MIMMA 4 Grand Finals : Pre-Fight analysis

In it's 4th season now MIMMA has come a long way. As a tournament that was structured towards unearthing and building Malaysian MMA talent, it has undoubtly achieved this successfully. Fighters such as Keanu Subba, Agilan Thani & Mohd Aiman has transition successfully to fight as a pro in ONE Championship. MIMMA 1 champion ; Allen Solomon Chong and Adrian Tham is active in the regional MMA circuit in Asia, and many amateur fighters are training hard and eagerly waiting for their chance to make an impression in MIMMA 2017

At the beginning, in the the first & second seasons, most fighters are either good on stand up or ground. But as it progress to the 4th season now we see standard of fights has improved. And most fighters already cross train in different discipline to be a more complete fighter. 

This Grand Finals on Saturday will have 12 bouts. 9 championship bouts and 3 feature fights.

FEATURE FIGHTS:

MIMMA Veteran VS New Blood 
Vinod Dave Greywal (Kuala Lumpur) VS Aaron Tan (Sarawak)

Malaysia VS Indonesia 
Hafizul Hakeem VS Riko Chen

Palestine VS USA
Amro Fy Sulaiman VS Cash Barnes

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUTS:

Women: 
Joanna Yap (Defending Champion) VS Hayatun Najihin

Heavy Weight:
Darren Low (Defending Champion) VS Tsan Nieng Khai

Flyweight: 
Seah Zhang Yu (Defending Champion) VS Eddey Kalai

Middleweight: 
Meeraj Omar (Defending Champion) VS Bryant Tan

Welterweight: 
Gino Tan (Defending Champion) VS Theebaan Govindasamy

Lightweight: 
Jace Law (Defending Champion) VS Hui Keng Fai

Bantamweight: 
Effendy Kalai VS Damon Soo

Featherweight: 
Cheah Wen Khyn VS Joseph Yap

Foreign Pride: 
Nazri Sutari VS Shaqueme Rock

Lets take a look at some of the interesting match-up for the Grand Finals.


MIMMA Veteran VS New Blood 
Vinod Dave Greywal (Kuala Lumpur) VS Aaron Tan (Sarawak)

MIMMA veteran, Vinod Dave Greywal, now training in Vietnam's UFC Gym under ONE Championship veteran Arnaud LePont, is looking to show newcomer, Aaron Tan that experience shall triumph over anything else. Vinod conquered Keng Fai in season's 3 semi-finals but he lost to eventual champion Jace Law in the contender fight.

Aaron Tan from GymBox Kuching is not someone to be underestimated. He maybe the newcomer and underdog. But he has created some upsets in his MIMMA 4 journey. Aaron got a win over Teh Kah Wei in the semi-finals and lost a close fight to Theeban in the contender fight. Expect a very technical bout between these two.


Malaysia VS Indonesia 
Hafizul Hakeem VS Riko Chen

Hafizul Last year’s featherweight grand finalist, Hafizul Hakeem of Team Karabaw, Sabah will be carrying the nation’s flag against Malaysia’s traditional competitor, Indonesia, represented by Riko Chen of K-One MMA Academy in Penang.

Hafizul bring a 5-3-0 record into this fight. Hafizul comes from Sipitang, a small town 2.5 hours drive from Kota Kinabalu. Last year he went all the way to the grand finals meeting Muhd Aiman but suffered a round 1 lost. This year he came back strong & reach the semi-finals where he met Joseph Yap. Controlling the fight in round 1 and early round 2, looks set to win but Joseph manage to capitalize on a small window of opportunity and executed a good arm lock to win it.

Hafizul has much improve on his game since last year. Noticing the potential in him, MIMMA offered him this feature fight. Thrill at this opportunity to represent the country, Hafizul decided to train at  AKA Phuket, to add more arsenal to his skills.

Riko is a BJJ specialist. He won over fellow Indonesian Alfred Leko in the feature fight of MIMMA 4 contender fight. Hailing from Medan Indonesia, Riko was one of the selected few who won the scholarship MMA program run by K-One MMA Academy. Training there as a full time fighter. 

Back in Medan, Riko frequently got into many street fights. Joining a proper gym and fight legally in the cage is his way of managing his anger and at the same time giving him a direction in life. 

On how he thinks the fight will go,
" He's a nice guy, But when he step inside the cage with me, will be just another meal. Yeah..standing or ground no matter...
I have the KO power and I have the ground game as well.
So bring it on. No matter what it is, I'm more than ready"



Heavy Weight:
Darren Low (Defending Champion) VS Tsan Nieng Khai

Borneo war!

Heavyweight category will see a all Borneon affair. Champion, Darren Low from Sabah is looking to mirror his 13 knockout he did last season but Sarawakian Tsan Nieng Khai is known not only for his ability to absorb punches but also produce devastating blows too. Darren is a submission specialist but certainly has knock out power in those hands. He won the belt in Season 2 and defended it in a 13 seconds TKO vs Niker Tan last year. Meanwhile Tsan favours stand up. He develop it from his devotion to Muaythai. 

Both are businessman, Darren runs his own security firm and Tsan runs a cyber cafe and his own gym - MAD Fight Club. Will Tsan be able to move Mount Kinabalu? Heavyweight fights will be short and impactful; with a guaranteed KO/TKO results, so don't blink!



Flyweight:
Seah Zhang Yu (Defending Champion) VS Eddey Kalai



Seah Zhang Yu, produced an epic battle dubbed the fight of the night, last season. This year he will have his hands full as he will battle it out with boxing legend, Eddey Kalai. Seah from 3S MMA Penang is a fighter with good endurance plus a high work rate in the cage. 

Mentally, Seah also has proven himself, when in season 2 after a lost to Muhd Aiman in the semi-finals, he was called back to fight in the finals as Aiman failed to make weight. Within a few days he need to make weight and he went on to KO Kenny Yap to emerge as season 2 champion. Last year he battle it out for 5 rounds vs Dhiaal Amal in a thrilling back & forth fight, to defend his belt.

Eddey is from Sandakan, Sabah. A policeman and ex national boxer. He represent ELITEZ MMA and KALAI BROTHERS BOXING. Eddey always has a smile and likes to joke, hence his nick name 'The Clown' but once the fight starts he will put together slick combo, fluid head movement to avoid strikes and a much improved grappling game to bring the fight to the canvas. 

Andy Teh (model, actor and MMA pro fighter and founder of ELITEZ MMA) describe Eddey ,

Andy believe that the fight with Seah will be an exciting match where good exchange of punches & kicks will fill the rounds.

Lightweight: 
Jace Law (Defending Champion) VS Hui Keng Fai



This is a text book epic clash to look forward to is the bout between JKO, Jace Law, and KFO, Keng Fai. Both are hard hitters who are known to KO their opponent. Expect guns blazing when these two meet. 

Jace Law was creating waves in last season MIMMA, knocking opponents out left right and center. He lived up to his monicker of JKO. This year, Jace stayed low key. Focusing on his training away from media attention.

WRB catched up with Jace

Its been sometimes since we last hear from u what have u been busy with?
Busy with other projects, spending time with the people that matter most to me etc...even so I've never skipped training since winning the belt. I'm at the gym everyday its crazy... and by gym I mean the best gym around town, The Gymbox Kuching. "Wink"

Do you still train under Matt Pellino? How has your preparation been?
Matt is off doing his own thing, he will be back soon, but as for this fight camp nothing has changed.... all the training routines from last year has been implemented in this training camp. And this time I have more training partners to spar with me and push me to my limits in training. Guys like Stephen Onn, Aaron Tan, Aaron Lo, Steve Kong, Vincent Voon, Tsan Nieng Khai, Samuel Ng, Henry Eng, Jimmy, Allan Goh, even guys from other gyms like Mohd Eswandy, Tingang Bulan and my fellow grand finalist Bryant Tan! Just have to give these guys a shoutout and thank them for helping me out! ;)

What do you think of the finalist from season 4 this year...aside from your own match...which do you think will be explosive?
Some familiar faces and some new faces. All good guys, and ladies of course :) I think Darren Low vs Tsan Nieng Khai will be explosive, two big guys going at it... The cage better be reinforced for this match up!

What is training at Phuket Top Team like? What is the difference from TMT last year?
PTT was cool, much smaller than TMT but the level of training is around the same level, if not better. I mean each camp has their own special something y'know? It was a great experience overall especially sparring with high level fighters there. The Thai coaches were great too! But I'll say this though the food at TMT is way better!

In PTT since its cater for all the finalist and you are away from your own coaches who understand your style vs coaches that you just met...how do they prepare you for your own fight?
Its more about us experiencing how these high level fighters train. We were there for only a week, getting a sense of how world class fighters prepare for their fights is kind of the main point of us going there. So we could push ourselves even further by taking their work ethics and implementing them into our own training routines when we go back home.

Did you expect Hui Keng Fai to reach finals?
Kinda did. Predicted it since the MIMMA4 shortlisted names came out on MIMMA's FB page.

Do you feel the fight will go the distance?
Who knows? Anything can happen in a fight. It might last a few seconds and it might go the distance. And I always prepare myself for the worst. That being said I will do whatever it takes to keep the belt around my waist.

Do you feel being away from the cage gives you cage rust?
No, I don't believe in ring rust or cage rust.

WRB also had a chat with Jace's challenger for the lightweight belt.

Can you share with readers your background?
Born in Batu 5 Jalan Ipoh, now doing my bachelor's degree in psychology at HELP Uni, planning to do a masters in sports psychology after that.

Tell us about your martial arts journey?
Started from home, YouTube warrior hitting a heavy bag, sparring with friends, neighbors, my dad. 

How do you get into it?
Nothing special, always admired people who can fight, wanted to lose weight, that got me through the door, but after that it was like a drug, I couldn't stop, I just enjoyed it so much.
I enjoy the never ending learning process. It's something where you know for a fact you will never one day say, "Oh, I've learned enough and am satisfied" I wanna do martial arts for as long as my body allows me to.

Who is the coach that have taught you the most?
I have to name a few, all my coaches were just as important in my learning journey. My coaches from the really early beginning until my current coaches, it's like your preschool, primary school, secondary school, college then university teachers, they are all good and taught me what I needed most at the time. 

The coaches I've stuck with the longest though would be the ones at Muayfit, Piotr Leib my boxing coach, Saeed Chapari my wrestling coach, and Prof. Pedro Falbo,, BJJ coach. I try to learn from everyone, pick up what I can, discard what I don't find useful for me.

Currently I'm training with Alex Volodin at Alex Gym to work on my boxing, and Pedro for my BJJ. I learn just as much from my training partners. I cross train a lot at various gyms.

I don't trained in Muaythai because I think it makes me too stiff. I prefer boxing. But don't underestimate my kicks.

What motivates you?...what makes you fight with such fire?

I enjoy competition. I tend to get competitive in whatever I do. I enjoy the MMA lifestyle. Eating well, training hard and finishing my opponents. All 12 wins I have in amateur MMA came from 1st n 2nd round finishes. All finishes. I like to be vicious when fighting. I wish I could fight like Robbie Lawler. I love his fighting style and am constantly trying to emulate it.

Launching the KFO on opponent's face

You have a face that rarely show much emotion...but when you fight, you don't hold back...what sets this style that you have?
Aha first time hearing that, I'm not aware about this, I don't show much emotion?
:0 I think I might know just the reason, my previous boxing coach Piotr Leib said going crazy after winning a fight shows that one wasn't sure if he was going to win the fight, one was surprised after winning. I know I'm going to win. So it's no surprise. It's expected.

Tell readers about your personality...how do you describe yourself?
When I'm not training and by myself, I'm constantly in my head, in my mind, thinking. Sometimes too much. Sometimes it's productive thinking and I get lots of ideas going, get creative, am really positive.
Sometimes it's negative thinking. Trapped in my own thoughts.
Then I go for a run, shadow box, and feel that flow. Then mental clarity comes. 

Whats your favorite food that you cannot go without?

I love food. All kinds of food. Sometimes food motivates me to do my roadwork. Nasi lemak, BBQ meats, sandwiches and coffee. Some people eat to live, haha I live to eat. Darren Low inspires me to stuff myself with good food and then go lie down in a food coma.

During training what type of music do you listen to?
I usually avoid loud screaming music when training, various genres, some old, some new, but they are always songs that I find relaxing, to stay loose and relaxed, which is so important in striking.
But then for hard training sessions where technique isn't involved, such as running or pushing myself on the airdyne, fast paced and somewhat loud songs do help me train harder.

You have put on some bulk, who is your Strength & Conditioning coach? 

My problem is staying light. If I don't restrict my calories, and lift weights even just twice a week, I'll bulk up fairly quickly. Now I avoid weights and am focusing on being explosive and fast. Now it's Roadwork over weights anytime for me.
I've actually lost weight compared 1-2 years ago, but I feel more agile and faster, I don't get tired so quickly anymore. I don't have an S&c coach but have always been trying out all the different exercises for strength, that was in the past. Now to maintain strength I try to do calisthenics mostly. Rope climbs, pull ups, push ups, sprints and squats. Plain wrestling and jiujitsu is already decent S&C I think.
There's not enough time to do everything, there's so much to learn and do in MMA. Sriking, grappling and S&C.

What is your go to exercise to build strength?
Muscle ups and rope climbing. It makes me feel like I am strong in proportion to my size, so I like them the most. 

Take us through your MIMMA 4 journey/ from the ladder-match...to the contender...which is the fight u most satisfy with?
All my fights have been first round finishes since my fight with Nazri Sutari last year.

Do you see yourself making a career out of MMA?
Fighting is not my career. It's a journey I pursue out of enjoyment. If money comes with it in the future, great, if it doesn't, it doesn't matter. I believe I'll do well in whatever career I pursue once I'm done with fighting, because of what competing in martial arts has given and will continue to give to me. The gifts of mental fortitude, discipline, tremendous self belief and self efficacy.

How do you see the fight with Jace going?
He's got heavy hands, but he's also heavy on his feet. I think he's too slow, too stiff. I see holes in his striking and I plan to capitalize on them. 

Do you think your ground game is better than him? 

I think I am more technical than him on striking, on the ground, and cage work. He might be better than me in bench pressing though.

To date what is your most memorable fight?
My fight against Nazri Sutari. Everyone thought I was going to lose. The guy was putting people to sleep with one punch knockouts. But I had no doubts that I would win. I was dissapointed with the judges' decision during the semifinals last year, thus the chance to fight in the grand finale in the non-title match against Nazri made it all the more better.

WRB wishes both fighters the best. May it go down history as the best fight in MIMMA.







Bantamweight: 
Effendy Kalai VS Damon Soo

Last year's bantamweight final was a bit of a anti-climax. The bout between Effendy Kalai (Sabah) vs Tee Jac Yoe (Johor) ended in a controversial manner where Effendy pass out as referee gave him time to recover due to illegal strikes. Before that Tee was warn a few times for striking to the back of the head, but till today it was uncertain whether he pass out due to the strikes or some other circumstances. The fight was announced a no contest.

Realizing this unfinished business, MIMMA offered a rematch in this season's contender fight but Tee was not able to make it because he is studying overseas. The second contender fight was between another Sabahan - John Liew against the heavy favorite Damon Soo. It was a thrilling fight which Damon won by exerting ground control. Damon goes on to meet Effendey.

WRB wanted to hear the view of  Effendey's MMA coach, Andy Teh.

What's your thoughts on MIMMA giving Effendy the spot in grand final?
I'm very happy as this grand-final match is officially confirmed after a roller coaster end in MIMMA 3 Grand final last year. For one year, I'm trying to get the best answer and contact closely with MIMMA and Tunetalk team to offer the best solution for this issue. And I'm glad, the fight for him is confirmed after a proper and strict medical test handled by TuneTalk medical panel, Sunway Hospital . Would like to take this opportunity to THANK all that was involved in this problem solving issue. I know they are facing hard time settling this issue to make sure the fairest decision is made for both team.

What you see is his biggest challenge facing Damon?
Damon is a high level BJJ practitioner. And I know he is a very disciplined MMA athlete. He trained well in both striking and ground work. Good all rounder I would say. And for me, ground will be the world for Damon in this fight. But we have a proper training plan for this as well. So let's see what will happen in this Grand Final.

As Effendey coach how do you keep him motivated after last year incidence?
I can only do a small part by diverting him to stay focus on building a good coaching foundation and career in my academy. The biggest challenge is himself. He have to face the fact that it happened. But of sourse, no point waiting everything from MIMMA officials. Life have to move on. I told him to accept the worst decision it may be to avoid any disappointment and continue his journey. Meanwhile, he do participate in some BJJ, MMA and Muaythai competition to conditioning him, mentally and physically to stay in competitive mode.

Featherweight: 
Cheah Wen Khyn VS Joseph Yap

Joining Effendey and Eddey in the grand final is another ELITEZ stalwart; Joseph Yap. Joseph is a martial arts prodigy. At 25 this year, he only started seriously training in Jan 2015. Under the careful guidance of ELITEZ MMA founder Andy Teh teaching Joseph MMA and coach Effendey Kalai in boxing and Ngeoh Jian Cong in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Joseph soaks it all in like a sponge. In March 2015 he debut in his first MMA match. Going in like a dynamite in Ultimate Beatdown 15 winning by TKO with punches.

He was a feature fighter in 2015 MIMMA3: Contender Fight. Winning his featherweight fight vs Uriel Yu. He took on Hafizul Hakeem of Sabah in this year's semi-finals. It was his toughest match so far, as Hafizul dominate the fight, until Joseph found an opening for an armbar. He now has 8 amateur fights under him and all these fights are by TKO / submission. Joseph is looking to continue his winning streak and aimed to use his aggressiveness to win this match.

The armbar that brought Joseph to the finals

Again WRB talked to Andy Teh,

"Joseph will be going against Cheah Wen Khyn who currently training in MEBjj and with Sifu Kenneth if I'm not wrong. And I know Cheah is an explosive fighter and a good BJJ blue belt.

Tell me from your perspective on Joseph...his motivation, attitude and chances.

Joseph is a very discipline boy I would say. He listen well and he execute well. Humble on his achievement and always hunger for more success is what I see in him. And with discipline kick-in in his personality, this boy can go far! And I do believe he will make it to a bigger stage one day. Strong punch won't bring you far but strong heart and attitude will. I always told him to focus one match at a time. He have the chance to bring home ELITEZ very first title belt in MMA, but I don't want to put any pressure on him. We will plan the game plan for the fight, train accordingly and hopefully he execute well accordingly on fight day. 

What do you think is Joseph strong point? 

Both are very strong. And Joseph will for winning is very high. He won't give up easily. So it will be a war between two big hearts for this fight.

The ELITEZ fight team: Andy Teh with Joseph Yap (middle) and Effendy Kalai (left)

Foreign Pride:
Nazri Sutari VS Shaqueme Rock

For the Foreign Pride category will see two great athlete from two different side of the world.

Nazri Sutari aka Porkchop from Singapore meets Shaqueme Rock from Liverpool England. Nazri goes into this fight with a 6-3-0 record. He ply his trade in the early days in Rebel FC and Singapore Fighting Championship. 

Nazri learned a lot from his lost to Keng Fai in last year MIMMA grand final feature fight.
He considered it his toughest fight to date.

" That dude hit so hard and he was sharp and basically caught me. I thought I was winning the fight till I messed up during the scramble. His ground strikes are insane. Oh and also Ron Ng during S.F.C 1. Again I got caught because of my inexperience. But hey, you live and learn right?"

Coming back strong this year, Nazri is more calm and will take his time in a fight. Using his take down and grappling to tire his opponent before punishing them with ground and pound.

Nazri teaches MMA & Muaythai at Impact MMA & The Gentle Art Academy in Singapore.

WRB had a chat with Nazri.

Tell us how did you get involve in martial arts?

I guess my first involvement in combat sports was fencing. I started fencing when i was 13. I was training and actively competing at both national and regional levels and got selected for the national team. When I got into polytechnic I took up muay thai as a means to cross train with fencing. 

I was enlisted into the army for my national service but I was still training but not competing. Had my second muay thai fight 3 months after completing my service. My coach told me that I have the physical attributes to be a good MMA fighter (at that time I started wrestling to complement my clinching game in muay thai). At the end of 2013 Rebel FC organised a tryout for amateur fighters. I took part for fun but got selected to fight. I won my first MMA fight at Rebel FC and have not looked back since then.

Standing across Nazri in the cage on Saturday night will be Shaqueme Rock, a Brits 4 years his junior at only 22 this year. His friends call him Shem or Shaqueme (pronounce Sha-Keem). Born and raised in Liverpool. He is half black half white. His father is half Bajan (Barbados) half English and his mother is quarter English quarter Scottish and half Nigerian

Shaqueme is a full time athlete in Monarchy Gym. He trains 3 times a day. He is able to do this due to his elder brother Saka's care. The neighbourhood he lived in Liverpool is rough area and Shaqueme had his fair share of street fights. His karate experience didn't help him much as he learned it when he was very young. But having played football all his life, he was able to build strong legs.

As Saka's business improve in Malaysia, he decided to bring Shaqueme over to Malaysia, away from the rough neighbourhood. He supported Shaqueme and gave him a place to stay. When he was 13, Shaqueme watch the first UFC where Royce Gracie was able to submit bigger guys with ease, that's when his interest in BJJ grew. But he never had a chance to learn. Till he step foot in Malaysia. As he was wondering the street, he came across a signage offering BJJ class. Stepping into the door of Monarchy, he took Prof Bruninho Barbosa's BJJ class and has been hooked since.

Shaqueme took classes from Prof. Conrado Furlan for Muay Thai. Prof. Jonathon Clamons for Boxing and learn MMA from ONE Championship fighter Agilan Thani and Peter Davis. Also occasionally trained with Monarchy founder Samir Mrebet. With such a talented pool of coaches guiding & training him, Shaqueme grows quickly as a martial artist.

He won his first two fights in MIMMA 4 with by KO. The last fight vs Palestinien Don Sulaiman was a tough one, although he dominated all round and attempted many submission, the tough Sulaiman was not easy to finish. Sulaiman's hand was raise at the end. But after a judges discussion, the decision was overturn to a victory for Shaqueme. Which moved him to grand finals.

Shaqueme is like a son to Prof Bruninho. He sees this talented kid winning MIMMA 4 on Saturday

"I see Shaqueme winning by submission  Triangle Choke. Nazri will take him down and he will end up in Shaqueme's guard. And on the ground it's Shaqueme's territory"

Prof Bruninho backed this up by pointing out that Shaqueme's recent outing at Johor Open JiuJitsu, he won 3 Gold medals. All his 10 fights was won by submission and the dominance he showed by not having a single point scored against him.

Prof Bruninho (right) with his BJJ prodigy Shaqueme

Prof Bruninho also describe Shaqueme as a very discipline student and very humble. Always being respectful to everyone he meet.

This fight will be very interesting as two different style will clash. Will the muscular and explosive Nazri be able to use his striking, take down and ground control to shut down Shaqueme's game? Or will Shaqueme's lanky limb and prowess in submission proof to be Nazri's Achilles heel again?

Ohhh I can't wait for fight night on Saturday. At this year’s grand finals, all the championship bouts are predicted to be immensely competitive as the standard of MMA in Malaysia has increased tenfold in the past 4 years.

Grab your tickets while it's still available. Tickets for the historic night are available at redtix.airasia.comIf you are not in KL, catch the fight on www.malaysianinvasion.com or RTM TV1

ONE : UNBREAKABLE WARRIORS - The Malaysian Odyssey

The mood of Merdeka or Independence day will still in the air on 2 Sept 2016 when ONE Championship : Unbreakable Warriors held at Stadium Negara Kuala Lumpur goes down. It will feature 8 Malaysians fighting that night out of the 10 bouts.

Let’s see what's instore for Malaysian fighters on Friday night.

Sabahan Hisyam 'Zephyrus" Sams from Borneo Tribal Squad will debut together with compatriot Mohd Aiman from Negeri Sembilan. But they won’t be meeting as friends in the cage tomorrow night as both will face each other in a battle of Malaysian debutant.

Hisyam has 2 pro fights under him from Full Metal Dojo, his record at 1-1-0. Losing the last fight to Thai Veerayut Uttapan at FMD7, after a tough 3 round fight. Striking wise, Hisyam has good boxing, becoming the World Boxing Federation (WBF) Asia Pacific light heavyweight Champion at Singapore Fighting Championship 2 in Feb 2016. He will also rely on his experience from fighting muaythai & from winning two fights at ONE Silat will also be an important factor facing Aiman.

A character that can clearly define Muhd Aiman certainly is a warrior’s heart. This young lad from Negeri Sembilan was the finalist for MIMMA in 2013 at Bantamweight, losing to Prabu Somanaidu. Following year In 2014, MIMMA season two, fought through the ranks and again reached the finals but he didn’t made weight. Season 3 came & he started from scratch all over again participating in the try outs and eventually reached the finals and this time emerge victorious against Hafizul Hakim of Sabah.

Aiman has been training at Bali Muay Thai & MMA with his close friends the Subba brothers. In April this year he turned pro & fought in China at Kunlun Fight 41, losing to Korean Sung Bing Jo. He will be eager to get a win in his ONE debut. Aiman also has boxing experience and certainly has gained much improvement in striking & grappling from his training in Bali MMA.

Hisyam said that facing Aiman, he is ready to go ground or stand and strike. He firmly believes his coach AJ Pyro’s game plan for him will work. Hisyam is proud to represent Sabah’s BTS for this fight and he felt that fighting in ONE is a dream come true but he felt that the attention will be on Aiman and he is comfortable being the underdog.

Malaysian best known MMA siblings the Subba brothers will be in action together on the same night this Friday.

Gianni Subba the older siblings is also one of Malaysia’s best MMA talent. At 24 he is already considered a veteran in ONE. First appeared for ONE way back in 2012 for ONE FC’s 6th show. He has fought 8 times since then. Gianni is coming out of a lost to Philipino Geje Eustaciao in April 2016. Before that he chalked up 4 straight wins. He is keen to get back to winning ways to start to stamp his presence in flyweight and determine to put up an impressive win vs Brazilian Yago Bryan.

Yago represent Nova Uniao of Brazil. Famed as the gym that produce former UFC featherweight champion - Jose Aldo and former UFC bantamweight champion - Renan Barao. Yago’s MMA fight experiences are mostly gained from his fighting days in Brazil since 2014. His 1st fight at ONE is at ONE: Pride of Lions in Nov 2015 where he challenged Dejdamrong for the Straw weight belt but lost in an unanimous decision.

Gianni’s younger brother Keannu Subba is also trying to get back to winning ways after his last lost at Hefei China to Chinese flamboyant rising star Li Kai Wen. Keannu despite an elbow that was not fully recovered put up a great fight in 3 round but lost by unanimous decision. Before turning pro, Keannu achieved the pinnacle of Malaysian amateur MMA by winning the MIMMA featherweight belt twice in 2013 & 2014.

His opponent is Pakistani Wakaq Umar. Wakaq does not have a nice record in ONE. Losing 3 times before going back to his home land to fight at PAKMMA early this year and got a win by choke in the first round.

Another prodigy from MIMMA is Agilan ‘The Alligator’ Thani. Agilan tore through his opponents in MIMMA2 and became the welterweight champion. Trained under Samir Mrabet at Monarchy Gym, Agilan originally wanted to lose weight but got so skillfull he decides to fight as a living. Turned pro at ONE FC 25, Agilan is on a roll…with an impressive 4 wins in a row, all by finish. Especially his last fight where he dominate and TKO American Brad Robinson with punches in round 1

Trestle Tan of Philipines has stepped up to face The Alligator. Tan five losses all came by TKO / choke, holding a 4-5-0 record. But Agilan cannot take him lightly and treat him like an easy meat as all Tan’s 4 win also came by TKO / Choke.

Malaysian MMA superstar, Peter Davis make a return to the oval cage this Friday night. Peter’s was a financial consultant that dabbled into acting, modeling and coaching before committing to a fighting career. Malaysia’s MMA growth can be partly attributed to Peter as ONE Championship & MIMMA use his marketable face & personality to promote MMA to the Malaysian public, and these worked effectively as we now see the high awareness of MMA among the Malaysians general public and the many young prospect that took up MMA inspired by him.

Peter’s ground skill is top notch and he never gives up in a fight even though starting off being dominated. But his last fight at Kuala Lumpur in October 2015 did not end well. Facing Australian Adrian Pang who fought with a rigid stance that seems immovable, Peter suffered a devastating KO from Adrian’s punches. But Peter took the loss in his stride & uses it to motivate himself back to fighting fit.

At 5-1-0, Peter’s opponent, Shannon "One Shin" Wiratchai is on a 3 fight winning streak. Last fought in his home land Thailand in May 2016, he impressively TKO Burmese Kyal Ling Aung. If Peter is the poster boy of Malaysian MMA, Shannon could be the Thai version. Having a penchant for showmanship, Shannon will try to win the fans heart while trying to break the heart of Malaysian at the same night. Will he succeed? Only Peter Davis can prevent him from doing so.

We move on to the ladies…. Yes the darling of Malaysian female MMA Ann "Athena" Osman is back. After the crushing KO to Wushu champion Irina Mazepa in the same night as Peter’s lost, Ann has gone back to the drawing board to polish up her skills. It seems like ONE keep giving her Wushu based opponent. Ann returned to the cage in ONE : Dynasty of Champions in Hefei China in July 2016. Her opponent was Egyptian Haiat Farag, a wrestler and also a Wushu champion. Ann weathered the storm of throws and punches that connected in the early minutes. Never one that gives up, her fighting spirit went on warrior mode as she look for an opening for her move, it came close to the end of minute 3 of round 1, she manage to grab Haiat’s extended arm and bellied down with a reverse arm-bar, Ann took the win by submmission. Ann described Haiat as a real aggressive opponent but she reminded herself to stay calm and she manage to overcome the adversity to take the win. She attribute this all to her long time mentor and coach at Borneo Tribal Squad - AJ Pyro, training her not only on her physical prowess but also on mental toughness.

Ann will need all these as she will be facing another Wushu stalwart. Her opponent is a young 22 year April Osenio. April has fought only twice (1-1-0). Her win was over Australian Natalie Hills, in April 2016. Even though only having 2 MMA fight experience but coming from Team Lakay put her on solid foundation.

Team Lakay was founded in 2003 by MMA fighter by Wushu instructor, and Philippine Military Academy martial arts trainer Marquez Sangiao. Under Sangiao’s charge, Team Lakay’s fighters have grown into dominant warriors who are well versed in striking, wrestling, and submissions. And thanks to their high-altitude training in Baguio City, their fighters seem to be always on full gas tank. Notable MMA names from Team Lakay are Edward Folayang, Kevin Belingon & Honario Banario.



We now come to the main event of the night. Ev 'E.T.' Ting vs Ruthless Rob Lisita. His last fight was in Jan 2016, submitting Eric Kelly with a choke. Since then he has kept himself busy by coaching MMA and running sessions for the fight team at Saigon Sports Club at the same time training along many fighters who pop through the gym.

Ev 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. But of late Lisita is on a 3 fight losing streak by choke / TKO. He is veteran fighter who has faced the best in his division and beyond.

Warriors of Borneo asked Ev on how is his preparation for this fight,…
” I spent first 4-5 weeks at Saigon Sports Club but will be acclimatizing and peaking last 3 weeks here in KL with my Malaysian team mates from Bali MMA, Monarchy and Klinch. My coach will arrive from Auckland to help me with my final details to peak for fight night”

On how this fight came about and how Rob has been calling him out.
“Rob Lisita was not a fight I was looking for as I always want to move up in ranks, yes he has been calling me out and this is what ONE insisted without another option. Rob is not an easy opponent for anybody and I am training for the best version of Rob Lisita”

Would you be asking for a featherweight title fight after a win over Rob?
"Yes I want my due title shot; I will have 6 wins and 6 finishes after this fight and being undefeated in KL. However if I really need to still keep proving myself then I will not decline"

Rob is a heavy striker...but his last fight was caught by Timofey early...wud u employ same tactics....start striking early?
"Robs last fight was much too short to study or find any patterns. Rob presents some threats however I am confident I have the right gameplan to get the W over Rob"

What have u been doing besides training ?...what’s the thing that get your mind off training?..Any other hobbies or interest you indulge in?
"Recently being away from home where I indulge in all kinds of nature and apart from delicious food, I have been exploring the world of TV entertainment catching up with the latest movies and TV series such as Kingdom. However people often say I need more hobbies : P " 

catching up on his favourite TV series

Warriors of Borneo wishes all Malaysian a great Merdeka week, and wishing all the Malaysian fighters the best of luck, Fight hard, Fight smart, Fight with all your heart!
Selamat Hari Merdeka Malaysia!

STAND delivered as the Biggest Martial Arts Tournament in Malaysia

pix credit: Matt Buvart 

STAND happened on 21-23 April 2016. Brought to us by Borneo Majubina and Fight Five Gear. With the view of white sandy beach, blue wave from the sea, coconut tree leaf swaying with the background of Nexus Karambunai Resort certainly present a fresh new settings for fight event in Malaysia.

184 fighters registered, making it possibly the biggest fight event we have seen so far in South East Asia. 31 martial club/gym took part, out of which, 8 gyms from outside Borneo participated.

STAND offered two categories of fights, amateur K1 Kickboxing and amateur Boxing; With an event highlight of Super8 Pro Am Featherweight title belt Kickboxing. A total of 172 bouts were held and fights begins from morning till late night on Saturday and Sunday.

The dizzying numbers of fights was certainly a huge task to organize. The limitation by venue sponsor to allow bouts go beyond 10pm resulted in fights in day 2 had to be shortened per rounds in order to finish all bouts. Kudos to the management and the team of judges that work hectically throughout the tournaments.

Event Director & STAND founder Rayner Kinsiong of Team Karabaw invited a number of VIPs to witness the event. On 21 APR ( FRIDAY ), weighing-in day saw the presence of YB Datuk Hjh Jainab, Sabah’s Minister of Community Development and Consumer. Member of Parliament of Sepanggar Datuk Jumat Idris watch the fights on Saturday. Datuk Yaakob Khan & Datuk Raiman Unggi witness it on Sunday.

VIPs in attendance

These invitations was done to expose to the authority the potential of fight event as a tourism product and to showcase them the martial talent pool that is available locally.

The venue of Nexus Karambunai Resort was a drawing factor for lots of participants to join this event, with good room rate offer, which fighters and team stayed in and had a weekend break at the same time. Some fighters can be seen chilling out at the pool and some laying under the big rain tree on the field with their family and friends as they take a break to recover before the next fight.

A new concept of fight event in Borneo...fight and chill

Fights aside, personally I felt a number of things could have made the event better. Example; the surrounding area of the ring that places the apparel booths, drinks stalls, and where crowds hang around, if it were lighted will make the atmosphere more inviting. Also the original idea of having BBQ food stalls, if it was allowed would be a total blast! But Alas, due to some differences with venue sponsor, this didn’t materialized.

Pix credits: Alex Faezi

pix credits - Alex Faezi

pix credits - Alex Faezi

On to the fights. The day 1 action was hard and fast. Many fighters pull no punches in the early rounds which saw plenty of action but also plenty of injuries. With a tournament format that may see fighters fight 3-4 times per day, 2nd day saw a few bouts was won by walkover as injuries took its toll on fighters.

But there were still plenty of good bouts. The highlight was the Super8 featherweight fights. Crowds gathered whenever bouts for this category were on. This was a semi-pro bout, fighters only wore shin guard without headgear. Mohammed B. Mahmoud aka Jordan Boy of Sampuri Gym KL won it defeating Uriel French of Muayfit KL. Being an experience pro Muaythai fighter, Jordon Boy had a fairly easy semifinals bouts defeating Muhd Afandi from Team Revolution, en route to the finals. Uriel’s semi finals against a game Ronnie ‘The Sweet Finger’of Kitakitani may have tooked out some gas from him.

Jordon Boy fellow Sampuri team mates and brother, Nidal Mahmud won the 75kg K1 Middleweight vs Vallent Pierce of Sabah Top Team. Nidal executed a good counter game and plenty of knees; some of which was given warning by the ref as he executed it with a double hand muaythai clinch which is not allowed in K1 rules.

Jordan Boy and King Joker with their trainer and father Mahmoud Omar 

Monarchy MMA Gym sent a team full of experience fighters. Led by ONE Championship fighter Samir Mrabet, the team won all their fights. Conrado Roveri, winning welterweight boxing. The towering Xavier Martinon winning heavyweight boxing. Lee Ai Jin winning women flyweight boxing. Samir himself won by walkover for middleweight boxing as his opponent was injured.

Some memorable fights, in heavyweight boxing semi-finals, Bartholomew from Kinabalu Fighters showed lots of heart in his fight vs Xavier Martinon. No doubt the experience & technically superior Xavier didn’t go all out, but Bart showed no fear even with a bloodied nose he still kept coming. For a guy that had a desk job and took up boxing just less than a year ago at Kinabalu Fighters to lose weight, Bart certainly showed courage and heart.

Xavier went on to win in the finals meeting Mursalin of Revolution Gym.

Bart’s team mate – Stephanie Vung also fought her hearts out in the women flyweight boxing, going against Ai Jin of Monarchy whom is a SEA games boxing vet.

K1 56kg Featherweight female saw Nur Athirah of Borneo Tribal Squad square off against Zaryatie of Revolution Gym. It was fireworks! Zaryatie started strong with many hooks and spin kicks that landed. Athirah weathered the storm and kept her composure with good head movement. Eventually Zaryatie’s aggressive style looses steam and Athirah was able to score points in the later round to secure the win.

K1 female Straweight saw Nur Nurnaznerah of BP battle out vs JFL 2015 Finalist Nurul Khairunisa of Karabaw. It was a back and fourth battle but Nurnaznerah won with her speed and combos.

Athirah clebrating her win with team mates Hisyam & Ann from BTS

Fightfive gear making it's debut in STAND

Welterweight boxing semis was an entertaining match between Conrado of Monarchy Gym vs Elto of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan. Elto of Philippine descent has plenty of supporters cheering him on, calling him little Pacqaio. Going against Conrado was not easy as he possessed good footwork that enable him to throw combos that hit high and low on the body and was quick to move out of danger when Elto counter. For Lightweight boxing, Ronald Tee of Borneo Combat Gym Labuan showed much technical prowess as he darted in & out and excellent head movement to win against Abu Qusairy of PBG.

Kudos to Rayner Kinsiong of Karabaw, Mohd Bakri of Keningau MMA and Kaza Musa Fight Management for organizing another ground breaking combat sports event in Borneo.

I believe the huge participants for STAND proof that there is a huge potential for fight tourism and there's a huge talent pool of amatuer fighters that is eager to test their skills to gain more experience. This type of event is rightly a good platform for Borneo fighters to develop without sacrificing much time & finance to travel out of Borneo to look for fights.

Not only are fighters numbers increasing but also the crowds which include the family, friends, supporters and the general public. This certainly augurs well for potential sponsors to support local events which can expose their brand to the right target market.

According to Zamalani of Kaza Musa whom manage the bouts, many popular weight category such as flyweight, featherweight, lightweight was divided into team A & B to facilitate the high numbers of participants. For the 2nd STAND, winners from the 1st STAND will be invited to battle it out again.

The 2nd installment will probably be held around JULY in PAPAR as the organizers are gearing up to give us another action pack showdown!

                  Are you ready for STAND 2?