TuneTalk to sponsor MMA in Malaysia?

TuneTalk to Sponsor Malaysian MMA?

The rumours have been going around for a while now and those rumours keep getting louder and TuneTalk is the name we keep hearing. So where are we with these rumours?

The thing we can be pretty sure of is the fact that TuneTalk representatives have been talking to MMA faces around Asia collecting advice and information on the state of MMA in the area and particularly in Malaysia.

It is pretty much confirmed that there is to be a Malaysian championship starting in 2013 and initially we heard it was to be for Malaysians and PR's only, which would have been interesting as it would give a chance for the Malaysians to shine, but rumours are going around that this may change. I guess some gyms want to protect their investments in foreign talent.

Of course this step between the smaller regional MMA organisations in Malaysia and the big step up that is the bigger Asian Organisations like Legend where all too often the Malaysians fail to impress.
Is that due to experience or nerves due to the bright lights of a bigger show or are they just not ready?

Either way this should provide a helpful step towards these fighters gaining useful experience. However, this totally depends on the match making because the quality of match making in Malaysia often leaves much to be desired.

Anyway, the rumours are TuneTalk are going to be providing sponsorship for these events. Fingers crossed for that.

Further to that we understand that representatives from other Asian MMA organisations may have been in touch with TuneTalk, nothing confirmed but rumours persist.

The important point about all of this if it should turn out to be true is that TuneTalk will provide the sport some legitimacy which may encourage other big brands to get involved and if that happens it could snowball.

Sadly, however the weakness in this whole plan is the Malaysian public who remain blissfully ignorant of the sport. The TV coverage in the country does not help as the sport is heavily censored, certain moves or too much blood and the fight moves mysteriously on a few seconds or gets blurred out. I actually saw one fight where the winning move was not shown, needless to say I no longer bother watching MMA on Malaysian TV.

The thing is, this will damage the sport before it takes off, with big brands like TuneTalk there is required a return, it might not be financial but it would be in recognition and I am sure the TV figures for MMA in Malaysia are pathetic at best.

Maybe TuneTalk can flex some muscle and get the censors to look at their actions, maybe they can manage to get more paying customers through the doors at events. Although some of the rumours I am hearing do not sound like that is an issue.

Of course certain MMA organisations have much bigger TV deals that take the audience far beyond the local fan base. Legend for example have signed an impressive international TV deal, PXC in the Philippines have just reported figures locally (Philippines) of 700,000 viewers for the last live event on AKTV plus of course they streamed the event outside of the Philippines via Sherdog to a passionate international audience.

Nothing in Malaysia of course is of that calibre at present, the three main events are F3 a hybrid show that plays to half empty sports halls. Malaysian Fighting Championship and Ultimate Beatdown that whilst popular amongst the gyms that support them don't exactly make a ripple on the street outside.
The newest show was Legionnaire and it remains to be seen how that progresses.
*80% of the crowd are the same people at all the shows.

The MMA fansites in the area may delude themselves that what they write is important and is read widely beyond fans of the sport but it isn't and they are not (and yes I include our site in that).

MMA is a tiny business in Malaysia with the gyms almost perpetually bitching at each other over members and trainers gained and lost. Until the whole Malaysian industry grows up it won't have any meaningful growth.

TuneTalk is the best hope of Malaysian MMA to break out of the swirl of mediocrity that it at present sits in. Don't believe the talk of sold out arenas, rabid fans at shopping malls or anything like that. It's all built on smoke and mirrors. Without business people giving big heaps of financial support Malaysian MMA would sink without trace.

We understand that tomorrow night there will be a chance to meet the CEO of TuneTalk Jason Lo at a bar in KL go along if you can.

There has been a long slow slog to get MMA in Malaysia to this position, lets hope that 2013 can truly be the year that Malaysian MMA breaks through into the mainstream.

The Malaysain Invasion 2013 is a good first step but people the only way to make it happen is to take along a non MMA fan friend to events to introduce them to the sport.

*obviously that figure is a guess!