HISYAM SAMSUDIN - A VICTORY MORE PRECIOUS THAN A TITLE BELT

When I first met Hisyam, he struck me as a very courteous gentlemen. He conduct himself admirably and speak with respect and politeness. Surely his parents have done the right things bringing up this young man.

With his friendly attitude, I was mildly surprise that he is an active fighter, not only in the ring but also in the cage. In boxing there's a certain amount of control and respect. But in MMA, you need that ferociousness and that killer instinct  to survive a fight, let alone winning it. Hisyam seems to be more fitting as a boxer than a MMA fighter, but he proof to be best at both.

Hisyam with AJ Pyro

Train under the watchful eyes of AJ Pyro of Borneo Tribal Squad in Kota Kinabalu, Hisyam has grown into the sports that he started as a way to lose weight. His successful story of overcoming an overweight problem in his teenage years has been widely cover in the media.

Growing up overweight during the formative years of a teenagers is certainly tough especially when teenagers are so occupied by external qualities. To be able to overcome this shows the first sign of the resilient of Hisyam.

Hisyam in his FMD3 fight (pix by Singapore Maven) 

His pro MMA career began in the land of Muaythai in Full Metal Dojo 3. Victorious against a Thai in their home ground is no small feat. Hisyam took home the debut win with a TKO in round 1. His second outing in FMD 7 didn't went his way as a bad cut in the early rounds affected his focus, he lost with a unanimous decision to a local Thai with a record of more than 200 Muaythai fights.

Given the fight name Zephyrus by AJ, Hisyam took to his nick name like the west wind itself. He train all year round and is always ready. In Feb 2016, taking up a short notice fight, he was one of the four boxers fighting for the Super-4 WBF Asia Pacific Light Heavyweight Title belt at Singapore Fighting Championship 2. Among the pro boxers were Singaporean hero Syafiq Samad and Filipino warrior Richard Corminal and Malaysian young buck Ridzuan Dahari.

winning the WBF Asia Pac belt

Being the lightest among the four does not bother Hisyam. He fought and won a  technical fight vs Richard and in the title fight, although both him and Ridzuan was out of gas, but Hisyam was able to dig deep and emerge as the Champion, becoming the first Malaysian to win a international boxing belt.

Hisyam is one of the coaches in Borneo Tribal Squad, but when he gets a break he would travel back to his home town Tawau in the east coast of Sabah. He love to hang out with his young nephews. They look up to him as a role model. Back home in Tawau he spends as much time as he can with his family.

The BTS fight team

His parents now supports him fully in his fight career. Initially they voiced their concern and worries as they can't bear the thoughts of their son getting hurt. Hisyam, through his dedication and passion to martial arts manage to convince his parents that he prepares himself very well before entering any fight, hence reducing the risk of injury,...infact he may be the one inflicting the injuries.

This year AJ has been busy planning and arranging fights for his stable of pro athletes in BTS. In Sept a deal was seal for Hisyam for his ONE Championship debut. Although fighting in the preliminaries card, it was certainly a high profile debut as his opponent is Muhd Aiman who's name is propel up in the MMA scene being the fighters that enter MIMMA 3 times and won it on his 3rd try.

Hisyam vs Aiman - (pix by Eddie Chan)

I was cage side during that fight. It was a barn burner. Aiman being more swift and all rounder, Hisyam seems to be running low on fuel after being tire out by Aiman's pressure on the cage. Hisyam's didn't give up. With his parents watching on the side, he dig deep and towards the end of fight, executing a reverse elbow that almost knocked-out Aiman, but the fight ended with a 3 round victory for Aiman.

After that debut in ONE, he took a short break in Tawau, spending time with his parents.

Then it was back to BTS to resume training, polishing his striking and brushing up on his ground skills In the process earning his BJJ blue belt from Prof Adam Kayoom last month.

with Prof Adam Kayoom

Time for him to enter the cage again, as AJ managed to get him a fight in the Jakarta cards of ONE Championship Total Victory. This time in the main card, going against Indonesian Jeremy Meciaz. Jeremy is Indonesia's national grappling champion. Fighting in Jakarta is a very intimidating experience as the war cry of Indonesian supporters are well known to unnerve even the most season fighters.

Hisyam was fighting on 16 Sept 2017. A significant date for Malaysian especially from the Borneon states as this is the date 54 years ago, that Sabah together with Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya came together to form Malaysia.

Also going into this fight, Hisyam carry on his shoulder the burden of erasing the memory of the hi-light reel lost of his coach AJ to Dutch Indonesian Anthony Engelan in Jakarta in January this year.

He also need to wipe out the image of being the nice guy, lacking killer instinct.

But Hisyam take all this with stride. Fight camp went very well for him and cutting weight was smooth, he was full of confident and eager to record a win in the oval cage.

His parents flew in to Jakarta to support him, getting themselves cage side seats to cheer on Hisyam. Thursday weigh in was done and he was happy to have his parent around, able to joke and have light moments with them to get his mind away from the pressure of the fight.

Then a message from his mother on Friday morning asking him to come to the hospital to see his father, broke his quiet morning. Hisyam did not expect anything serious. On the back of his mind, he was thinking that his father was perhaps exhausted from the travelling.

As he arrived at the hospital, the feelings changed. He was told of the sorrowful news that his father has pass on. What a shock this news was to his mind. His father was only 66 and without any illness,... Hisyam could not accept this lost.

His first thought was to cancel the fight, go home and be with his mother. But his mother knew that his father would not want Hisyam to give up. He came to see him win, maybe physically he is now not able to do so, but spiritually he is with Hisyam and the fight must go on.

The last photo Hisyam father the late Mr Samsudin  took on Thursday in Jakarta

Hisyam made the decision to keep all this news to him and his family only. The only one outside his family that he informed was coach AJ. He didn't even inform ONE Championship management, as he does not want pity and does not want to give excuse to cancel the fight.

His mother and family made arrangement for his father's body to be sent back and made funeral arrangements. They ask him to focus on getting the win in memory of his father.

No one knew how much pressure and mental anguish was in Hisyam's head when he enter the cage to face Jeremy. The sound of booing from the crowds as Hisyam name was introduced, was enough to discourage anyone.

AJ whom has seen him grow from an overweight kid to 'Zephyrus' was a pillar of strength, as he look into Hisyam eyes, without saying much, but it was enough to calm Hisyam down and allow Hisyam mind to focus on the task at hand.



They have studied Jeremy before from his first fight as he rushed his opponent. Thinking he won't do the same mistake, initially it surprised Hisyam that Jeremy followed the same game plan as he leap across the cage and charge at Hisyam trying to connect with a flying knee.

Both exchanged furious strikes, aggressively change position as both tries to exert control. The fight went to the ground and as Hisyam tries to escape Jeremy immediately uses his grappling prowess to attack Hisyam's leg. Locking in tight for leg locks and variations of heel hook. The crowd went wild cheering on Jeremy as he relentlessly trying to break Hisyam's leg.

Hisyam can hear his knee cracking, he tries to drown the noise of the Indonesian crowd with the thoughts of his father. He then visualized his father's face in front of him, he can hear his voice cheering him on, drowning out the Indonesian supporters noise.

Deep in his heart, he knew that he needs to stay calm and change position to release the pressure and buying time and wait till Jeremy tires up.

The plan worked, as soon as his leg was free, Hisyam took side control and rained damaging knees on Jeremy's head. A couple more impactful elbows to Jeremy's face finally urged the referee to stop the fight at 2:47 Round 1.

Pix by Singapore Maven - David Ash

What a triumphant win that was for Hisyam, as all the emotion now rushes to his mind, the sorrow of his father's passing mixed with the joy of bringing home the win.

In his victory speech, barely holding back his tears, Hisyam revealed to all present that the win was dedicated to his father that just pass away the day before. Viewers was taken aback and now understand that indeed a victory like this means more than winning any championship belt.

Hisyam does not have a specific special memories of his father, to him every moment with him was special. He wants to have more fights to established himself, to slowly climb up the featherweight category and to eventually one day become the Champion.

Hisyam meaningful win is a story that I hope will give motivation and inspire readers out there to never give up, to not have excuses, to fight against all odds.

with his beloved mother

He celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday 20 Sept 2017. Even though without his father by his side, his mother's and other family members celebrated with him and reminded him that the only way to make his father proud is to keep on fighting.

AJ and his BTS team members are always there too to support him all the way, and Warriors of Borneo will always be here to chart his journey of becoming a world champion one day.

Happy Birthday Hisyam!

Hisyam proudly wearing the BTS fight shorts ; sporting the ethnic native motifs of Sabah

Hisyam Sam: Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained

Early this year in February Hisyam Sams of Borneo Tribal Squad (BTS) took on his first pro boxing match in Singapore Fighting Championship 2. Fighting in a 4 man tournament for the World Boxing Federation (WBF) - Asia Pacific Light heavyweight title. It was on short notice as a boxer was injured and AJ Pyro , Hisyam's coach decide to put him in.

In bout 1 he fought Richard Corminal of Singapore.

Below is the excerpt from ASIA MMA reported by David Ash of Singapore Maven

check out ASIA MMA for the latest in combat sports news in Asia

"Hisyam clearly displayed a lot more control throughout the 3 rounds of this bout. He took his time, and waited for Richard to land his jabs before working his jab, right hooks and left uppercut combination. Hisyam demonstrated agility stepping in and out quickly, all that time looking for opportunities when Richard remained exposed to his hooks. Richard’s critical mistakes were having his hands down often, giving Hisyam a chance to connect his jabs and hooks. Winner : Hisyam Sams via UD."

In the final...
Mohd Ridzuan Dahari (Malaysia) vs Hisyam Sams (Malaysia)

The main event was an exciting bout between the two Malaysian boxers who were very quick on their feet and deft with their combination. However Ridzuan was the more aggressive fighter in this bout, landing clean punches while Hisyam seemed to have gassed out midway through the first round to turn the fight into a brawl. However in the second round, Hisyam took advantage of a very exhausted Ridzuan by clinching and landing a series of body shots till the sound of the bell. The referee declared Hisyam Sams the winner when Ridzuan could not get off his chair to continue the fight.

Winner: Hisyam Sams via referee stoppage after round 2."

Hisyam is the first Malaysian to win a WBO belt

Emerging as Champion even though he was the lightest boxer among the four.

Hisyam was schedule to fight in ONE Silat in May 2016 and he was training hard in BTS for this, but unfortunately the fight was postpone indefinitely. Coach AJ was actively looking for a match up for Hisyam.

A boxing match in China came up. It was for a middleweight World Boxing Organization (WBO) fight on 24 June 2016. Again accepting this fight in a short notice. By this time Hisyam as a muslim already started fasting as June is the Holy month of Ramadan.

In the month of Ramadan, Hisyam trains cut down his training to night time only. In BTS for normal months they have the crazy energy sapping Spartan Training in the morning. 

keeping busy with his coach AJ Pyro

During Ramadan Hisyam also take the opportunity to go back to his home town in Tawau to visit his family, while there, he trains at his old gym, Alamgir.

Hisyam is popular among his nephew in Tawau due to his friendly nature
and also how they look up to him as a mentor

Hisyam lost the fight by TKO. His opponent Wang Fei Hu of China, was taller and a much heavier opponent. Fighting at 76kg, Hisyam had to load up as he walks around at only 72kg. Wang walks around in 79kg. Loading up when you are fasting is certainly a challenge...but for Hisyam, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It was a good learning experience for him and as he's only 25, he needs more fights under his record. Furthermore, he is schedule to defend his WBF Belt in Singapore around September 2016.

Much respect to all muslim fighters that had to keep themselves active during this fasting month, I ask Hisyam to share some tips to #WRB readers on this.

"Well for Ramadan, the fasting month its a good time for those who want to lose weight not to gain weight like me, haha. 

Couple of tips from me to lose weight on the fasting month. 

1. Know how much to eat at Sahur (pre dawn meal) and berbuka (breaking fast) . Eat more on Sahur since you'll need the energy to fast the whole day until the sun down till berbuka/ eat less when berbuka. Why less? Trust me when I say its all your 'nafsu' (desire) that is big. You don't need a lot. Just a small portion is enough and you will feel full. 

Remember the fasting month of Ramadan is the time for Muslim to do good deed not to eat a lot. 

2. Do light exercise daily. Just do light exercise is enough to keep your body in good and healthy condition. Doesn't mean its the fasting month then all you do is sleep the whole day waiting till berbuka. 

You might think sleep doing nothing and not eating will help you lose weight. Well its not. Sleeping meaning you keeping your extra fat when you suppose to burn it and guess what, you not losing weight and worse, your body gets weaker. So make sure do your exercise and sweat it out and burn the fat"

Hisyam will defend his WBF belt this coming Sept

Flight of the Zephyrus

The state of Sabah in Malaysia, which is known as the Land Below the Wind has produce a number of  Pro MMA fighters. From the likes of pioneering Malaysian MMA athletes such as AJ Pyro ( Malaysian National Champion of ONE Championship ), Allen Solomon Chong ( The Ultimate Fighter China alumni ), to Ann Osman, Marc Marcellinus, Rayner Kinsiong ( all ONE Championship fighters ).... Sabah continues to progress in this relatively new sports.

Little is known of a young lad that has turn pro last year as a featherweight fighting in Full Metal Dojo (FMD) #3 in November 2014. Muhammad Noorhisyam Samsudin or better known as Hisyam Sams...hails from the Tawau, 3rd largest city in Sabah located at the east coast. He fights out of Borneo Tribal Squad (BTS) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the gym founded by AJ Pyro.

Hisyam is 25 this year and grew up in Tawau. Looking fighting fit, standing lean at 178cm and covered with a wash board abs, package with a face that would look at home in a men's magazine cover and a personality that is down to earth and cheery, you would not believe he was an overweight kid in his teenage years. At one point reaching 114kg!

Doctor advised Hisyam to lose weight as obesity would pose health risk to him at a young age. He landed at BTS doorstep in 2008. AJ put him in a muay thai program to lose weight. With zero martial arts background, Hisyam nevertheless took it seriously as his main goal is to shed the pounds.
AJ would give his students nick name...initially it was Big Tree for Hisyam as he was big and his movement rather stiff.

AJ continue to add more program for him, with boxing and MMA and Hisyam obsorbed all these new knowledge like a sponge and grew in skills, his movement became more fluid and speed increase...and with all those training obviously the pounds came off.
Hisyam needs a new nick name.
AJ changed it to Zephyrus...God of the West Wind in greek mythology, and AJ felt it's time for Zephyrus to take his first flight.

The chubby days of his childhood is now replaced with a lean, mean fighting machine

Taking on his 1st pro fight in D1FC muay thai fight and won in Sept 2014. Hisyam progress to his 1st MMA fight in Thailand's FMD #3. This was a big decision as FMD feature some really seasoned regional fighters especially muay thai fighters. Even though these fighters may have not polished their ground skills but their stand-up are usually brutally sharp as diamond.
Hisyam won the featherweight fight vs Thossawat of Thailand via submission in round 1.

Winning his first FMD in Nov 2014

Following this up, AJ signed him up at the 1st ONE SILAT Championship. A tournament featuring Pro Silat fight. Closely similar to MMA fights, ONE SILAT fights is a full contact with strikes, throws and joint manipulation allowed. Fighting at Lightweight, his fight vs Khairul Anwar of Singapore was the co-main event of the night which Hisyam won by points.

Even though he graduated with a diploma in Medical Lab but he does not like to be confined to a job in a lab. He nows work as a coach in BTS. This gives him more focus in building a full time career as a fighter. But he does put his academic experience to good use, by applying an analytical approach to his fight. Going through the movement in his mind and analyses each techniques to ensure maximum effectiveness.

Hisyam fight this Saturday 31 OCT 2015 on Holloween night is against a Thai - Veerayut Yut Uttapan. Yut possesed a muay thai fight records of over 200 fights and has also build up BJJ skills by training at Raw BJJ Bangkok. With a MMA fight record of 1-1-0, Yut has fought in FMD 4 & 6 with a submission win in the former and an unanimous decision loss in the latter.

Hisyam acknowledges Yut's formidable stand-up, and will be looking to take the fight to the ground and look for a submission win.

Hisyam will be the only Malaysian in a stacked Pro fight cards of international fighters

Halloween madness in a cage!

Fighting at FMD is trully an unforgetable experience. FMD fights are held inside nightclub. This Saturday will be at Insanity Club Bangkok. FMD is the first MMA championship in Thailand and feature many seasoned muay thai fighters from Thailand that is transitioning or trying out their first few MMA fights. Action are usually fast pace and high impact as these seasoned fighters usually have top notch stand-up game.
The founder Jon Nutt will host the event with his charismatic persona and crazy humour. With a theme of Full Metal Massacre for this coming event, expect some crazy action in the cage and some wild party happening during and after fights.

FMD does know how to grab viewers attention...well known to have the best ring girls in an 
Asian MMA promotion

Jon Nutt - FMD founder...yup you need to to have big nuts to organise a MMA promotion that is unique. Here Jon brandishing the FMD Katana that is the trophy for the champion...who needs a belt when a sword is way cooler

Favorite moves? Hisyam likes to keep it simple. 1-2 left hook. ( Left jab, right straight with a quick follow up of left hook ). He favours this technique as it can be apply easily and add on with a kick or take down in the end.
His favorite training routine is the one he hated most. It is BTS' s Spartan Training with hill sprint.
" It is the worst but it is the most useful. This training will help me the most in the ring. I always tell myself and even my teammate -if you hate it means its working, so train harder until you love it! "

Hisyam get thru this Spartan Training with his earphone blasting his favorite workout tune - Strenght of a Thousand Men by Two Steps from Hell.

On training under coach AJ Pyro: 
"AJ really teaches me a lot. He is my role model. Most of the people who train with him knows how much he love his fighters, always making sure everyone doing their best, doing the right techniques, giving reminder all the time to be healthy. He teach me how to be a better person not just for me, but for my family and everyone around me. "

with AJ Pyro, his mentor and coach

On having Ann Osman as a teammate:
" It's an honour and really great coz she is always focus and always giving good advice on how to improve. Yes she is a superstar now but she is one of the most humble person I know.

with Ann Osman - his big sista that always gives him guidance

Hisyam is constantly push to the max when training at BTS as his other teammates such as Samuel Lai, Dean Hamsah, Kelvin Ong, Mystique Nath always give their everything during training.

with his BTS teammates

Hisyam decision to make fighting his career is not an easy one because the cost to train and travelling to fight event is high. Most professional fighters in Malaysia earn a living by having another day job. But Hisyam is determined to make it work, hence having a high ambition to be a World Champion one day. To him by aiming high is the only way to push his mind & body to achieve this dream. 

Warriors of Borneo will be together charting Hisyam's journey to his dream and wishes Hisyam 'Zephyrus' Sam all the best for his Halloween night fight at FMD7. May the Zephyrus spread his wing wide and fly high!