a new tatoo right after her fight. She had a lion tattoo done on her left shoulder by Reen Rebecca from Deadlights Tattoo. 

"My first tattoo was back in 2006. My first tattoo was a rose, initially to cover up my appendix scar. And I got hooked from then. As for my latest tattoo, it was pretty much spontaneous."

pre lion tatoo

The lion represent herself as a Leo, symbolizing strength, heart and courage. These are quality she embodies as even in life she has to face lots of stereotyping from an early age. She have her dad to thank for believing in her and supporting her to break the gender stereotype. 

At 31, being a mother to two young kids and working in a male dominated industry and competing in combat sports surely needs a strength of a lion to go through. 

Emillia's life principle

Emillia now have a record of K1 4-1, Semi-pro Muay Thai, 0-1 MMA 1-1, BJJ 1 gold 1 silver 2 bronze.

She is looking to extend her MMA win at BigBox Beatdown in Bangkok on July 2. She will face fellow Malaysian, Colleen Augustin from Monarchy MMA

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MIMMA 5 GRAND FINALS - NATHANIEL LAKAI THE NEW FACE OF MMA LIGHTWEIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Nathaniel ‘The Sinister’ Lakai from Miri Sarawak is the new face of MIMMA lightweight. In MIMMA 5 league standings, he leads the table with 22 points. Going into the semi-finals he was supposed to fight the highly rated Jace Law (MIMMA3 Champion), but Jace pulled out and Nathaniel was left without an opponent for awhile. Until he was match up with Asuad bin Khalid, a fighter he beat in League 5. ( read more about him in my preSemi-finals coverage ).

We had a chat with him as he prepares for his grand finals appearance this Friday.

Congratulations on your semi-finals win. Please take us through your semi-finals fight...did it go as plan or you had to adjust?

“1st round I was pacing myself, figuring out if he'd change his game plan for this second match, nothing changed much. So I just set up my take-downs and controlled him on the ground. Could have finished him but I couldn't find any openings as I remembered Asuad is a hell of a fighter, he didn't tap to any of my chokes on the first match, so I was looking to submit through joint locks.”

With this win, he was schedule to face last year champion Hui Keng Fai in the grand finals. Again fate has it that his opponent was changed. This time due to Keng Fai’s contractual agreement with Ringstar which deters him from taking a fight so close to his pro boxing title match in April.

Did you celebrate the win?

“Not really, I went home poured me a huge glass of wine and played Player's Unknown Battleground. I was really tired and I’m on fight season so you'd see me in cyber cafes or at home playing games, so no big partying.”

He will be facing Syafiq Jamal. Whom was 2^nd in the league standings. Syafiq lost to Keng Fai the in semi-finals via submission and has been given another chance to redeem his loss.

The grand finals fight will be a rematch as Nathaniel met Syafiq during league 2 and have a 2^nd round submission win over him.

Although he is very much at home on the ground, while preparing to face Keng Fai, Nathaniel has been focusing on his striking under his mentor and Coach Trevor Salang in Warmonger. Nathaniel is eager to bust a few moves to add to his grappling game.

with his coach Trevor (R) and team mates Emilia

success for Nathaniel & Emilia ( Warmonger ) in grappling comp Sabah Grappling Quest last year

cornering his brother Nigel and other Warmonger team mates in Borneo King of The Cage in mid March 

looking for the win

Aside from preparation on physical sides, do you do any mental preparation?

“I listen to alot of DhyaanGuru's music to keep me calm and focused."

What about walkout song? Do u have one confirm for MIMMA final?

"J. Cole’s  FIRE SQUAD. I haven't told them yet. But hopefully they approve it with all the cussing in it."

Haha so what's your back up if it gets banned?

“ Jay-Z Hard Knock Life. Pretty hard with all these rap songs and cuss words in it, LOL”

Nathaniel has serious cravings for his mum’s cooking of pork in soy sauce…his mum is very much waiting to cook him that very dish, once he bring back the Lightweight belt home to Miri.