Ev Ting headline ONE: UNBREAKABLE WARRIORS

At a press conference on 17 August 2016, in colloboration with Tune Talk & UMG, ONE announced a return to Kuala Lumpur for ONE Championship: Unbreakable Warriors. It is set to take place at the Stadium Negara on 2 September in Kuala Lumpur. The last show in Kuala Lumpur was held at Stadium Putra, Oct 2015 for ONE Championship : Tigers of Asia.

By itself Stadium Negara is a historic venue built in the early 60s. ONE has come a long way since the first show it held at Stadium Negara in June 2012 for ONE FC: Destiny of Warriors. It was their 5th show since it started in Singapore in Sep 2011. ONE is now The largest sports media property in Asian history. This 2 Sep show in K.L. will be ONE’s 48th show.

Stadium Negara has seen big artiste such as Kylie Minouge, Sting, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi all perform here before. Come this Friday, it will again be rocked with plenty of action, fight action and live music performance. Fight cards will be headlined by a massive bout between Malaysia’s own Ev “E.T.” Ting and Australia’s “Ruthless” Rob Lisita, and continuing the live performance format started in Bangkok in May 2016 for ONE: Kingdoms of Champions, Malaysian top artist Faizal Tahir & Ella will perform live in an after fight concert.

ONE athletes & celebrities with ONE CEO Victor Cui (6th from left). Tune Talk CEO, Jason Lo ( 4th frm left). Kenny Ong, Managing Director of Universal Music Group, Malaysia & S'pore (5th from right)

Malaysian MMA star Ev “E.T.” Ting returns to Kuala Lumpur to showcase his world-class mixed martial arts skills in front of his hometown crowd opposite fierce challenger “Ruthless” Rob Lisita of Campbelltown, Australia. The two featherweight standouts will do battle in a three-round main event showdown.

Ev Ting ready to go to war vs Rob Lisita

Ev “E.T.” Ting is a mixed martial artist of Malaysian descent. He lives and trains out of Auckland, New Zealand, and has amassed a stellar 11-3 record so far in his professional career. A winner of his last two bouts by impressive submission over top caliber opponents, Ting is one of the most talented fighters to come out of Malaysia.

33-year-old “Ruthless” Rob Lisita of Campbelltown, Australia, is known as a relentless offensive force, armed with powerful striking combinations intended to score highlight-reel finishes. He is 14-8 as a professional mixed martial artist, and has proven to be a fixture in big fights owing to his fan-friendly style. A veteran fighter who has faced the best in his division and beyond, Lisita looks to continue fulfilling his goal of competing against the promotion’s top contenders.

The card will also feature Malaysian MMA stars Peter Davis, Ann “Athena” Osman, Agilan “Alligator” Thani, as well as Gianni and Keanu Subba. Three preliminary bouts will also be available live via Facebook Livestream

Peter Davis will face Thai's Wiratchai

Grab your ticket at Redtix and experience a night of awesome fights and great live entertainment.

About Tune Talk
Tune Talk is the fastest-growing Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in Asia, officially launching commercial services in Malaysia in 2009. Our target is to provide super low rates and exciting incentives to the market. Our prepaid service offers voice, SMS, data and BlackBerry packages that meet the demands for a simple, value-for-money product with easy accessibility and a wide distribution reach. As a member of the Tune Group of companies, we have the advantage of providing a completely unique lifestyle service with offers by Tune Money, Tune Hotels, Tune Insurance, BIG Loyalty Programme and AirAsia. For more information, please visit www.tunetalk.com.

About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. Featuring the most comprehensive catalog of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. Universal Music Group is a Vivendi company. Find out more at: http://www.universalmusic.com.

Bryant Tan - Sarawak's Pride

Love is a powerful emotion. It can motivate & inspire and move people to do unthinkable things. Bryant Tan uses it in a positive way. Ironically the lack of love causes him to do so. In college during his business studies Bryant fell in love. He was head over heels over a girl. Thinking that the girl was going to be his soul mate he was definitely crushed when the relationship fell apart after 9 months. Brokenhearted and very much overweight he sulked for 2 months. Then Bryant decided to make something out of this. He made a decision to shed off the extra pounds. Knowing that an image change will definitely boost his confidence and inflict sweet revenge on his ex.

Bryant's journey of martial arts transform his body to a fighting fit machine

In 2012 July, meeting his first Muaythai coach Lucas Lau of Borneo Top team was a crucial point in Byant’s life. Lucas mentored him in his weight loss journey. Lucas pushed and challenged Bryant to go beyond his comfort zone. Seeing the potential in him, Lucas signed Bryant up for his first Muaythai fight. Being the only son in the family this did not go down well with Bryant’s parents. Although feeling disheartened for not receiving his parents full support, Bryant continued training. After much persistence training with blood, sweat and tears he was fruitful in that first fight, claiming a 1st round KO victory.

with Lucas Lau (L) as Bryant began his martial arts journey and (R) after a year of training

victorious in his 1st Muaythai fight

After tasting success, Bryant realized that martial arts has a positive effect on him and he decided to leave behind the ego of revenge and focus on achieving more in his martial arts journey. His success caught the eye of Sarawak boxing coach Fred Mandagi & selected him for the 2014 SUKMA Games in Perlis. But Bryant had to miss it due to his commitment in his studies.

Bryant was born in Sibu, Sarawak and grew up in Daro, a small village accessible by 2.5 hours ferry ride from Sibu. His family own a farm in Daro, planting vegetables and bee farming and bird nest. Bryant graduated in Diploma in Business Management from Methodist Pilley Institute(MPI), Sibu.

Bryant's family farm in Daro Sarawak

In 2013 May after finishing his studies he decided to further his martial arts training in Thailand. Coach Lucas recommended Chiang Mai. Where the hard core pure Muaythai training are at. Bryant ended up in Santai Muaythai, in the rural area of Sankamphaeng, Chiang Mai; touted as the most technique orientated Muaythai Gym in Northern Thailand.

Memories at Santai Gym

At only 19 at that time and travelling for the 1st time in his life on a plane to a foreign land where not much English is spoken, it was certainly a nerve wrecking experience for him. But his mind was set. He was not on a holiday, but on a lifetime learning experience. Living there for a month of pure intense Muaythai training.

MIMMA4 is Bryant first foray into MMA. At only 22 this year, he is now part of the Urban Ape & Borneo Top Team family. Training boxing at Urban Ape under Coach Fred Mandagi and adding grappling into his arsenal at Studio 23. As for his strength and conditioning, it is being taken care of by the very highly qualified Sean Trevena. Bryant is working as a personal trainer at Urban Ape and heading up their Fightclub along with coach, Fred.

with the Urban Ape team . Sean Trevena ( middle ), Andrew Liew (2nd from right)

Hi Bryant, congrats for reaching the contender fight at MIMMA4
Please give us a profile of Urban Ape?
The Urban Ape concept was originally envisioned as a strength and conditioning brand for youth rugby, developed by one of the partners while he was living in the United Kingdom. The A.P.E stands for Athletic, Performance, Enhancement and the Urban part, well that simply comes from the fact that the clients we mainly work with are from cities or towns.

In 2012 my bosses, Olivia, Andrew Liew and Sean Trevena worked together on another project in Kuching and they realized that Urban Ape was a catchy and unique sounding name. They decided that by setting up a training facility that encouraged people to enhance their lives by performing more athletically they could provide a service to many people while helping to promote health and fitness in Sarawak.

Urban APE's mantra is "Devolve 2 Evolve" and at its very core we teach people to value health and nutrition so that they can live a healthier life.

with Boxing coach Fred Mandagi

The services that we offer are wide and varied and include everything from 1-to-1 Personal Training, through to our recently launched Urban Ape Fight Club #UAFC where I and Coach Fred (he's the main man when it comes to all things boxing) head up the classes.

What motivates you?

I believe in continuing my MMA journey because I believe in living a life with no regrets. To live life to the fullest and not miss out on any opportunities. The last thing I want happen is to be 60 years old on a rocking chair and not knowing what it feels like to be in a caged MMA fight. I also get a lot of motivation from my coaches and YouTube motivational videos.

I believe this is your 1st MIMMA right? Any other martial arts competition u have join before?
Yes, as far as MMA competitions goes, only MIMMA. I joined an amateur Muay Thai fight once and 3 professional Muay Thai tournaments. I was also chosen to represent the Sarawak State boxing team during SUKMA XVII. But because of my final exams, I couldn’t make it to the fight at Perlis.

Fighting in Pro Muaythai

Your strong area I believe is Muaythai right?...What about grappling?
Yes, I had been trained mainly in Muay Thai for 4 years, Boxing for about 1 year and most recently BJJ about 1 year. I’m looking to go into Taekwondo next potentially.

winning his pro Muaythai match vs a tough Pakistani opponent

Who help you most in during your fight camp? And why?

The person who help me most in my fight camp there’s a few people. One is Sean Trevana, he was my strength and conditioning coach, who provided me with all the S&C program. Next, my boxing coach, Fred, he has over 22yrs experience in teaching boxing. He trained my stamina, speed and agility. Then, Andrew was my mobility trainer and helped me with muscle pain release and rehabilitation. Chloe Tay my flexibility trainer, she trained me with yoga. And lastly Albert Lim from Studio 23, my BJJ coach, he is a BJJ brown belt. He has had a huge impact in my preparation training. Especially when it came to my game plan on what to do and not to do in the MMA ring. I believe fight psychology is critical and that 80% of all success, especially in MMA is due to this, only 20% is about your stamina, skill, strategy.

What is the toughest fight so far for you?
I believe every fight I fight becomes tougher. Because I constantly remind myself that I’m not in competition with just my opponent, but also myself. I will always watch my fight replays and constantly improve myself, especially when it comes to my weaknesses, and turn my weaknesses into my strengths. I would say that’s my secret or any other fighter’s secret to success.

As a Sarawakian...and just celebrated for 1st time Independence Day on 22 July...how do you feel representing Sarawak in MMA?
I feel pretty proud actually and humbled for the opportunity. I also want to take this chance to thank all my supporters, followers and my haters. You all are my source of motivation.



Please share with readers what is your personality like?...how do you describe yourself?. What is your principle in life?
I would guess I’m a pretty nurturing person. I believe in the importance of trust and relationships between my family, friends and especially my coaches. But at the same time I value the importance of freedom and success. I might be young but I think I am pretty mature for my age. I value respect, the giving and receiving of it. Finally, my main principle in life is the Principle of Discipline and Being Patient. Consistency over time, is what guarantees success, whether in the ring, in business or just life in general. Lastly, be confident. Confidence is the KEY to success

Bryant’s path to the MIMMA4 Contenders Fight on this 3 Sept 2016 is a win over Richael Amatus of Sabah. Beating Penang’s Tan Chun Keat in the quarter finals and a win over Mohd Samsuri of KL in the semi-finals. Bryant will face Faiz Faisal in the Contenders Fight to determine who the worthy opponent to face defending middleweight champion - Mohd Meeraj.

MIMMA4 Contenders Fight will be happening at Paradigm Mall on 3 Sept 2016. Or you can catch the live streaming on  malaysianinvasion.com

Enroute to winning his MIMMA4 semi finals fight ( pix by YK Tang)

Big Fights in the East - Elopura Fight 2016

Huge fights are happening this 12-13 Aug 2016 at Sandakan, Sabah. Name after Sandakan's old name - ELOPURA. Organised by Persatuan Muaythai Daerah Sandakan and Persatuan Muaythai Negeri Sabah.

Sandakan sports complex will be packed with amatuer muaythai athletes. They will battle it out in the Sabah inter-club Muaythai tournament in the day time. This is where the grassroots talent will need to perform their best to stand a chance to be selected for the Malaysian national tournament happening in September. It is a good platform for clubs to send their potential 'nak muay' to give them exposure and to test their skills and hearts. Sometimes selection are not solely base on the one who bring home the gold medals, but association are looking at atheletes that show true fighting spirit and a never give up attitude.

Those kind of spirits are what the pro Muaythai fighters possesed, and these spirits will be unleashed on the night of the same dates. A really stacked cards has been put up with many fights that will potentially go down as fight of the nights.

The main card of Bow Suweilek vs Jian Kai Chee should be either a big fight or a domination by Bow. Kai Chee is a veteran in Muaythai and MMA and is known as a slugger. Going against Bow Suweilek whom holds the record as 2010 & 2011 Z1 Super 4 Champion, D1 FC Champion and most recently in 2015 the Elite Boxing EFN Super 4 Champion.

Bow was comtemplating retirement and focus on training until he met again with his friend Coach Alvin Chong from his early 2000 of Muaythai fighting in Malaysia in Kedah. Alvin is the founder of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan andhe offered Bow a trainer job in Labuan. Using his nutritional knowledge he gain from dealing with USANA nutrition, Alvin analyses Bow's body and put him on a special supplement program and training. With the fresh fresh seabreeze of Labuan and the advance nutrition Bow was able to regain his old speed and explosiveness and vow to proof this by a win on Friday night.

Erwan vs Opong

Local Sandakan fighter of the fame boxing brothers of Kalai, Erwan Kalai will face Kinabalu Kings Opong the Mayphilindo. Erwan will have huge home town support and of course in his corner will be his successful MMA brothers, Effendey and Eddey Kalai.

Effendy Kalai

Effendy Kalai will make a return to Muaythai. Competition wise he last fought in MMA, at the MIMMA3 grand Final vs Tee Jac Yo of Penang. The fight was declare a no contest after a controversial repeated hit to the back of the head by tee which causes Effendy to pass out. After that fight, Effendy took a break and focus on training his students. Itching back to get back to hit some one in the face, welcoming him back will be Ardy ' Pink Panther ' of Clownbox.

The Pro fights that will promise absolute mayhem and action

Kinabalu Fighters lead by Randal The Slayer

Randal fresh from winning gold at the Mayor Cup in July will look to get back to winning ways in Muaythai. Randal lost a rematch with Sarawakian Trevor Salang in May at the Samarahan Muaythai tournament. He will lead the pro card as the main fight vs Zulkifli of Buaya Saka, Perak.

Randal also has a secret recipe behind him. Aside from the physical hard core training of a pro at Kinabalu Fighters, he has put in many session of strength and conditioning training in Platinum Fitness. He has also been using FitLine products for pre and post workout. FitLine  uses The Nutrient Transport Concept (NTC®) developed by their scientist. This technology brings nutrients to where they are needed exactly when they are needed, to cell level. So that athletes feel completely fit and able to function all day at the optimum level.

Faizal Boy Kicap will be representing Kinabalu Kings. Watch out for this veteran fighter whom always put up a great show of skills and hearts.

Reyan , Faizal & Opong of Kinabalu Kings

All the best to the fighters. Fight Hard, Fight Smart, Fight with all your hearts!

call these numbers to get your tickets now

YODDHA FC...Adrian Tham's Pro MMA Debut - Battle in Bhubaneswar

original Adrian Tham Batman photo by Deb gauges

Bhubaneshwar is the biggest city in the state of Orrisa, east side of India. It is often referred to as a "Temple City of India", with lots of historic and architecturally magnificent temple. This is the place Sabahan Adrian 'Tuck Man' Tham choose to debut his pro MMA fight.

Adrian is no stranger to the amatuer MMA scene in Malaysia. Being the 1st MIMMA heavyweight champion in 2013. He took a break after that to get married, but came back to fight in at K1 Kickboxing at Fight Fest 1. Wanting to improve his amatuer MMA record, Adrian joined Kota Kinabalu based Jesselton Fight League (JFL) in 2015 and emerged as the Welterweight Champion, demolishing all his opponent in round 1 by submission.

shout out to TUCK MAN's sponsors

He was offered a feature fight vs fellow Karateka, Theeban Govindasamy in last year's MIMMA3 Grand Finals and manage to secure a win by using his superior ground skill. A pro fight in ONE Silat in May was planned but organizer had to postponed the date...and Adrian was left without a fight after all the hard training and cutting of weight.

JFL series 2 was annouced in April as the 1st Malaysian MMA promotion to be affiliated to WSOF Global Championship and Adrian was signed on to debut as pro by JFL's founder Rayner Kinsiong. Looks like Sept is too far away and Adrian is itching for a throwdown.  Talks started with Yoddha Fighting Championship (YFC) and here we have it, Adrian has choose to fight at lightweight as he felt at 175cm, he has an disadvantage in welterweight.

Sparring session with Rayner Kinsiong. photo by Deb Gauges

photos by Deb Gauges

The fight camp at Karabaw Gym has gone well, with many sparring session with local Sabahan fighter such as Rayner Kinsiong (ONE Championship fighter) and MIMMA1 Lightweight Champion, Allen Solomon Chong.

Adrian and his Team Nomad

Yoddha in Hindi means someone that is experienced or trained in warfare. It is based on this fighting spirit that YFC intend to bring MMA to the fight fans of India. India has a long ancient history of martial arts. Martial arts such as Silambam, Kalaripayat and Kushti (wrestling) has been practice since ancient time for warfare and self defense. The story of how a monk name  Buddhabhadra teaches the chinese monk a series of exercise is widely believe to be the origins of Kung Fu, and Buddhabhadra is an Indian.

As the 1st MMA promotion in India and the first to hold tryouts to unearth new talent in India, YFC is associated with World Series of Fighting Global Championship (WSOF-GC) for a year now and strives to cultivate in India what WSOF-GC is doing for MMA internationally.

Hosted by the renowned Utkal Karate School in Bhubaneshwar. The media sponsors for YFC are Prameya News7 and the outdoor sponsors are Team Admark. Safety of the audience and fighters is paramount to YFC and keeping this in mind, not only are the safety measures of the highest standards, they have also got on board as medical partners Sunshine Hospitals, Bhubaneshwar. And more importantly, given the growing popularity of sports other than cricket today in India, Karbi Anglong Morning Star FC (KAMSFC), the football club also extends its support to YFC as a sponsor.

This 6-7 Aug round is the quarter finals bouts. In addition to these amatuer level quarter-final bouts, the exhibition fights put on by pro-fighters are an added bonanza to this hi-octane event. Fighters like Marcio ‘Gracinha’ Cesar, Lito Aidwang, Ralf Francisco, Dindo Camansa, Biswa Dev, Srikant Shekhar and India’s very own champ, Chaitanya Gavali promise to light up the arena with Spartan-like action. Warriors of Borneo are proud that Adrian will be one of them.

Chaitanya Gavali has been the only Indian MMA fighter to win two international belts outside India and has just returned from a training camp at Greg Jackson Academy in the US. He represents Team Relentless of India and takes on Dindo Camansa from Philippines. Chaitanya or Chai as he is known, is fighting on Indian sol after 4 ½ years of fighting internationally.

Bringing home the WARRIOR FC featherweight belt

Chai made his name in Malaysia. After debutting in India's Super Fight League (SFL) in 2012, he fought and won in Johor's Ultimate Beatdown in 2013. In 2014, he was in Sabah, winning the fight in round 1 TKO vs Arvin Ballares of Philippine in Borneo Fighting Championship 2. Then following year he became Ultimate Beatdown first featherweight Champion defeating Irish Keith Aiden. In 2015 again Malaysia is a successful place for him when he defeated Canadian Gary Espinar for Warriors FC bantamweight Belt.

main card : Chaitanya vs Dindo

What about Adrian's opponent Srikant Sekhar? According to Tapology.com he use to fight at middleweight. He will have a slight height advantage at 180cm vs Adrian's 175cm. Srikant is a trainer at Swatik Fight Club and has a 2-4-0 record. He mostly SFL, and will represent Team Indian Combat Sports Academy. Srikant has good wrestling and a heavy hand.

Warriors of Borneo wishes Adrian Tham a successful debut in India! May Yoddha give you the force!