Coffee Boys ONE FC Destiny of Warriors Experience

Coffee Boys ONE FC Destiny of Warriors Experience

Published on June 25, 2012 by The Coffee Boy in ONEFC

Coffee Boy’s Night Out: ONE FC 4

I’ve been to many small MMA events, but this was the first time I had been to a large MMA event held in a stadium – and I’m grateful it was this one, as the event turned out to be ONE FC’s best so far.

After hanging out with my boys at Healy Mac’s (getting a couple drinks and eating like pigs), we headed over to the stadium. It was around 6 pm, two hours before the event and it was already jam packed with enthusiastic fans.

Outside the front entrance were a bunch of stands set up for companies such as Uppercut Energy Drink (ONE FC’s official energy drink sponsor), Twisted Fight Gear, and a few others. Fans were checking out the drinks the gear, and a few lucky ones got to catch glimpses of some fighters (I got to say “hey” to a few of the Muayfit boys like Arnaud Lepont and Matt Pellino).

We got our stuff and headed in, and upon entering you could see the ‘cosmetic’ changes they made to the stadium, setting up the cage smack center of the stadium. The vibe you get is already electrifying enough, then they hit you with the fight promo videos they had been promoting for weeks leading up to this.

While we were sitting around getting ready for the night, I got to talk to some fans. About half of them were hardcore mixed martial arts enthusiasts, eager to talk about Roger Huerta and Renato Sobral, and more than willing to engage in some light-hearted banter which was fun.

The other half had never heard of mixed martial arts, and came because they had seen the ads and such. They didn’t know what to expect, but knew that there were a couple of local fighters on the card and wanted to be there for the support. Little did they know that their first taste of MMA was going to be insane.

“There’s some guy, uh, Adam I think… I hear he’s pretty good, got a bunch of black belts or something,” said one fan. “I just want to see some Malaysian’s kick some ass.”

Also in the crowd were a bunch of supporters for Marcos Escobar, a decorated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner who is part of Leverage Combat Academy (whom the Sandman covered in a two-part series on this site). They held nothing back, and went nuts every time Marcos showed up on the screen, walked by, and later cheered loudly for him when he stepped inside the cage.

Finally it was time for the event to start, and the opening ceremony took place where Lenne Hardt would do her typical Pride-style introductions  of the fighters, who would come out and circle the cage. Right after that –which took about 10 minutes, accompanied with a whole lot of electricity and cheering – the fighters went back, and the first fight was ready to take place.

Unfortunately, Allamurad “Pretty Boy” Karayev didn’t pass the medical exam, and his fight against Roldan Sangcha-an was cancelled.

Peter Davis, a well known actor/model in Malaysia took on Singapore’s Kim Hock. Wasting no time, Davis went in for the kill and landed clean accurate strikes, quickly dispatching the heavy-handed Hock. The crowd went wild, and that set the tone for the rest of the night.

Marcos Escobar, coming out to wild cheers from the crowd, took on Rodrigo Praxedes. Both men are BJJ practitioners, and it was an action-packed bout between both men, both standing and on the ground. Marcos Escobar finally landed on top in the third round, and locked in a brabo choke, forcing Praxedes to tap.

AJ Vaa, a Malaysian fighter known for his background in Silat, took on Mitch Chilson. Chilson wasted no time and stuffed a takedown, got the fight where he wanted it, and sunk in a tight rear naked choke to finish the fight.

Arnaud Lepont, a French mixed martial artists fighting out of Malaysia’s Muayfit, took on Evolve MMA’s Brian Choi. Lepont had a crazy entrance, causing many people smile and cheer on as he tore off his mask and broke apart a chain wrapped around his neck. The fight was just as crazy – the moment they touched gloves, they were at it. After back and forth action, Choi took it to the ground trying to outwork Lepont, who was doing his best to get his shots in while setting up submissions.

One of the best fights of the night, we saw Choi doing his best to keep it on the ground (probably not wanting to get into a strike-fest with Lepont), and while he managed that, he had to constantly worry about getting punched and elbowed, while also defend the kimura and guillotine chokes Lepont was putting on. In the third round, while it looked like Choi would walk away the victor, Lepont managed to get his back and sunk in a very deep rear naked choke, winning the fight.

After the fight, Lepont expressed his desire to fight Shinya Aoki, one of the best lightweight mixed martial artists in the world.

Next up, Eric Kelly took on Bae Young Kwon in a back and forth fight which saw Kelly getting the better of the standup exchanges, but Kwon being more aggressive with his Judo throws and grappling. Kelly was probably slightly more busier, and one suspects that his constant submission attacks (most notably his reversal of a leg lock into his own leg-submission attempt) is what stole the fight for him. Eric Kelly won the fast-paced battle by unanimous decision.

Adam Kayoom, a Malaysian mixed martial artist and decorated Muay Thai and BJJ champion, took on Gregor Gracie, a BJJ champion, in a fantastic fight consisting of a lot of work on the ground. Gracie dominated much of the ground game, but standing up one could tell he was starting to gas, and ate a lot of leg kicks and shots to the head. After a grinding fight which the crowd seemed particularly excited about, Adam Kayoom took the win by unanimous decision.

Msakazu Imanari, a master of leg locks, took on Evolve MMA’s Leandro Issa, a well-known BJJ practitioner. This was the only “slow” fight of the night, which saw Issa landing the better of the shots and managing to outgrapple Imanari here and there. Leandro Issa won via unanimous decision.

Next up we saw Roger Huerta, ex-UFC fighter, take on top prospect Zorobabel Moreira. It was a crazy fight – Moreira was landing the cleaner and more accurate shots, while Huerta was pushing the pace and landing decent Muay Thai combinations. Huerta started gassing in the second round, and started eating a lot of shots.

While Huerta was getting dominated, I must say that I was impressed with his heart. He kept pushing forward and didn’t seem to want to give up. Finally though, his body could not take much more and he turtled up. At this point, I thought the referee was going to stop the fight. When I least expected it, Zorobabel Moreira threw a crazy soccer kick to Huerta’s head, knocking him out cold. The crowd was both shocked and in awe.

In the last fight of the night, we saw Renato Sobral, ex UFC fighter and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, take on Tatsuya Mizuno, a DREAM Grand prix finalist. Mizuno dropped Sobral with a straight shot, but it wasn’t long before Sobral worked off his back and caught Mizuno with a beautiful armbar. And the fans went nuts.

ONE FC 4 was a spectacular night of fights. There is certainly no sport out there quite like MMA, and certainly nothing that can compare to a live MMA event. ONE FC 4 proved to be their best event yet, and as we’re six months into 2012, I believe ONE FC 4 was the best event in Asia so far, and definitely one of the best overall this year, up there with some UFC and Strikeforce events.

So that was my night out! There’s no live MMA experience like ONE FC – you need to be there to experience it for yourself. Stay tuned for more articles coming on the site, covering future events and some fighters.

Also, add me up on Twitter @seth_borges.

Peace.