Hanif Zainal Malaysias Newest Pro MMA Fighter

Hanif Zainal Malaysias Newest Pro MMA Fighter

Published on May 31, 2012 by The Sandman in Legend, NEWS

(What?! Another story from The Sandman? I’m like a mother fucking London bus, I tell you.)

Hanif Zainal ~ Legends Newest Signing and One of Malaysia’s Own

After Hanif Zainal’s first fight, people were eager to find out where this talented youngster trained. They asked him of course; and his answer was straightforward, “at a field near my house”.

You see Hanif isn’t just any MMA fighter. This is a Malaysian kid who grew up practicing Tae Kwon Do and started training MMA with his friends by mimicking Youtube videos. “ I would memorize a move then call my friends, teach them and roll with them,” he said.

Literally from the backyard to the big leagues, Hanif is now signed to Legend FC after only three professional fights (2-0-1). “I’m partly scared to be honest because of the bigger pressure there is. But I’m also happy and excited to finally get a chance to be on the big stage,” said Hanif.

He’ll make his Legend debut against Philippines’ Diego Cuenca at The Grand Hyatt Macau on 16th June at Legend FC 9. Despite only three fights under his belt, Hanif will be the more experienced fighter in the ring as his opponent will be making his professional debut. Hanif’s not taking anything for granted though.

“Although he has no professional record, he has been on tour with BJ Penn and he might be a really good fighter.

“I know he’s got a very good ground game; he received his purple belt in BJJ last year and I bet he’s improved even more by now.

“I’d definitely try to keep the fight standing. One thing I know for sure is not to mess with a BJJ practitioner on the ground.” he said.

Hanif has been working hard at Muayfit and also with the Wangsa Maju Warriors to prepare himself for this fight.

“My training is going on well with the help of the fighters at Muayfit and my other gym. My training has only changed with a few additional trainings with my boxing coach Piotr (Leib),” he added.

Originally a lightweight, Hanif is making the switch to featherweight which he believes is a weight class more suitable for him at this early stage in his career.

“It is something new for me (having to cut weight) but I have to get comfortable with it since I would have faced bigger opponents if I stayed in lightweight. That is what i don’t want early in my career.”

Hanif has a few idols in featherweight division such as Mark Striegl, The Korean Zombie Jung Chan-Sung and Jose Aldo. In MMA as a whole however, he looks up to Carlos Condit. He remarked, “Condit and GSP will be like a chess match. He’ll come up with some way to beat GSP; he always does.”

What is in the future for Hanif? UFC, maybe?

“I’m looking to dominate Asian MMA for now. Make my name well-known and keep on improving, move to a bigger league and make Asia proud.”

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Since The Editor and The Coffee Boy have been on my back to cover something other than SFL I’ve decided to add a little bit of UFC predictions section at the end of fighter interviews. So I asked Hanif…

Rich Franklin vs Wanderlei Silva at UFC 147

“I’m not too sure about Rich Franklin but I know Silva is gonna come up aggressive as he always does. So I guess it will be Silva winning it by knockout in the first round.”