Interview with Mark Sangiao - part 1

It was an honour to meet Mark Sangiao in FEB 2017 at Kota Kinabalu, as he came here invited by Coach Antonio Battistessa,  to give a MMA seminar at Sabah Top Team.

Coach Mark is considered as the trainer of champions in the martial arts circle. Himself a former wushu and kickboxing exponent and later on fought as a pro MMA, he now is the head coach of Team Lakay; Philipines most decorated martial arts team which has produce a UFC fighter and many champions for Philipines top MMA promotion - URCC and most recently, ONE Championship Lightweight Champion, Eduard Folayang.

I was able to spend some time interviewing coach Mark on a few topics 

catch the interviews here: ( much apologies for the low sound quality of my videos )

Mark talks about his martial arts journey

He talks about forming Team Lakay

About the early days of Team Lakay

He talks about his own personal MMA experience

About the future and his fav food and activities

EV TING's Quest for Destiny to Become Malaysia's First MMA World Champion

This is fight week for ONE Championship : Kings of Destiny in Manila Philipines on Friday 21 April 2017. On the line is the Lightweight belt of home town hero Eduard Folayang. Challenging him is Malaysia's MMA star Ev Ting.

It has come a long way for Ev to reach this stage and after his win over Kamal Shalorus in Kuala Lumpur in ONE Championship : Throne of Tigers (10 FEB 2017), Ev called out for the Lightweight title fight. It is now a reality and Friday will be a day to determine his destiny in becoming Malaysia's first MMA world champion.

Ev has a 13-3-0 record and going into this title fight, he has chalked up 4 win streak over tough opponents such as Kamal, Rob Lisita, Eric Kelly and Honario Banario. Meeting Eduard Folayang will be the 7th time he fights a Filipino and he only lost once, which was back in 2012 against Mark Striegl.

Face off with Eduard at ONE : Kings of Destiny's press con on 18 April 2017

Warriors of Borneo talked to Ev in his quest to become a Champion

WRB: Your fight vs Kamal in FEB, he look like he was confident of winning right to the time when the ref was about to announce the results, how did u think of yours and his performance that night?
ET: For anyone that really understand the game will know for sure especially with ONE Championship Global rule set. That in 2nd & 3rd round I controlled the cage and obviously landed a lot more strikes. I did more than enough to get the W. I was surprised it was such a close decision, my bad for not finishing it. (relive the fight it in ONEChampionship review here)

WRB: Did he hurt you in anyway? Kamal's thigh looks prominently bruise, tell us about your plan of attack.
ET: First round he shocked me by landing some wild punches, once I had calculated his timing it was a matter of just working around him whilst controlling the cage, action and simply doing more than him.

WRB: How did you celebrate the win?
ET: I went straight back to Auckland, took care of some errands back home and enjoyed a few buffets and got straight back into camp.

3 rounds of pure stand up war with Kamal with Ev taking the W!

WRB: Was it already your target that after defeating Kamal you call for the title shot?
ET: After 7 victories in this ONE Championship cage and 4 fight win streak, it would be silly not to call out for the shot.

WRB: What was your game plan for that fight? Was that your toughest fight? If not, which then is your toughest fight to date and why?
ET: Game plan is to always to be smart and outwork your opponent as well as capitalize on mistakes to finish. Toughest fight would be against Rob Lisita as I had never been as tired as that in a fight and I acquired an injury in the first round which I had to disguised and push through.

WRB: For Kings of Destiny...Where are you doing your fight camp? 
ET: Spent first 4 weeks at Auckland MMA, working my game plan as well as physical strength and generally preparing the body for another war. Will be finishing last 4 weeks at Bali MMA with other Malaysian TuneTalk Warriors Keanu and Aiman who is also fighting on the same night. ( as of date Keanu has pulled out from his fight vs Christian Lee due to injury )

WRB: : Tell us how is a typical day in your fight camp like?
ET: 9AM Pro Training, 3PM Conditioning, 7PM Flow Technique

WRB: Eduard seems to be a strong striker with much improved grappling, would you be preparing for a stand up war or aim for your signature guillotine?
ET: Fight will start standing and will see how it goes from there.

Mutual respect from each other, click to watch the video here

WRB: You have the reputation as a Filipino slayer, all that was in KL, how do u feel going into Pinoy land to challenge their idol?
ET: Philippines is a beautiful city with amazing people whom carry great values. I have been here before and I know the fans are passionate and appreciate a good fight regardless of who we are.

WRB: You have moved up from Featherweight for the last three fights, was this after ONE's new weight cut rules? Is Lightweight your natural weight? did u change your diet or training method?
ET: Yes this is with the new ONE weight policy that my normal walk around weight is much closer than Lightweight than Feather so it only makes sense.
With this new policy all athletes are performing better, looking more professional and ultimately much more healthier.

WRB: Do you ever feel the need to avenge your loss at featherweight to Marat?
ET: Sure maybe I can drop back down and fight him after this fight so I can be a two weight category Champion of ONE Championship.

WRB: Where do you draw strength from when you are in the deep end of a fight?
ET: I reflect on how far I have come and believe in my journey that I have what it takes to win.

WRB: Which aspect of your game do you think will win you the title in Manila?
ET: My years of dedication and sacrifices will reflect in that cage where I will transform into the best version of Ev Ting.

Click to watch the video on ET's sacrifices

WRB: Looking back at your career, what was the most defining moment?
ET: Winning the only New Zealand Featherweight title at the time.

WRB: Fighting in Lightweight involves a perfect combos of speed strength and agility, what is your favorite training method / workout to achieve this?
ET: Simulating movements with load and Sparring

WRB: Thank you Ev for your time on this interview, wishing you all the best and God Bless for your title fight!

catch Ev's last live interview before his title fight, click on Tune Talk's FB

Ev will go against Eduard whom carry's the record of 17-5-0. Training out of Team Lakay, the most successful martial arts team in Philipines. Situated at the hills of Baguio in Northern Philipines provide a great place for Team Lakay's fighters to train and gain advantage in terms of building stamina. 

Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao is a trainer of champion. An successful former fighter himself, through dedication and hard work, Mark not only has produce the first Filipino Lightweight World Champion but also has produce numerous URCC champion and many more contender for ONE Championship.

Philipines is considered ahead in terms of MMA development compare to the other South East Asian countries. Producing calibre fighter such as ONE Championship Heavyweight Champion Brandon Vera and former UFC Middleweight contender Mark Munoz. Now that Eduard has won the Lightweight belt, Ev felt that the pressure is on Eduard to defend it in front of his home crowd,

We have seen Thai champion in former ONE Championship flyweight champion, Dejdamrong and Singapore has Angela Lee the current women Atomweight Champion, now the time is perfect for Malaysia to have its own World Champion...

Don't miss KINGS of DESTINY

LIVE on 21 April at 8.30pm (Manila time)
For fans in the Philippines, tune in to ABS-CBN Sports |

For fans in Malaysia, tune in to Astro Arena.
Official livestream at oneppv.com

MFN Series 1 - Full Results

Muay Fight Night (MFN) has concluded on Saturday 8 April 2017. It was successfully organised by Sabah State Muaythai Association with the collaboration with Team Karabaw & Revolution Gym, at the place now known as Karabaw Mini Stadium at 88 Marketplace, Kepayan Kota Kinabalu.

This inaugural event was graced by president of Sabah Muaythai Tuan Haji Nazri, who gave away the medals to the winners.

According to Rayner Kinsiong, founder of Team Karabaw, whom is instrumental in making the 1st series of MFN a success, MFN will further try to develop young Muaythai exponents. The 2nd series is planned for junior series focusing on under 16 and under 12 participants.

Muaythai exponents in Thailand and other parts of Asia starts very young, some as young as 5 or 6 years old. They practically grow up in training camp and their will to succeed is very high as it's a way for them to make a living to provide for the family, to escape poverty and to achieve fame!

Countries like Russia and the Eastern European states are moving fast in developing fighters from a very young age. For Malaysia to succeed and produce a champion, fighters need to be exposed to more fights. The more fights they have, the more experience they gain and the more accustom they are to being in a competitive mode.

Muaythai Sabah is trying to give more opportunities to young exponents to gain experience through more competition and also through scientific method, where coaches with good knowledge of sports science and great technical skills are developed and trained to lead the new generations of fighters.

This effort requires much expenditure and with corporate company like Dihnar Group helping, and of course through the cooperation and support from the local gyms, slowly but surely Sabah is moving through the right direction.

M.Aidil (BLACK MAMBA GYM) - Champion - 48-51kg

Alexis Akang (KARABAW) - Champion 60-63kg

Gloria (SABAH TOP TEAM) Champion 48-51kg

Liew Teck Seng (BTMMA) Champion 63.5-67kg

Randal (KINABALU FIGHTERS) Champion 57-60kg

Vivian Teo (66 UNICORN) Champion 57-60kg

Participants and supporters of team 

MFN series 2 will be coming soon

UFC 210: Weigh-in Drama for Daniel Cormier

Photo by Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports

The highly anticipated UFC 210 Light Heavyweight fight which will go down on 8 April 2017 ( US time ) between defending champion Daniel Cormier vs No.1 contender Anthony Johnson, nearly didn't happen.

In the report from MMA Fighting.com shows the video Daniel Cormier weighing in the first time, He took off all his cloths and look rather out of focus. Weighing in at 206.2 pounds (93.53kg) on a digital scale, which is 1.2 pounds (0.54kg) over the limit of 205 pounds (92.9kg).

In UFC rules, missing weigh will cost the fighters to lose around 20% of their show money which is given to the opponents, and if it's a title fight, then it will be called off and fighters will both need to agree to fight at a catch weigh.

Missed weigh on his first attempt

Everyone was aghast as there seems to be not enough time for Daniel Cormier to loose that 1.2 pounds as theres only a few minutes left. And Anthony is no where to seen yet

In the weigh in system started by the state of California which was accepted at most state in USA, a two hour window of weigh-in are given to fighters, in which they can weigh in anytime but only one time is allowed.

However new York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) differed to state rule in which championship fighters are allowed to weigh-in a second time within the 2 hours window if they failed in the first attempt.

Following this Daniel Cormier after just two short minutes, came back for another attempt. Again stripping all, with UFC crew holding up towel to cover him from the camera, he appears to be leaning on to the towel. Suddenly they announce that he weigh-in at 205 to the shouts of joy from team!

2nd attempt - on the dot 205 pounds - did the towel took the extra 1.2 pounds?

DC's team joyful when his 2nd attempt was successful

Then after Anthony Johnson appear from behind and stepped on the scale...weigh in at 203.8. So the Championship fight is still on. But it was rather controversial as many are of the opinion that Daniel Cormier cheated by holding on to the towel with both hands to make the weigh ( which appears to be an old trick amateur wrestlers use to make weigh ).



In an interview later Cormier explained that he hold on the towel so that no one sees his 'junk'. He said that before going for the official weigh in , he and his team weigh upstairs and it was OK, in which he questions the scale being use at the official weigh-in.

Cutting weigh in MMA has catch plenty of bad publicity lately. Fighters who do not make weigh are deemed unprofessional and will loose their fight purse as a punishment. If their opponents do not agree, a fight can be cancel, which is of course will be a very disappointing matters to viewership.

Fighters will cut weigh to weigh-in lighter than their usual weigh, in an attempt to gain advantage during fight as usually after making weigh they will put back on the pounds rapidly.

But the danger of extreme weigh cutting is very real. Usually the weigh loss are just water
Extreme dehydration will potentially lead to lethal neurological concerns. Depletion of the fluid that surrounds the brain not only renders fighters more susceptible to being knocked out, but it also carries with it the risk of more permanent consequences.

In Dec 2015, while cutting weigh for ONE Championship event, 21-year-old Chinese prospect Yang Jian Bing died from dehydration. Immediately after ONE Championship announce a revamp of their weigh cutting policy to prevent extreme weigh cut ( check out Bloody Elbow coverage on ONE Championship weigh cut policy )

Another drama at UFC 210 weigh in was for female strawweight, Pearl Gonzales. Pearl had disclosed that she has breast implants in her contract and was utterly surprise when she was informed by the commission that in New York state breast implants are not allowed for fighters.

Photo: Zuffa LLC

Her fight with Cynthia Calvillo was initially called off, but Pearl and her team put in the argument that she didn't lie to the commission and has declared it to them. Eventually the fight was reinstated and Pearl said she didn't want the world to talk about her cosmetic surgery but she will ride on this wave of publicity and make sure she is known for her victory rather than her breast implant.

For UFC 210 main card between Cormier vs Johnson will be a rematch. Cormier took the vacant Light Heavyweight title when he submitted Johnson in May 2015 UFC 187. The title was vacated by Jon Jones when UFC stripped it off him to Jon's involvement in a hit and run.

Cormier defended the title against Alex Gustaffson and Anderson Silva, he was supposed to fight Jon Jones again, but Jon failed a drug test and was suspended.

Anthony Johnson himself has seen a fair share of missed weight in UFC when he was a welterweight. UFC let him go in 2012, and Anthony fought in Titan FC and WSOF winning 5 fight in a row as a Light heavyweight. He earned his way back into UFC and after his lost to Cormier, he has been chalking up 3 win in a row with win via KO from his punches.

Muay Fight Night : Continuos Efforts To Unearth New Muaythai Talents in Sabah

Tuan Hj Nazri (L) with Rayner Kinsiong (R) and Mardeana of Team Karabaw

Persatuan Muaythai Negeri Sabah (Sabah Muaythai Association) is looking forward to a busy 2017. Kickstarting Muaythai in Sabah with Muay Fight Night (MFN).

MFN is another event organised by Sabah Muaythai to unearth new Muaythai talents in the state. This amateur event will be held on 8-9 April at the vicinity of Team Karabaw gym at 88 Marketplace, Kepayan, Kota Kinabalu.

MFN is sponsor by Dihnar Group and is in collaboration with Team Karabaw & Revolution Gym.

According to Tuan Hj Nazri Razak, Sabah Muaythai Association President, Sabah needs new talents in Muaythai as the association is always on the lookout for Muaythai athletes to represent Sabah for many competition around the year in Sabah & elsewhere in Malaysia, hence in the association's plan, MFN is a continuous effort to provide a platform for newbies to gain experience and a place for them to test out their skills.

Participants for MFN are open for athletes to represent their clubs, district association or even as an individuals. Sabah Muaythai aims to organise MFN once every two months. In May Sabah Muaythai will host Piala Borneo, and some of the athletes may get to be selected to represent Sabah.

Ask on how far is the progress of Sabah in comparison to other Malaysian state,...Hj Nazri explained,

"We are actually not too far behind. What we can do is to achieve more victory in and outside of Sabah. We are also doing our long term development so that our Muaythai athletes will continously be expose to new competition and training and keeping them active and moving forward all the time"

Haji Nazri also explained that Sabah Muathai athletes have positive improvement in fitness and strenght, but techniques are still something they must work on. 

On why Sabah does not see many foreign coaches, Haji Nazri explained...

"What we really need are coaches that combine the knowledge of  sport science, proper techniques and are qualified with Muaythai specific course, they can be locals, not necessarily foreigners; because cost in hiring foreigner is a challenge."

Aside from MFN, Sabah Muaythai is also planning for Inter-Club competition after the Hari Raya celebration around July-August and the Inter-District tournament around November.

SFC5 : Allen Solomon's Journey's Back to the Top

Sept 2016 was a memorable time for Allen Solomon Chong, fighting in his hometown in Kota Kinabalu, in Borneo’s premier MMA promotions Jesselton Fight League (JFL). Allen took the victory in the main card winning the Tourism Cup. Being the home town hero and as the pioneer of MMA & BJJ and the inaugural winner of MIMMA Lightweight belt, Allen received tremendous supports.

Riding on the high, right after the fight he signed up again with JFL for a fight in Dec. Allen flew to USA to prepare for the fight. Training, rolling and meeting with a number of MMA’s great such as Sam Alvey, Dan Henderson, Mark Munoz, Fabrico Werdum, Cat Zingano. To name a few.

But due to unavoidable circumstances, Dec’s JFL was postponed and Allen was left without a fight. Right after when he came back, management issues causes him to forego his Alpha MMA. The gym that he founded from his blood & sweat of bringing BJJ & MMA to the forefront.

He also had to deal with some issue with the state BJJ association that he founded. To further add to the pressure he already stopped working as an architect to focus on his fight career.

Amidst all these he had to be there for his family as his wife deliver their second child.

It was truly a time where fight was the last thing on his mind. But fight on he did. Allen picked up the pieces and without the burden of running a gym and with his new found motivation of a bigger family to care for, he started to focus back his mind and body on his training.

Joining the fame Borneo Tribal Squad (BTS), headed by Coach AJ Pyro. AJ welcome him to his team of pro fighters such as Hisyam, Ann Osman, Audreylaura and Kelvin Ong, and put him into fight camp immediately.

The journey back has begun for Allen as he now focus on preparing for his fight this Sat 8 April at Singapore Fighting Championship 5. 

Finding the right sponsors to support his journey

It will be a barnburner as this featherweight fight promises to deliver lots of action. Allen will go up against a young Filipino, Jhunior Acilo Diapolet.

At only 21, Jhunior trains out of Manila’s D’ Elements MMA Warriors. At such young age, Jhunior has amassed much experience from his amateur days fighting in Philippines regional MMA promotion. He turned pro in late 2016 when he fought in Blaze FC. 

A few weeks ago he fought in South East Asia Fighting Championship (SAFC), losing the challenge for the featherweight belt. This motivates him more to get a win in SFC5.



Growing up in Panabo City at the Davao Province in southern Philippines, life was hard as jobs are hard to come by and economically the region is poor with banana & fruit cultivation as the main industry. 

At age 16, Jhunior started training in Muaythai which gave him a solid striking foundations. Jessie Rafols continue to polish his Muaythai as he improve on his ground game and grappling through Fernando Piccio, Ramonito Pabroa and Francis Romero.

Fighting at SFC5 will be Jhunior’s first fight out of Philippines and he is feeling mighty proud to carry his country’s flag into the MMA cage. Allen will be his biggest name opponent to date as Allen come with the record as an ex UFC’s Ultimate Fighter, plus Allen’s two win was both against Filipinos.

Jhunior aspire to making it big in MMA as how Eduard Folayang has done. Not for the fame but his motivation is providing a better life for his family back home in Panabo.

In this SFC5 fight card, another Sabahan will be featured - Eddey Kalai. Well known for his fast hands from his years of experience in boxing, representing Malaysia in SEA Games, Commonwealth Games and Arafura Games. 

Eddey ventured into MMA and has utilizes his fist to win him many fights, he has an underrated ground game but has surprised many strikers with his take down defense and magnificent suplex. 



Eddey was successful in amateur MMA, being the 1st JFL Flyweight Champion and also MIMMA4 flyweight finalist. He recently turned pro in Primal FC Thailand. 

He lost that fight but came back blazing and was victorious in ONESilat (full contact Silat with rules somewhat similar to pro MMA), winning it in 1st round via kimura against Madit Sada of Indonesia.

Eddey will go up against Garie Tang. An up and coming fighter from IMPACT MMA Singapore. Garie started with Muaythai and has picked up grappling and transitioned into MMA. 

Under Prof Alexsandro Machado (BJJ Black Belt), Royston Wee (Singapore’s 1st fighter in UFC) and Bruce Loh (Singapore’s 1st pro MMA fighter) Garie has developed into an all-rounder. An injury prevented him from being active late last year but now he is back! 



He is also part of Singapore’s National Wrestling Squad and regularly trains with his fellow IMPACT MMA’s young fighter of high caliber such as Nazri Sutari and Niko Soenarto.



Let’s gear up for SFC5: Combat Redefined this Saturday in Singapore’s Foo Chow Building. SFC5 will bring plenty of action on the feet as well with 7 Pro Boxing matches on the card. The hi-light is for the WBA Asia Super Featherweight Championship, which home town hero Muhamad ‘ The Chosen Wan ‘ Ridwan will fight Waldo Sabu of Indonesia for the title belt.

Mixing into the Pro MMA and Boxing fights will also see some amateur Kickboxing actions.