STRIKE IS BACK... AND IT'S REDEMPTION TIME

Brunei's premier combat sports promotion, STRIKE will be back this weekend, 9-10 March 2019 at Jerudong Park Amphitheatre.

STRIKE came into the combat sports scene in 10 Nov last year, with it's 1st ever event named BATTLE OF PRIDE. It was well run and the first time in Brunei where Semi-Pro Kickboxing title fights sanctioned by world kickboxing body ISKA, was organised. It gathered the region's best talent and also featured Brunei's top talent in the main card.

The first day went smoothly until the later part of the day when a rowdy man cause a ruckus. The commotion was shot on video and spread like wild fire in a short instance and the authority had to step in to investigate, thus having the event halted and eventually day two where the main fight was schedule to go down was canceled

The trouble maker has been charge in court. All because of a trouble maker that spoilt the whole event the hard work of the fighters & the organiser was frustratingly wasted. But even though that commotion cause the event to be called off, two positive thing came out of it.
1. When the trouble maker started the commotion, the people around him manage to stay calm and patience, to contain the incident. Many of them are fighters and could have easily taken him out if they want to. The spirit of martial arts was well manifested that day.
2. The martial arts community came together in unity to support the organiser. Which shows that martial arts teaches great values and foster brotherhood and sportsmanship.

The story of STRIKE:BATTLE OF PRIDE was continued in Labuan, as it was featured in BMAEX ( Borneo Martial Art Expo ) in Dec 2018. A kickboxing tournament was held and one title fight between Brunei's Saufi Jaman vs Sabahan Dean Hamsah finally see the light of day, with Dean emerging the champion.

Dean (left) with his coach Rayner Kinsiong after winning STRIKE championship belt in Labuan

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After the first event, the organiser lead by co-founders Firdausi Zainidi and Younis Asmad already started to plan for their 2nd event. This will materialised this weekend, dubbed REDEMPTION. They have put in extra security measures to prevent the previous untowards incident repeating itself. They have been working closely with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and sports to ensure a smooth running of STRIKE ; REDEMPTION.

Day 1 ( 9 March 2019 ) will see Kickboxing tournament on the day time, followed by ticketed event at night where the pro fights will take centerstage. It will be a mixture of 6 Kickboxing and 2 MMA fights.

The organiser managed to match-make an awesome fight cards that promise plenty of fiery action.

Bruneian top Muaythai talent Wali 'the Beastmaster' Rahman of Silverback Muaythai will take on young Muaythai specialist from Sabah Kenny Jafili.
Wali is a certified Muaythai coach and has been plying his trade and actively competing in Malaysia for the pass 5 years. He is back in Brunei and will use this fight to showcase and proof that Bruneian can be successful in martial arts career.

Wali Rahman

Bruneian Saufy Jaman of Nak Muay Fight Gym will have a chance to reverse the results in STRIKE : BATTLE OF PRIDE part 2, Labuan where he lost to Dean Hamsah. This rematch will be a 62kg MMA bout. After the lost, Saufy put in extra hours in training to sharpen his techniques. He is eager to showcase this, having learnt much from his first encounter with Dean last Dec. He definately will be motivated to do well with the home crowd support.

Saufy Jaman

Another rematch will see Bruneian from Project Mayhem, Aaron Lim take on Aziz 'The Shantung Zhai' Gwojye. This two met in the 1st BMAEX in Labuan in 2017. It was a very close fight with the BMAEX Championship belt won by Aaron.

At 34 Aaron nows run two Project Mayhem gym. He left a lucrative job in the oil & gas sector to focus on his passion for Muaythai. A proud Bruneian, Aaron plans to repeat his victory over Aziz to ensure the STRIKE belt stays on Brunei soil.

Aaron Lim

In the main fight of the night will see a great international match up between Sunny Sabornido of Borneo Combat Gym- Deaf Combat Gym from Labuan vs Arie Ananda Putra of Volkz Lutador Academy, Indonesia

Sunny is a deaf fighter mentored by Alvin Chong of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan. As a kid he was often bullied due to his disability. He wanted to learn martial arts to defend himself. But to learn it was definately tough not just for him but for the people who teach as communication was a huge obstacle. But Alvin Chong saw the potential in him and he took the trouble to learn sign language and vow to mould Sunny into a skillful athlete.

Till this day Sunny has won various combat sports title, but I believe the biggest achievement does not lie just in the titles he won but being able to lead something on his own...he open a Muaythai gym last year in Labuan named Deaf Combat Gym. With the support of Alvin & BCG, Sunny wants to give back to society and work together with Labuan Deaf Association to promote health and fitness through martial arts.

For the Borneo ISKA 57kg Title belt, Sunny faced a tough Indonesian opponent - Arie. He is the winner of IBC & finalist of  BFC MMA Championship.  Arie stepped up showing his warrior spirit in 2 weeks notice, replacing Hasbullah Sanmin whom got injured.

Sunny (right) with his mentor & coach Alvin 'AC Poseidon when he won the Sabah Fight Muaythai Championship in 2018

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Aside from unearthing and developing new talents in Brunei, STRIKE also wants give back to the local community. Various special needs organisations - Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam, Persatuan KACA and Persatuan Orang Kurang Pendengaran Kebangsaan (OKP) - have been invited to attend the event, through the sponsorship from Setia Motors and BruPay.

MILO will sponsored free chilled MILO drinks to participants and visitors, and some prizes for winners that particpate in activities planned by organisers.

Go grab your tickets today to be part of Brunei's pioneering combat sports event and experience full impact action on 9 March, click for purchase of tickets at https://www.brunei.events/ticket/strike-redemption/

Come again on Day 2 to see some amateur boxing action. Brunei Darussalam Boxing Association will host the boxing tournament on Sunday.

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B-MAEX 2.0 PROGRESSING THE MISSION OF UNITY

Unite we stand, divided we fall. The idea to unite the martial arts community in Borneo is truly a noble one. Borneo has recently for the past few years seen tremendous growth in martial arts. Combat sports events are aplenty. Every one or two months or so there will be an event. Martial arts gym has grown in numbers. Number of participants are growing as can be seen in various championship that received good numbers of participants in the amateur categories. But sometimes too many of events can have negative effects. Participants becomes selective of events and quality of organisation may be affected too.

To further the growth, the community must unite. Unite in a sense where events are plan out in a orderly manners and ensuring no clashes of dates. Good events management ideas and best practice are shared among peers. Safety and fair rulings are implemented. Inculcate a culture of respect, sportsmanship and humility among martial artist.

These are the vision and objectives of B-MAEX (Borneo Martial Arts Expo). The idea that is started by Alvin Chong of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan and ISKA representatives Borneo has seen it materialised in Dec 2017. ( click here to read the story of 1st BMAEX )

The foundation was laid in the inaugural event last year where it was launch by Labuan member of parliament Datuk Rozman Isli. The event was successfully held in Labuan's Palm Beach Hotel. In that event. Aside from the hi-light of the show - ISKA National Championship, where pro fighters compete for various title belt, an amateur tournament was also held. Expo of Wushu, Silat, Capoiera, Karate forms was performed. The 1st tiles breaking contest was held. Technique workshop was also held and a talks on various martial arts topics was held given by 8 speakers.

Alvin Chong and the speakers presenting various topics in 2017

Datuk Rozman with some of the fighters at the launch dinner (2017)

Winners of the Pro Kickboxing category in 2017

Kickboxing is chosen as the main combat sports competition for BMAEX due to it's simplicity of rules and common techniques used, which means any martial arts stylist from either, TaeKwon-Do, Karate, Sanda, Silat, Muaythai can participate, this is part of the uniting factor advocate by BMAEX.

This year, the 2nd edition will be held again in the beautiful venue of Palm Beach Hotel on 28-30 DEC 2018. Labuan is chosen as it's seen as a neutral ground and this island present a ideal place for a year end get together to celebrate the year's achievement. Participants have the opportunity to enjoy sunny time at the beach, delicious seafood and endless shopping for duty free goods.

A second edition National Kickboxing championship will again be held with invitation to various countries to participate. This year will see fighters coming from Borneo, West Malaysia, China Australia & Philipines.

ISKA Borneo representative and BMAEX founder further adds that BMAEX aims to build Borneo as a powerhouse in Kickboxing. Muaythai is synonym to Thailand, Wushu Sanda to China, why not Kickboxing for Borneo. He also said that he plans to grow the championship to South East Asia level next year and following that to Asia and eventually World level competition.

To celebrate the beauty of martial arts, forms ( or pattern ) competition will also be held. It will be divided into traditional category and free style categories. This promise to be an entertaining shows as martial artist needs to display their chosen style in a strict traditional forms and then can apply the basic forms to create creative entertaining styles ( unarmed or with weapons ) with heart pumping music. 

Workshop and talks will continue to be a mainstay as BMAEX aims to not just be a platforms for fighters to showcase their skills but also a place for event organiser, fitness industry players, health food brands, tourism sector to come together to share ideas and best practice to further grow the industry. Celebrity martial artist Andy Teh and will share his experience together with Stanley Charles (Olympic Council of Malaysia), Brent Yap (MIMMA secretary), Dato Shah (president of MuayThai Malaysia), Nazri Abd Razak (President-Sabah MuayThai), Warriors of Borneo will be the official media partner and will together with ISKA make an official announcement on ways to go forward to standardise events results and collection of data to create the first ever Kickboxing fight records in the region.

According to Tan Chee Haw , this year's organising chairman in the press conference held on Wednesday (18 Oct) , BMAEX aims to be a place to gather all martial arts enthusiast to come together in a positive environment to learn from each other. Also to promote Labuan as a hub for sports tourism.

At the welcoming dinner, various contributor to the martial arts community will be presented with a B-MAEX momento. This is to recognize their contribution to the development of martial arts in the region of Borneo. In near future, Warriors of Borneo is working with B-MAEX to make an award night a reality in the near future.

Tan Chee Haw speaking to the media at the press conference

B-MAEX is Jointly organised by the Labuan Wushu Association, Labuan Sport Kickboxing Association (LSKA) and Borneo Combat Gym (BCG). Sanctioned by the International Sport Kick Boxing (ISKA) Borneo and supported by Youth and Sports Department here, Labuan Corporation (LC) as well as Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Labuan campus (UMSKAL).

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EV TING'S TAKING ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS ONE CHAMPIONSHIP LIGHTWEIGHT BELT

Oct 6 is a huge date for MMA. UFC 229 will go down in Las Vegas, in possibly the biggest MMA fight in this era...Khabib 'The Eagle' Nurmagomedov will defend his Lightweight belt against MMA global star & former champion Conor 'The Notorious' McGregor.

This is a classic match of a striker (Conor) vs grappler (Khabib). Many discussion and analysis has been going on about each of their strengths & weaknesses and who will prevail.

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Over here in Asia, the Lightweight division of ONE Championship is also making headlines. Going into Oct 6 , ONE has planned for Kingdom of Heroes. In which two title fight; WBC Super Flyweight title bout is the main event and Female Kickboxing Atomweight title the co main event.
But the attention will also be on Lightweight bout of Malaysian-Kiwi Ev Ting vs Japanese Shinya Aoki.

This bout is significant as it was supposed to be a Lightweight elimination bout to determine who will challenge Martin Nguyen for the title. But on 28 Sept, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong drop the bombshell that Martin has relinquish the Lightweight title due to injuries to his knee ligaments. Martin has also release a statement confirming the decision to vacate the title as an honourable thing to do so that he won't hold up the stacked division. ( read the story here )

With that piece of surprise announced so closed to Kingdom of Heroes, many in Ev's and Shinya's camp was hoping their fight will be push up to be a title bout as both these two are perfectly deserving fighter to be given that.

Prior to losing his title challenge to Eduard Folayang in April last year, Ev was on a four fight win streak. After that lost, he rebound by collecting another three hard fought victory against 3 veteran fighter. Many questions his stopping power as his pass three victory was all by decision, but go watch those fights and you will see the relentless work rate of  Ev and the last 3 opponents he faced are accomplished fighters.

Ev Ting's Tapology fight record

Shinya is a legend in this sports. Holding an impressive 41-8-0. His grappling skills is legendary. Digest this...he has a first round win over MMA icon Kazushi Sakubara in 2015 RIZIN 1.

Shinya won more than 30 of his fights via submission. Himself a former ONE Lightweight champion way back in 2013. Shinya loss his belt to Eduard Folayang in Nov 2016. He came back to fight in ONE in a grappling match vs Gary Tonon, then moved up to challenge Ben Askren for the Welterweight strap. He lost both fight.

He was back on track this year imposing his superior grappling to win twice in May & July both by submission in the first round.

Shinya Aoki's  Tapology fight record

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So both Shinya & Ev's credentials and achievements surely make a good case for a title fight, but as predicted ONE will not want to overload the Bangkok card. It's their Boxing title bout, so understandably they will put all effort to promote the main event.

Then came another surprise for the Lightweight division. On 1 Oct Chatri announced in his FB that for Nov 23 in Manila's event - Conquest for Champions, Eduard Folayang will fight Singaporean Amir Khan for the Lightweight title!

I must say I was rather surprise at this turn of events. For Eduard, it can be said to be justifiable as he is the former champion. He has since collected two more decision win after that lost to Martin.

As for Amir Khan, he is also on a two fight win streak, but he also has a blipped in his record with a lost to Timofey Nastyukhin in Feb this year. But no doubt the heavy handed Amir Khan is a serious contender in this division.

I would expect, with Martin vacating the title, Eduard vs Amir bout can be another Lightweight title eliminator and winner gets to slug it out with winner of Ev vs Shinya to determine the undisputed ONE Championship Lightweight Champion.

But looks like ONE need a big fight to headline in Manila, hence making the title bout, at same time rallying the huge fans of Folayang to support his journey back to reclaim the title.

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As for now, Ev will not want to be bother with the 'what ifs'. He wants to purely focus on the task at hand. Eliminating Shinya from the Lightweight contention. Ev is splitting his fight camp between his adopted land's Auckland MMA and his birthplace KL's Monarchy Gym.

Monarchy present a great place for his camp as they have top level wrestlers and grapplers to train & spar with in his preparation to face Shinya.

Ev knows that Shinya will go for his bread & butter and will try to close the distance with take downs and want bring the fight to the ground.

As he told Fight Game Asia,

“He’s got to get past my striking, hug me and take me down. Without a doubt, Aoki will try and take me down, but there’s a few things he must get past if he wants to bring me to the ground.

“He is coming fresh off two first round finishes and people are saying he’s getting old, but this guy is no joke, you cannot take him lightly and must train for the best version possible."

Get yourself tickets to ONE Championship -Kingdom of Heroes.

 

For those not in Bangkok you may have PPV to UFC 229, but for ONE Championship, you can watch all the bouts live FREE on ONE Super App, download it now.

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