SABAH FIGHT VOL 2 : SUNNY 'THE SILENCER' WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP CUP FOR LABUAN

March this year, I think should be dubbed Sabah Muaythai month. 10-11 March saw Elopura Fights 2nd Edition held in Sandakan. Then a week after in Papar, YB Datuk Rosnah Cup was held at Sabah Muaythai Camp. March ended with the return of SABAH FIGHT. 

It was held on 31 March 2018 at Yayasan Sabah complex ground in Kota Kinabalu. This was the 2nd edition after a year break. Organised as part of a big youth festival named : FIESTA BELIA SEPANGGAR, it was the center of attraction among many other activities specially cater for the youth and the young at heart.

Sabah Fight vol 2 was organised by Persatuan Belia Inspirasi Kinabalu and sanctioned by Sabah Muaythai Association. 12 amatuer rules fight plus another 7 pro rules Muaythai was competed.

The pro Muaythai held at night draws huge crowd as lots of local fan favourite fighters was featured. See below for the full results.

Amateur rules bouts

Female 50kg pro: Tu Sin Yee vs Arteng 

39kg Juvinile category pro: Azman vs Daniel

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Randal won the Kelab Sukan Inspirasi Boreno Cup

Randal 'The Slayer' Kadayum of Kinabalu Fighters, multiple championship holder whom announced his retirement in Sabah Fight 1 (Dec 2016) could not resist temptation to come back and put on the boxing gloves and compete for the huge 60kg Championship Cup.

His return was triumphant as he defeated Muhd Fahmi of PDRM after a 3 rounds decision victory. 

After Sabah Fight 1, Randal has basically stop from competing in combat sports and participate mostly in marathon. But this year he started to train again and March was a hectic month for him. 

17 March he won Gold for his Cage Boxing participation in Borneo King of the Cage. March 25, saw him again participating in boxing. This time again victorious with Gold at the Mayor's Cup Boxing Tournament, beating a SUKMA athlete.

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Rizal unleashing low kick on his opponent

Muhd Rizal of Karabaw return to the Muaythai ring for the 67kg bout.The last we saw Rizal in action was in Dec 2017 at Labuan BMAEX , which he fought pro Kickboxing. He lost the bout via TKO. In the Sabah Fight 67kg, Rizal gain back winning ways when he won by 2nd round TKO against Tengku Faris of PDRM.

The Kings Legacy Cup 60kg sponsored by Kinabalu Kings was up for grab between Opong Maphilindo (Kinabalu Kings) and Fadhil (Selendang Kuning). Fadhil convincingly won the cup winning via 1st round TKO.

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The main fight of the night saw hearing impaired fighter Sunny 'The Silencer' Sabornido of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan fought against Ali Hobbit of Revolution Gym.

Sunny was looking to win a championship title to start his 2018 well after a lost last year fighting pro Kickboxing at Labuan BMAEX. As for Ali, the YB Datuk Rosnah Cup he won in just two weeks ago serves as a motivation for him to add another championship cup to his collection.

The fight went the distance and judges decision went to Sunny Sabornido. 

Sunny is a true inspiration. Works as a machinist by day, he trains at night at Borneo Combat Gym (BCG) Labuan. He has been active in Muaythai comp since 2010. Back in his home town Keningau when he was a kid , his interest in martial art lead him to try Karate. He moved to Labuan and tried Taekwondo.

He stopped his training when he moved to study in Tuaran. After graduating high school, he moved back to Labuan, tried boxing but it all didn't work well as the big obstacle of communication between him and trainer.

It was at BCG Labuan that he finally found his dream of progressing in martial arts. Head coach and BCG founder Alvin Chong took him under his wing and guided Sunny. Alvin invested his time to learn sign language to ensure he can impart his knowledge properly to Sunny.

Sunny with his coach and mentor Alvin Chong

Through lots of hard work and lots of patience, Sunny began to improve and to this day has collected a number of championship title, among them,

• 2011 : MUAY THAI FIT WARRIOR ZON MALAYSIA TIMUR SARAWAK
• 2012 : MUAY THAI FIT WARRIOR ZON SABAH
• 2013 : MUAY THAI CHALLENGE SINGAPORE
• 2014 : D-1 FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP RHINO WARRIOR SABAH
• 2014 : DIHNAR D-1 AKINABALU, SABAH
• 2015 : INTERNATIONAL WUSHU OPEN TOURNAMENT KUALA LUMPUR
• 2017 : INTERNATIONAL MUAY THAI PRE SEA GAMES CHAMPIONSHIP KUALA LUMPUR

Sunny aims to proof that even when has hearing disability, with hard work and determination he is able to go far. He is Labuan Deaf Association President and wants to use his position and his achievement in martial arts to inspire and improve the lives of those with hearing impaired.

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In the amateur category saw the participation of fighters from SMK Pulau Gaya.
This is a high school located at the Gaya Island which is 30 mins boat ride from Kota Kinabalu. SMK Pulau Gaya Muaythai Club is just 3 months old. It's an initiative from Sabah Muaythai Association to introduced Muaythai as a co-curriculum at the school every week.

According to Sabah Fight matchmaker and coach at Revolution Gym, Dhillon Tahing, he was amazed at how fast the students pick up the basic. They work hard and showed tremendous interest. Dhillon selected a few potential talent for the competition team to train at his gym in Alam Mesra.

Their school teacher Miss Nirwana and Cikgu Maznun is very cooperative. After school they fetch the students at the jetty with their car to Revolution Gym and waited for them to finish their training and send them back to the jetty.

The school principle are very supportive of the Muaythai Club program. He said the students who joined has become more discipline and was able to focus better in class. Some of these students used to be trouble maker, but after starting Muaythai, they become more obedient and cooperative.

To ensure these students does not use Muaythai as a way out of studies. Dhillon has set the condition that Muaythai Club members of the school must have good exam results. The teacher chip in by giving these students extra class to improve their studies. Dhillon set his goal to help and mould these students to achieve success through Muaythai.

Two of them, Abdul Tawab 14 and Mudzil Qamir 13 was selected to be part of Sabah Muaythai team competing at the Nationals Inter School & Club Championship in Kuala Lumpur last week ( 4-10 April ).

Dhillon Tahing flank by Adbul Tawab (R) & Mudzil (L) and their teacher Ms Nirwana

Abdul Tawab won bronze in the Nationals Inter-School

Mudzil won the silver

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Special edition Sabah Fight Tshirt sold by Band of Gorilla

Sabah Fight spoke person Lucky Akbar Liun explained that Sabah Fight serve as platform not just for amateur or newcomer to gain fight experience but also for those that wants to turn pro. He said he hope to make Sabah Fight a place where amateur fighters with some fight experience can take up their first pro fight.

Lucky represent Kelab Inspirasi Kinabalu, the main committee that organised the whole festival. Lucky adds that Festival Belia Sepanggar objective was to bring youth of all ages and races together, through activities that specially cater for them and Muaythai was one of that.

Thei objective was certainly achieved. That week, Yayasan Sabah ground was packed with many visitors especially youth to take part in various activities such as Remote Control Car Race, Futsal, Hip-Hop Dance-off, Fishing Contest, Auto-Show, Battle of the Band, Rock Concert etc.

Lucky wants to convey his special thanks to BAND OF GORILLA, the official sponsors that provide the printing material such as buntings, poster and backdrop for the Fiesta

look for Band of Gorilla for your printing needs

The VIP that graced the opening  of event, Tuan Hisyam Abdullah , representative of Tan Sri Pandikar Amin (center) , En Nourman Rayn - President of Sabah Youth Council (in blue long sleeve). Dg. Mas Safiah - Youth & Sports Ministry officer ( in maroon headscarf)

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BORNEO KING OF THE CAGE

March 17 2018

There’s a raw vibe to watch fighting in a cage. In the early days of UFC it was label as human cock fighting. The cage was use to give it a very underground, no holds barred kind of feel. The birth of MMA was in a steel cage. But as the sports grow with better safety rulings and proper weight division, fighting in a cage is not something unusual anymore.

Last year in September, Johan Julian the founder of Fight Fest worked with venue owner of A Square Container Night Market to kick-start a new activities there. Cage fighting. A Square is a place where creative street food are serve from container shape kiosk. This venue used to be the popular Ocean Seafood restaurant, which has stopped operation many years ago due to changes in ownership.

Julian organized a cage fighting event named Borneo Battle Arena with Boxing and Muaythai bouts. They placed a steel cage (for cage boxing ) and a ring ( for Muaythai ) inside the hall where the restaurant used to be, which they now named the place The Arena. The idea is to make this place a hub for combat sports. Which fight fans can gather to watch fights and enjoy some good street food at the same time.

This 2nd event on 17 March 2018 was named Borneo King of the Cage. This event is to further promote combat sports in this region, giving newcomer a try to fight in a cage environment.

See the full results below

Borneo KOTC full results

The event was held at night and this time 19 bouts under amateur rules were contested. 9 cage boxing, 6 K1 Kickboxing and 4 MMA. This event was sanctioned by ISKA.

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Wira Boxing - Tawau

In the cage boxing event, out of 9 bouts, Wira Boxing from Tawau dominate with 3 Gold and 1 silver.

Young boxing prospect Hudzaifah Reitz, 22 from Tawau displayed very crisp and highly technical skills to win his match. He knocked down his opponent in finals a number of time until finally the ref stops the match & award the win by TKO. Hudzaifah is a UITM Sarawak graduate in Sports Science. He is now fully focusing on his boxing training.

Coming from a family of boxer where his father, Reitz Jakaria and grandfather, Jakaria Talad were former national boxers.

Hudzaifah is the youngest among his 3 brothers. Since his elder brother focus on their studies and the other one has a sinus problem, he is the only one continuing his family’s legacy in boxing.

He said he learn a lot from his father, not just in Boxing skills but also character building. His father emphasis discipline and humbleness.

Hudzaifah (R)

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In Kickboxing, Borneo Tigers MMA stand out, Liew Teck Seng won his fight in a blistering match at 75kg vs Kyo Kaeda. Liew with his stocky stature was able to connect with many powerful shot to win the fight by decision.

Kyo was a former fighter whom possess exiting style but has been inactive for some time. This was his first competition after a few years of lay off, but it was good to see him back in action and we hope he continue to train and compete.

Liew (R)

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Antonnio and his 3 Gold medalist

Sabah Top Team had a good result in bringing back 3 Gold. They participated in cage boxing, K1 and MMA.

In MMA, a debutant from Sabah Top Team (STT) caught attention of the referee when they did the initial body inspection before fighter enters the cage. Medical team was stunned to see Mohd Hanafi of Sabah Top Team, they discovered that his left feet, the toes and sole are missing. This was because of a motorcycle accident he had some time back. After Coach Antonio of STT assured the officials of his student capability to fight, Hanafi was given the green light to enter the cage.

Hanafi (Blue) 

Hanafi works as an assistant at CKS Supermarket, located just below STT. He was always curious about the training there but was rather shy in asking due to the condition of his feet. But finally he worked up the courage to ask Coach Antonio to teach him. That was only 6 months ago.

Fighting at flyweight, he faced Sylvester from Warmonger Miri. Despite his left feet’s inadequacy, Hanafi does not have a problem with his footwork. It was quite a funny situation when Coach Antonio was shouting instructions to guide him in the fight, but he stared back with a blank expressions on his face; because he does not understand English well. Then he holler back, asking his team to speak in Malay. With the guidance from his corner and the experience of training with Luta Livre grappling skills at Sabah Top Team, he managed to sunk in a standing choke that gave him the victory.

when you willing to work hard, nothing is impossible

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Johan Julian was very happy with the turn out from various gym across Sabah, Labuan, Brunei and Miri for the support they have shown for the event. He mentioned that the event was organized at night to ensure comfort as it is cooler. Crowds that came to enjoy food at A Square also walk in to catch a glimpse of what cage fighting is all about, and this he hopes will raise more awareness for the sports.

This is a great venue to promote the sports due to its central location in KK city. I personally I hoped that the venue owner can put in some effort to upgrade the ventilation of the hall and keep the place cleaner to ensure a win-win situation for all parties especially the visitors.

Deanver Randell (Kinabalu Fighters) - red corner, wins the Cage K1 80kg

Nigel Lakai (Warmonger) - red corner wins the MMA Lightheavyweight

Randell Kadayum (Kinabalu Fighter) wins cage boxing 60kg

Sofie 'Opie'(Tim's Muaythai) - blue corner wins Kickboxing 60kg vs Cindy Tiong (Labuan)

Magdeline (Tomoi Labuan) - blue corner, wins cage boxing female 50kg vs Erliana (Tim's Muaythai)

DAMON SOO BECOMES THE FIRST MALAYSIAN TO WIN MIMMA TITLE IN TWO WEIGHT DIVISION

There’s no denying that the fight game world can be very superficial sometimes. Combat sports is a visual feast where we like to see two fighters go at each other.

As fight fans, a lot of the times we make judgement by the outer appearance. We see some fighters that have a buffed body and wins easily and our mind began making an opinion that he had it easy because he is blessed with good gene and gifted talent. Not knowing the amount of sheer hard work and sacrifices they have to make to achieve success.

One such fighter fights in MIMMA. One look at Damon Soo and he looks like a fitness model who won’t look out of place on a fitness cover mag cover. 


Damon was MIMMA 4 Bantamweight champion. On 30 March 2018, he was crowned MIMMA 5 Featherweight Champion. Thus, becoming the first Malaysian to become MIMMA’s 1st two weight division champion.

As a kid growing up in Kuala Lumpur, Damon had an interest in martial arts & he took up Karate. But after he got into a fight with his brother, his mother stopped his Karate lessons.

As a young adult he attended HELP University College taking a Diploma in Business. His interest in martial arts again surfaced and he tried Wing Chun but then quickly switched to Muaythai. 

It was in 2013 that he watched MIMMA 1. It left a huge impression on him that he made a firm decision to be part of it in season 2. 

He quit his job as a real estate agent and started training full time, enrolling in Leverage BJJ, MEBJJ and Wesgatos Fight School to prepare for MIMMA.

Two years in a row Damon’s MIMMA 2 & 3 journey ended at the quarterfinals. But this loss does not dampened his spirit. With renewed vigour, he made sure he is well prepared for 2016.

Damon takes his preparation very seriously. After stumbling twice in MIMMA, he is more determined to improve on his skills. Towards the end of 2015, he took some personal savings and borrowed some money and flew all the way to Brazil to train in his BJJ coach’s Prof Marcos Escobar team - Nova Uniao (this is also the former UFC featherweight champion Jose Also’s team). Damon trained there for 5 months. 

“Training there was insanely tough as the Brazilians train hard and spar hard as if it's a real fight (I got knocked out once, also fractured my nose and got other injuries during MMA sparring over there). 

The experience of training there definitely improved my MMA game”

Coming back to Malaysia, he put in hours of training to sharpen his skills. MIMMA 4 was his time. In the tournament, he won 4 fights in a row and met Effendy Kalai in the grand finals. It took Damon less than two round to win the bouts via choke to be the new Bantamweight Champion.

Season 4 achievement was certainly hard earned as he went through some tough journey. The biggest challenge was to maintain weight. Walking around at 73kg, Damon had to cut to 61kg for all his fight in featherweight. 

cutting weight is pain in the butt but necessary evil

Then it was dealing with multiple injuries, not just from the fight itself but also from training as Damon always go hard during sparring. One of the injuries was a cut below his eyes. It got worst when it was infected. Damon had to bear with it as he took.

MIMMA 4 Championship belt firmly on his waist

"In season 4, I almost gave up a number of times because of the big weight cuts and injuries I sustained before the Contenders and Grand Finals fight. 

Because of all that, the sweet victory will definitely be remembered by me for life;

it proved to me that success will follow with hard work, perseverance and sacrifices."

In 2017, Damon actually planned to take a break and focus on his BJJ by training more and also compete more in grappling, but there was too little local BJJ comp. Most comp are out of Malaysia and it was costly for him to travel often.

The idea of winning another weight division in MIMMA appeal to Damon, because if he succeeds, he will go down in history as the 1st fighter to do so. Furthermore season 4 new league format intrigue him as it present an opportunity to keep active.

“The desire to compete more frequently was the drive and the motivation was the prize of being able to be the first Malaysian to become MIMMA champion in two different weight categories.”


But Damon’s season 5 plan did not start well. He was experiencing headaches and feeling tired most of the time. Worried, he went to had it check. When league 1 started, the medical results was not back yet and Damon had to miss it.

It was a huge relief for Damon when the results came back and proof that he is in perfect health. So he confirmed his participation for MIMMA 5, this time in featherweight to avoid the stress of cutting weight as the new league format requires fighter to fight 9 months in a row from league 1 to grand finals).

At start of the league, looking at the featherweight pool, Damon was confident that he can win it, the real challenge was keeping himself healthy and injury free throughout season 5. But that was tall order, he was injured but he fought through it.

By league 2 he was ready, but his opponent pulled out. He won league 3 & 4 by submission. Dropped league 5 as he sustained a knee injury. League 6 again his opponent pulled out. League 7 & the semis, he came out victorious both times via arm-lock. 

winning in league 3

winning in league 4

Damon win all his league fights and the semis by submission. This was part of the plan even though he trains equally hard in striking. The plan was to bring the fight to the ground to avoid injuries. Standing and striking puts himself at a higher risk of injuries as anyone can get a lucky shot when trading blows but, on the ground it’s all about skills.

“For the finals I felt comfortable with striking more because even if I get any injuries its already the last fight anyway so I can take time off to recover."

"I wanted to showcase my striking and prove to everyone that I am not just a one-dimensional MMA fighter who is only deadly on the ground but also dangerous standing up.”






Though Damon won MIMMA 5 featherweight title in record time, but season 5 was a tougher journey compare to season 4. On paper his medical results showed that he was fine. But he does not feel so right inside. The headaches were gone but he couldn’t shake off the fatigue. He sometimes gets rashes on his chest.

“I had to drink lots coffee to push myself through training and on sparring days I would get punished and eat a lot of strikes or get taken down hard as I was not 100%. 

I guess because of this, I suffered a lot of injuries too.”

Physical challenges he can overcome, what really affected him was the mental challenges.

Started when his grandmother in Ipoh fell sick. She called him during his training. Damon promise to return call but forgot all about it. Little did he know that it was the last he got to talk to her as she pass away shortly after; making Damon felt very guilty. He was focusing on his training so much that he didn’t have the time to travel back to Ipoh to visit her when she was sick, and he didn’t expect her condition to worsen so fast.

The guilt seriously affected him mentally and causes him to be bulimic. He ate a lot to comfort himself but afterward vomit it all out again. This problem persist during his league matches and he was considering pulling out a number of time.

remembering his beloved grandmother

“The one time that I seriously made up my mind to give up was 2 weeks before the grand finals but Aaron Goh managed to talk me out of it.”

Aaron Goh his BJJ coach in MEBJJ Academy is truly a pillar of strength for Damon.

“He isn't just a BJJ coach to me but he is like an older brother I never had before. 

I don't talk to people about my problems but I do talk to him and ask for advice. I believe to him I am also the younger brother he never had, he is always there for me, ready to guide, advice or help." 

clelebrating a win with Aaron Goh

"Character wise, Aaron is the same as I. He doesn't like to share with others his problems but he shares his problems with me. 

I guess it’s only natural that we are very close as we see each other 6 days a week.”

Ask on who impressed him most in this season's featherweight.

“Johan performed beyond my expectation. I didn't expect him to win all his fights and also winning it all by finishes and not decision. 

I thought I would be facing Joseph in the finals not Johan.”

Damon took us through his MIMMA 5 grand finals bout with Johan.

“My game-plan of standing up was to set up with my hands and throw a lot of leg kicks to cause damage and mess up his footwork." 

"Also I have watched/studied his last fight and knew that his guard on top was quite open so I knew I could land on top too if I could close the distance. 

During the fight I was focusing on closing the distance. I did some real damage when I countered his jab cross with a right body hook, left hook and right hook to the top but he managed to moved out around the cage and recover though I was on him. 

When we got back to the center of the cage, this was when I felt that I could go in and throw the overhand right which landed and dropped him to the ground.”

As Johan fell on the canvas, like a panther on a hunt, Damon pounced on him and unleased ground and pound. Seeing enough ref Olivier Coste stop the fight at round 1 0:49 sec. 

featherweight belt presented by Ayob of Potosan Corner (VENUM)

“ I have a lot of people to thank for my achievements. My coaches Aaron Goh, Wes Jaya, Alex Gym, Pourya Moradi, Joseph Lee."

flank by Aaron Goh (L) & Wes Jaya (R)

"My whole team from Leverage BJJ, Malaya Boxing, Alex Gym, Team X Fight Academy. 
Cheah Wen Khyn and Shammah my main and most consistent MMA sparring partners. Horng Yaw from Team X for always helping me with weight cuts."

On Damon's right, Cheah Wen Khyn & Shammah

"My sponsors Rendezbrew, Acai Lab, Finix Muay Thai, Aesthetic, Soluxe Protein." 

Fuel for the champion

"Also my head coach Marcos Escobar for always believing in me and giving me the opportunity to train in Nova Uniao, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The experience was really unforgettable and made me improved a lot as a fighter both mentally and physically." 

Prof Marcos Escobar celebrating Damon's MIMMA4 championship victory

"And sifu Kenneth Lam for letting us use his gym to do MMA sparring as his gym has padded walls and is perfect for MMA sparring.”

On what he thinks about MIMMA 5 league format
“I think the league format is good for fighters to gain more fights and experience as win or lose they still will get to fight a number of times. 

However, I think the amount of rest time in between fights need to be increase as fighting once per month for 9 fights takes too much out of a fighter's body. More time is needed to recover and avoid injuries." 

Stretching is an important routine for Damon for recovery of sore muscles

"Also, I feel that for the champions it is a bit unfair that they don't get to defend their belt anymore and they have to start from the bottom again if they want to be champions again.”

Currently turning pro is not on his mind as he noticed that pro MMA fighters in Malaysia does not get paid that much, unless they get a huge sponsor. What is on his mind is to able to cope financially for his own training, supplements, food and injuries treatment. 

To celebrate his victory of MIMMA 5, Damon and team mates went for a simple meal in a café. To them the job is still not done yet as they still have another hill to climb in Copa da Malasia Grappling comp in April.

Damon in 2017's Copa Da Malasia

Getting to know what Damon went through gave me a newfound respect for him and our other local fighters. The amount of hard work they go through, the sacrifices they have to make, even at amateur competition level are something we all should keep in mind when watching them fight. What we see for 3 or 5 rounds is the culmination of weeks & months of preparing the body and mind for battle.

Athletes like Damon Soo are the ones going through hardship to step in the cage, perform to their best abilities to give us all an entertaining fight to watch. They are truly warriors.

Warriors of Borneo salute Damon and all the MIMMA fighters!