THREE MALAYSIAN QUEST FOR GLORY IN HEX FIGHT SERIES 10

World's attention will be on MMA on 29 July 2017 as the much anticipated UFC214 will feature the rematch of Daniel Cormier vs Jon Jones in California. At the same day in Washington, the rebirth of World Series of Fighting ( WSOF ) to Professional Fighters League will see it's first event being held with a featherweight title fight.

But on the other side of the world, in Perth Australia, MMA fans will be feasted to a 12 bouts pro MMA fight in Hex Fight Series 10, that will feature fighters from around the region.

Notably for Malaysia, 3 MMA athletes will do combat in the Australian hexagon.

2 will be from Sabah's Borneo Tribal Squad; Allen Solomon Chong and Edilah Johanny.
Allen will fight in a catchweight bout of 59kg vs Perth home boy Ryan Robertson. Edilah will also face a local from Perth, Kim Piper. Another Malaysian is Sam Chan from Kuala Lumpur. He will face Suman Mokhtarian.

Allen is no stranger in the Malaysian MMA scene. With background in TaeKwon-Do Allen discovered BJJ when he was studying in Australia. He brought back BJJ to his home state Sabah and practically started a BJJ craze among the martial art fraternity there. He went on to formed the first BJJ association in Malaysia and organizes many tournament that grew the sports in Malaysia.

He made his name winning the lightweight title in Asia biggest amateur tournament, MIMMA 1 back in 2013. Went on to be the only South East Asian to be selected for UFC's The Ultimate Fighter China.

Allen went on the fight in the local promotions. Earning himself a 3-2-0 record as of date. One of the lost comes from Aussie Aidan Auguilera in Hex Fight Series 6. That was a fight Allen took in a very short notice. He is determined to erase that KO lost and return to the hexagon cage fully prepared to continue his two fight winning streak.

He is well prepared this time around. Fight camp at Borneo Tribal Squad (BTS) under coach AJ Pyro has been great improvement for him. BTS with it's stable of pro fighters gave Allen plenty of quality sparring and a mean conditioning work from CrossFit 1722.

Allen's opponent, Ryan Robertson is eager to showcase his skills at home in Western Australia's first caged event in since the ban was recently lifted. Robertson's 2 MMA wins have both come via stoppage, with 1 submission and 1 knockout. He will look to showcase more of those well rounded skills for his hometown fans. He believe his striking skills will be the key to victory.

watch the pre fight promo video 

Edilah Nadrah Johanny, Allen's team mate from Borneo Tribal Squad is debuting her pro fight in Perth. Fondly call Ila by her friends, this Dusun girl from the town of Ranau at the foothills of Mt Kinabalu has been athletic since young. Picked up TaeKwon-Do as a kid and participated in local tournaments. Entering secondary schools she moved to track & field. 

It was Ann Osman ( Malaysia's 1st female pro MMA fighter ) that inspired Ila to pick up martial arts again. At first she joined Ann's own gym Fitness Rites, eventually her hunger to fight moved her to join Borneo Tribal Squad, as team mates of Ann. She participated in Kickboxing and Muaythai tournament but at BTS, AJ trained his fighters to be well rounded and eventually Ila got into MMA.

Carrying the nickname Fire Storm given by her coach AJ Pyro, Ila may be small in size but Ila has an explosive style of fighting. But her mind is always calms even when she is pull into the deep ends. This comes from her attitude as a scientist. Ila is studying for her masters in Biodiversity and Biosytematic. Researching on insects require her to be details, analytical and have lots of patience.

Across the hexagon cage to Ila will be Kim Piper. At 40 years of age, she is still fighting fit. A personal trainer at Evolution MMA, Perth, she ply her trade in Eternal MMA with a two amateur victory. Standing at 160 cm Kim will have height and reach advantage over Ila.

Kim's pro debut will have rousing support from Australian as she is also the founder of Sxy MMA. A company that provides ring card models and glamorous fitness models for fight events in Australia. 

As for the third Malaysian on the card, it's Sam Chan. Representing Vim Fight Team, this is Sam's 2nd fight after a long lay off. He just competed in WBC Boxing match in Kuala Lumpur last month. 

Sam's was one of the pioneer of Malaysian MMA. In those early days there was no MMA gym. Sam was training here and there switching places, learning different arts from different coaches and developing his own fighting styles. As he got into business, he was off training for awhile but decided to live back his glory days of fighting. 

It's going to be an uphill task for Sam as his opponent Suman Moktharian is on a 6 fight winning streak with zero loss. Suman made headlines at Hex Fight Series 9 when he choked out Magana Kiewon with a dazzling Teepee Triangle. The submission marked a world first for MMA, and created ripples throughout the globe. The history making choke hold was acknowledged by the likes of world class UFC coach & grappling wizard, Eddie Bravo. 

Now, the Australian Top Team prospect will look to put on another thrilling performance when he fights Sam Chan.

watch the 1st Tepee submission in MMA 

Founder & promoter of Hex Fight Series, Charles Fernandez is very excited for this 10th edition, and first time in Perth after the ban on cage fighting was lifted recently.

MMA fight in cage was illegal in Perth and in Melbourne, since 2013 and 2008 respectively, whilst the bans were in place, MMA matches were conducted  in a traditional boxing ring. But due to complaint of safety from fighters and the raising awareness of UFC and MMA generally globally, with the fact that Australian has produce MMA athletes like Anthony Perosh, Mark Hunt and most recently Robert Whitaker winning the UFC's interim middleweight title has changed the mind of decision maker.

UFC has hold events in Sydney and Melbourne before and with the ban lifted Perth is already in their radar and this will surely bring lots of attention to Western Australia. 

As for Hex, Charles said that in 2017, Hex has already completed two events in Mach and June; and looking to staged 5 events altogether ( as per dates below ).

• July 29 - Hex 10
• Sept 1 - Hex 11
• Nov 24 - Hex 12

Charles continue to add that MMA has plenty of room for growth still in Australia, and at this stage he is looking to accomplish more within Australia but there are future plans for the region.

Charles is particularly proud to have Robert Whitaker in Hex Fight Series 10.

"Rob will attend as a special guest of Hex Fight Series. He will open the cage at the event and he is excited to attend. There will also be an opportunity for fans to get a photo and meet Australia’s first UFC champion."

Malaysian and other outside Australia fight fans can log onto EPICENTER TV for live streaming

ULTIMATE BEATDOWN 23: LEGENDS NEVER DIE

Ultimate Beatdown fight is back again! 65 bouts of integrated combat sports of boxing, free fight, and MMA in one night! This event also will bring together fighters from 11 different nationalities, namely Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, Russia, France, Australia, Timor, Iraq. Tickets are only RM30! VIP ticket only RM100!

Event: Ultimate Beatdown 23 

Venue: Johor Bahru, Plaza Sentosa ( Rooftop - 8th floor )

Date: 15 July 2017   

Time: 3.30pm - 5.30pm Boxing

           5.30pm - 8.30pm Kickboxing
           8.30pm - 11pm MMA

Whether you're a fan of MMA or a movie fan, this is definitely an event you don't  want to miss! Fill your  Saturday night to full-action fighting ULTIMATE BEATDOWN style .

Ticket only at RM30, VIP RM100 .  Tickets can be at Ultimate MMA Academy or online. PM them now for tickets.

click to watch the promo video

check out MMA Latest for the full fight cards

Introducing the main event of the night:

The first ever female main event in Ultimate Beatdown series.

Introducing fighter from left to right:

Jihin"Shadow-Cat" Radzuan (Malaysia)

A full time vet nurse and college student. A home grown Johor talent coached by Melvin Yeoh in Ultimate MMA Academy. Started her MMA training at age of 16 when she still a chubby school girl.

In less than 2 years training she had won FIOGA wushu championship & the MIMMA (one of world premier amateur MMA fight league) title. Just fresh out of pre - SEA Game Muaythai won gold medal last week, she is looking to take another big step into her MMA career. Jihin also represented Malaysia in the IMMAF Asia tournament in Singapore last month.

Hasrina Hamka"Iron Maiden"(Indonesia)

Train and coaching full time in the best and biggest gym in Batam, BFC. The team also provided security service for hire. A master in hand to hand combat of various discipline of martial arts such as Boxing, BJJ and Indonesian art of Pencak Silat, she will be trying to use her weight and size advantage to shut down Shadow-Cat aggression and take away all her fame.

Kickboxing Middleweight Super 4 Championship

Introducing fighters from left to right:

Bangkang "The Hellhound"
Started his fighting career in UB has & has  fought multiple time in the previous UB. This hot-headed Johor native is a raging bull. Being famous for taking every fight as an underdog, he manages to upset the crowd many time. This time he takes on a fight on short notice as a late replacement. He would like to show those 3 big boys what he is made of.


Charlie Pennington"The Sky Scraper"
From Luton, England works in sales Industry in Singapore. Although he just trained in Fight G under the watchful eyes of coach Darren for nearly 2 years, he is very active and won the Kickboxing Welterweight Championship title via a highlight reel head kick knockout in the previous Ultimate Beatdown 22. Right after that victory he immediately asked for a shot at the Middleweight 4-men tournament. He has long reach and keeping his opponent in the distance is his main key to victory.

Wali"The Beastmaster" Rahman
Wali Rahman aka the Beastmaster gets his name by the amount of nonstop work he puts in his training regime. He eats, sleeps and breathes Muay Thai. He is a hardcore practitioner of the "Dutch style" kickboxing. He has been training the fundamental and technical of boxing for 2 years and has been traveling around in search of the art of fighting and now he is with the Red Wolves family. He is well-versed in boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai. UB's : Legends Never Die Super 4 title belt is one of his bucket list that he wishes to cross out after this weekend.

Abin Ag"Carpenter"
He gets his nickname "Carpenter" as he likes to leg kicks his opponent in every fight and chop down opponent legs like chopping a tree. Every opponent had fell victim to his vicious leg kicks. His famous quote :

" The taller then opponent is, the harder they fall,... once their leg gets chop down" 

He would like to get a sweet taste of chopping 2 opponents legs down until they need to be carried out from the cage before the sweet blink of the shining championship belt wrap on his waist.

Anybody like cats fight? If you like women MMA,  here is something you might like to watch!

From INDIA
Akshata "Thug" Khadtare after having trained MMA for a year, she went on to win the first All India Mixed Martial Arts Federation Nationals. She beat 2 experienced opponents to clinch the National Championship. Akshata is the only female fighter on the roster of Team Relentless and also the biggest bully in the team earning her the Nickname "Thug". To earn a spot in Team Relentless its like a hero trying to earn a spot in Avenger, and she is the 1 of a kind.


From SINGAPORE
Tan Shi Yin aka "Little Chilli From Yishun" is a Singaporean MMA fighter fighting out of BJJSG. She has competed and won in Muay Thai, boxing, and grappling competitions and is looking to build her skills and become a well-rounded MMA fighter. Well known for her ferocious fighting style and ironically also her cuteness, she is looking to extend her winning streak in UB 23 to make a name in this sport.

at weigh in today

Ultimate Beatdown Kickboxing Super 4 Flyweight Title.

Introducing fighters from left to right.....

Awin "The Loverboy"(Malaysia)
Mohd Khuzaiwin or as he is fondly known as Buakaw Malaysia is one of the top and upcoming fighter in this fighting arena. He has won fights in Silat, Muay Thai and Kickboxing. His dream is to become the ultimate fighter started at the age of 18 where he won his first Muay Thai tournament. He has never stop training since then. Now as part of the Red Wolves family, he trains under Thai fighter Songkhalek, Ajarn Khairul Anuar and the Khrus of Red Wolves in mastering the art of Muay thai and Kickboxing. He is very hungry for the UB Legends Never Die Super 4 title belt and will not stop till he gets it.

Marco Germani (Italy)
Marco Germani an Eurasian of Italy & Malaysia parentage, fights out of Team Armada Penang will be bringing the warrior spirit of the gladiators to the Ultimate Beatdown 23 -  Flyweight Super 4 Tournament. Marco has been training hard with his coach FS Cheng on a unique fighting style that will be presented in the Ultimate Beatdown arena tonight.

Allan "Super Mario" Ng (Singapore)
Allan is a fitness trainer by profession, running a boutique gym, Grit with his partner.  Rumors has it that Allan can spar for 2 hours without any rest as a everyday training routine. He is also able to break 6 baseball stick using his shin. Allan fights out of Fight G Singapore, and wants to prove that he's on his way to competing at the highest level of combat sports by bringing home the UB belt across the border.

Amir"Akid" (Malaysia)
Amir with the ringname known as Akid KL the son of Sifu Amir KL, one of the assistant coach in Amir KL Squad. After he finished SPM he enrolled and completed the Discover Muaythai Programme at Dragon Muaythai under an ex World Muaythai champ KruSlatan. He has been busy training and get as much fight as possible whether in Muaythai, K1 or Boxing.
With his recent victory in semipro boxing, he now has his eyes on UB's : Legends Never Die Super 4 Title Belt, lets see what this kid can do.

Team Relentless India is back to Malaysia. This time bringing 4 formidable fighters 

from (R to L ) Anil Mehta, Manthan Rane, Akshata Khadtare and Rudransh Azad

Anil Mehta is not a stranger to the fight scene in Malaysia. in UB 23 he takes on Nik Danial Hazeq (Red Wolves MT) in 65kg catch weight K1 Kickboxing bout.

Previously he won the amateur 16 man Under 65kgs tournament at STAND K1 series 2 in Sabah. He then went up a weight category and was a runner up of the STAND series 3 Semi Pro 8 man Under 70kgs tournament. Anil also holds the 65kgs Sabah FIGHT FEST title and won the pro Muayhai SABAH FIGHT VIP Cup. 

                       ---------------------------------------

Manthan "Metal" Rane is the youngest member of Team Relentless but what he lacks in age he covers up in combat sports experience.

After winning the Yodhha FC India Bantamweight title in what can be called a stellar fashion, on 15th July he will test his skills against Shihab "Whirlwind" Mustafi in Bantamweight Amateur MMA bout at the Ultimate Beatdown 23.

Manthan won the Semi Pro 8 man Under 65kgs tournament at STAND K1 and is next in line for the title shot for STAND K1 Under 65kgs belt. Win, lose or draw one this is guaranteed that it Manthan is gonna make people sit up and take notice of his skills.

                       ---------------------------------------

Akshata "Thug" Khadtare is the only female fighter on the roster of Team Relentless (but the biggest bully in the team). In Women's Strawweight MMA bout, she will take on one of top ranked female fighters in the region, Tan Shi Yin of Singapore.

After winning the AIMMAF National Championship, Akshata will put her unbeaten record on the line in her international debut tonight. Having finished her training camp under the guidance of Darren Senz de Silva, Head Coach and owner of  Fight G MMA , Akshata is confident that she will be able to bring home the victory for the team. Keep a watch out for The Thug as she is just beginning her journey to the top of Women's Straw weight Division

In an all Borneo fight in the Bantamweight MMA will see Aaron Lo  vs Mohd Saufi (ADN MMA Brunei)

Aaron is riding on a 2 fight winning streak. His last victory was Mac's UB 22 in a 3 round decision win. Before that he won over Nazipan in Fight Fest Sabah in last's year October.

This Sarawakian lad is working as an accountant. Aaron use to train under Matt Pellino and his martial arts brothers in arms such Jace Law ( MIMMA 3 Lightweight Champion ) & Stephen Onn Jenggieng ( WBC pro Boxer ) and Ahmadjon Karimov ( MIMMA 3 Foreign pride Champion ) in the Gym Box Kuching.

Aaron has good boxing skills and a underated ground game. His advantage will be his never say die attitude. He keeps on coming like a locomotive.

His opponent Mohd Saufi represent ADN MMA from Brunei. Started in kickboxing, he recently in MMA debut in MMA; fought in Rampage FC winning his fight in 3 rounds decision

Aaron Law fighting in UB ( pix by MMA Latest )

Saufi winning in Rampage FC

UFC's Karate Hottie Michelle Waterson promoting Ultimate Beatdown 23  (click to watch)

* majority infor taken from Ultimate Beatdown Facebook.

TAIWAN BJJ OPEN: INTERVIEW WITH WARREN WANG

Taiwan being an island nation closely related to China. Historically are strong in Chinese martial arts. During the 1990s & 2000s Tae Kwon-Do became very popular and Taiwan won medals in the Olympics. 

As Taiwan economy grew and business and manufacturing industry became dominant work, practicing of martial arts became secondary to getting a good education, hence less parents send their children for martial arts classes. Mainly Chinese martial arts are practice widely for competitive performance such as Wu Shu and for health such as Tai Chi.  

Brazilian Jiu-Jit Su made popular by the Gracie family of Brazil and the popularity of UFC, has been slowly but surely making in roads to the martial arts scene here. 

This weekend of 15-16 July, Taiwan BJJ Open 2017 will be entering it's 13th year. 

So how did BJJ came to Taiwan?

This is thanks to Dr. Warren Wang. The founder of Taiwan Brazillian Jiu-JitSu Academy and Tournament Director of Taiwan BJJ Open. Warren also holds a position in Asia MMA powerhouse ONE Championship as their Vice President of Medical Services. 

Dr Warren is a practicing medical doctor running his own clinic in Taiwan and was also part of the team that revolutionized the weigh-in program in ONE Championship ( cutting weigh has been a major issue in MMA which has caused death and health problem to fighters. Read more about ONE Championship new weigh-in program here  )

Warren Wang ( far right standing ) with the ONE Championship team in Macau 2016

Warriors of Borneo (#WRB ) had a catch-up with Dr. Warren.

Can you share with #WRB on the start and development of BJJ in Taiwan?

I started BJJ after UFC 2 in 1995. I trained for 2 years under Grandmaster Carley Gracie in San Francisco. Then I came back to Taiwan for medical school.

After 4 years of searching and waiting for a BJJ school to start in Taiwan... I decided to start a club in 2003, teaching 2-3 students on small puzzle mats. I was a white belt at the time.

Soon, a group of guys in Taipei heard of us and asked me to come to Taipei to teach every Sunday, class first started on tiles in a apartment complex community room.

In 2004, Andy Wang came to Taipei, Taiwan and started the Taipei BJJ Academy. The same year I was promoted to a blue belt.  

Taiwan BJJ Tournament in 2015

After two years, Andy left Taiwan to pursue TUF ( UFC's The Ultimate Fighter Season 5 ) and I took over the Taipei school, then I consolidated the Taipei and Taichung BJJ school under the Taiwan Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy banner.

I think i was promoted to Purple belt in 2007 by Andy Wang and recently promoted to Brown belt earlier this year by Professor Makoto Ogasawara.

Taiwan BJJ Academy currently has three locations, Keelung, Taipei Headquarter, and Taichung.

In 2003 I hosted a tournament in Taichung at an outdoor plaza with puzzle mats. The referee was Thomas Fan (current black belt and owner of Kylin BJJ) from Hong Kong (purple belt) at the time. 

He brought his student Takizawa Keisuke (current black belt and owner of Kowloon BJJ), we had about 30 competitors from Taipei, Taichung, and Kaoxiong (south of Taiwan)

Warren competing in 2013

Was that the first Taiwan BJJ Open?
Yes that can be considered the first one.
In 2014 the Taipei group got bigger and we brought in Andy Wang.

We held an international tournament in a mall in Taipei with competitors from Hong Kong, Korea and the Philippines.

Andy Wang was promoted to black belt by Baret Yoshida and Egan Inoue prior to the tournament. Then we've held a tournament every year except one year, ever since.

Andy Wang ( pix by Rebecca Lee )

Currently we have two tournaments a year. Taiwan BJJ/no-gi International  in the summer time and Taiwan Open in the winter time.

Our tournaments has grown in popularity in the last 4-5 years, from an average of 100 competitors to over 350 now.

Winners from 2016 Championship

with Scott Sommers

In the martial arts scene of Taiwan, Tae Kwon-Do is still popular? 
What other combat sports has Taiwan made a name in?
What do you think fuel the growth of BJJ in Taiwan, was it the UFC MMA craze?
Taiwan is not particularly strong in any martial arts. I would say that are a few that have worked really hard by themselves with no sponsorship and no government support... and made it, the few in Tae Kwon-Do Olympics.

San-Da is also a more popular martial arts. But no, I don't think UFC fueled the growth of BJJ in Taiwan...maybe in the beginning. That's what people got in the door in the beginning, but most of the new students now are training BJJ because of BJJ... not MMA.

How many competitor are you expecting this year?
This year over 350 competitors and I think over 50 different schools. 

Wishing you a very successful event
Thank You, I have a very reliable organizing team, together we run it very well, And we expect it to be the same this year.

Some pictures from 2016 championship

TAIWAN BJJ Open

Date: July 15-16, 2017 starting at 09:00

Location：Taipei Xin-Yi Sports Center Multi-function Gymnasium 

Saturday (7/15) – BJJ
Sunday (7/16) – No-Gi Grappling / Kids BJJ

Divisions: Male/Female; Mighty Mite, Pee Wee, Junior, Teen, Juvenile, Adult, Master 1&2

Weight & Rules: CTBJJA rules for English refer to IBJJF rules.

Borneo warriors from Sabah will be represented by the collaboration of two clubs in Kota Kinabalu; KINABALU FIGHTERS - UNITY BJJ Academy. 

KINABALU FIGHTERS (KF) has been around since 2009, (read about KF's background here) founded by Johan Julian Lee Abdullah. KF is a pioneer in martial arts gym that started MMA, Muaythai & BJJ classes in Kota Kinabalu. 


Coach Soh is a brown belt, teaches BJJ class in KF. Khairul is a blue belt under him, while Vivian & Cosmin are white belt. Cosmin also coaches a Kali-Escrima classes in KF. 

Johan ( sixth from right ) in Kinabalu Fighters BJJ class led by Coach Soh

Coach Soh ( center in Blue Gi) with ( L to R ): Cosmin, Khairul & Vivian, whom are KF sponsored athletes 

UNITY is a young club was formed just a few months back this year and has been growing the BJJ scene in Sabah.

UNITY first 100% Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) only training centre in Kota Kinabalu and possibly in Sabah. Located at City Mall, the centre is owned and managed by Syaiful, Jason and David, three BJJ fighters who opened the centre out of their passion for the martial art, with the objectives of seeing the BJJ community grow and create the awareness that this beautiful martial art not just for the skills involved but also to learn how to have a stronger mentality and finding solutions to go through and overcome challenges.


Coach Soh also led a BJJ class at UNITY BJJ, where Vivian, Cosmin, Khairul & aniel also trains together with other BJJ enthusiasts

Syaiful , Jason & David

clockwise from top left : Syaiful with, Coach Soh, Vivian, Krul Rahman, Cosmin, Anrian & Daniel

The Sabah team will be lead by Coach Soh Boon How consist of Krul Rahman, Anrian Fabian, Vivian Chuah, Cosmin Dordea, Daniel Tan & Syaiful Sufyyan Sidin.

This is all made possible with the support of sponsors, from KINABALU FIGHTERS, UNITY BJJ,  DEKOJUTA DEVELOPMENT S/B and from BJJ apparel partner AESTHETIC.

Warriors of Borneo wishes the SABAH team all the best!