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Singapore and Malaysian MMA Continues To Grow

MMA in Singapore and Malaysia On The Rise

Mixed Martial Arts in our little corner of Asia has come a long way in the last few years. Until around four years ago there was nothing but silence. Since then in Singapore and Malaysia we have had tremendous change.

Back in May 2010 Victor Cui then  with ESPN was behind  Martial Combat a ground breaking event in Singapore that certainly helped push some of Asia’s finest fighters into a whole new area of popularity and brought local televised MMA to many homes.

Between May and October of the same year there were 12 Martial Combat events.

Less than a year later Victor Cui launched the ONE FC Empire the present biggest MMA organisation in SE Asia. Its first show was in September 2011.

In Malaysia we had the much smaller but nevertheless widely anticipated local shows with the Muayfit – Malaysian Fighting Championship, F3 and the oldest of them all Ultimate Beatdown at Johor’s Ultimate MMA Academy.

Since then Ultimate Beatdown has broken out of the gym and recently staged its most successful show to date at the KSL City Mall in Johor with representatives from many gyms from both sides of the causeway and even further afield.

F3 continues to limp along, although present feedback is that finally it is getting its shit together and recent shows have had no ‘dodgy’ judging decisions, could F3 finally be about to gain respectability? We hope so it would be good to see it fulfil it’s promise.

MFC I believe still lives but it does seem to have been derailed somewhat by the arrival of MiMMA – Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts the first of Malaysia’s events to attract big sponsorship and gain TV coverage. Thanks to the patronage of Tune Talk. Finally MMA in Malaysia is proving a suitable place for bigger name sponsors.

Of course in Malaysia, ONE FC have also been a fairly regular visitor to Kuala Lumpur with a series of successful shows and a very excitable crowd.

We even had a visit from Chinese based MMA organisation Legend FC this show was recorded for Chinese TV. Sadly the crowd stayed away and although the fights were on the whole exciting the thin crowd was I am sure a terrible disappointment. This was sadly the last show from Legend who closed their doors leaving many disappointed fans behind.

Recently in Borneo another Malaysian MMA event has started up the Borneo Fighting Championship It seems that MMA really is getting a good foothold in Malaysia and Singapore.  Soon we can look forward to the biggest of them all. The UFC are coming and they have picked up a few local faces to give the card some real zing. But before that we have a new boy on the block.

Debutant Singapore organisation Rebel FC daring to square up to ONE FC on its home ground and that home ground just got tougher with ONE FC announcing that they have signed Ben Askrin the ex-Bellator champion who was widely expected to join the UFC and then the WSOF and so it must been seen as a real coup when he went to ONE telling journalists that he will be getting paid more than 80% of UFC fighters.

But back to Rebel: With a Main Event featuring the talented Australian ‘Ruthless’ Rob Lisita (12-5) from Phuket Top Team against Takeshi (Lion Takeshi) Inoue (21-8) the Dream and Shooto veteran from Shooting Gym Yokohama.

A supporting main event bout between North Korean Gyo Pwang Hwang (3-3)  Korean Top Team and Singapore favourite and Juggernaut Fight Club based Syfiq ‘The Slasher’ Abdul Bin Samad (2-0) should get the crowd on their feet.

Bottom line is this though; will the fans turn up and make the event a financial success. That is all that matters for the money men behind these events, coverage and crowds.

ONE FC seems to have settled down and is surely here to stay, nobody can deny that it’s cards are improving in quality however talk of having 95% of the local fighters on their books rankles when the last event featured an immediate rematch championship title fight for a fighter who didn’t even make it to the end of the second round in the first fight.

Oh and I will never ever be happy to hear ONE FC call it’s championship’s World Titles! Come on guys how about Asian Championship or ONE FC championship?

The UFC are thought to want to put on show’s in this area on a regular basis but how many of those shows will be in Singapore or even Malaysia is unknown. I suspect sadly not many as they will surely head to bigger markets. Either way having the UFC around can only benefit those local fighters lucky enough to get picked up by the “big show” who will be able to increase their exposure and their pay packets with better sponsorship opportunities as fighters can surely see an opportunity to maximise their opportunities and brands can get the kind of coverage they could previously only dream of.

So the future for MMA in Malaysia and Singapore is bright. More opportunities for fighters to test themselves in a cage and a visible ladder that they can aim to climb up.

Of course it’s not all sunshine. Recently watching the UFC on Malaysian TV, I was again angered by the pathetic things that get censored. During the night every time a bit of blood was on show the censors turned the picture black and white this well after 10pm when all good children should be in bed.. So I guess B&W makes it just fine it’s not blood if it’s grey, although doesn't that make it look like brain matter?

But overall MMA is this area is enjoying unprecedented growth and long may it continue, all it needs is some decent officials and less low level fighters with inflated opinions of their abilities, a little bit more honesty in the game would be a good thing.

KSL Ultimate Beatdown 13, Johor Bahru - Results

KSL Ultimate Beatdown 13 - KSL City Mall, Johor Bahru, November 30th 2013.

Thanks and a quick round-up

It was a fun night, our first in a new bigger venue and although we had some technical issues I think most people had a good time. I think we fell short of my target of 1000 people but it was a big ask considering 2 years ago this event was 50 people in a gym and the last event hit 750 which in itself was a big jump from the previous event. So a solid event with a solid crowd. We will continue to grow and improve. Our new cage performed well and I think most people enjoyed themselves.

Thanks especially to our great sponsors: Eight Lido Johor's Best Bar by Far. REPS Fitness, Johor's Top All Purpose Gym for Getting Fit and Fight Training. Arty Party, Johor's premier Art market and chairty event organiser. Muscle Factory Johor's leading supplement supplier. Potosan Corner Kuala Lumpur's premier MMA equipment supplier. What's Going On In Johor Bahru (WGOIJB) the leadng facebook resource for those living in or visiting Johor. Ultimate MMA Academy Johor's best Fighters gym. My Teksi the best and safest way to get around - Download the My Teksi app and see the benefits of this great way to get around. No more dodgy driver who wont use the meter or who take you for a longer journey. My Teksi tells you where you taxi is, who the driver is and his contact number, the cab number and the approximate price. It's a great system.
And a massive thank you to KSL City Mall Johor for a great venue and a great support team who made this possible.

Plus of course all the volunteers who really made this possible. Working all day and then coming and working until the early hours of the morning. Great job guys, you rock.

Thanks also to all the gyms who supported the event and brought fans and fighters. 
It was great to see Heath Sims and the Evolve Gym who for the first time ever supported our event with their fighters. 
Everfitness, Sparta Singapore, Monarchy MMA, Grasio, Elitez, BJJ Singapore, Fight G, Ultimate MMA Academy, HIt, Leverage MMA, Madman, MuayFit, Sparta Singapore, Team Thoo, REPS Fitness, Elitez, Melaka MMA, Penang Top Team, Impact MMA, Evolution MMA, Karabaw, SOS, 

Thanks also to ONE FC supremo Vicotr Cui who came along and sparkled with his beautiful wife.
Also to ONE FC fighter Gianni Subba thanks for coming along and supporting the show.

Also big thanks to a big man - Matt Pellino emcee extraordinaire. Another great job.

Thanks to FS Cheng and his team and ONE FC fighter and the founder of Ultimate Beatdown Melvin Yeo for putting on a great show.

My Three Fights of The Night:

Raymon Beh vs Amie Che Yun - Raymen was lacking in both height and reach but as he has shown in previous events he never lacks in heart. For every 5 shots he threw probably four were misses as the height of his opponent and his longer arms proved a tough nut to crack and his opponent was having plenty of success of his own. But Raymen just kept coming and coming and by the end of round 2 his opponent was looking decidedly ragged, In round 3 Raymen just kept coming like a steam train and Yun ground to a halt as the punches really took their toll. He was finished and Raymen kep landing blows until at 1:38 of the third round the ref had to step in a stop it.

Sabastian Cole vs Mehrdad Malekizadeh    

Sure I'm biased he is after all my Son, but I have watched him from when he first started training three years ago at the Ultimate MMA Academy improve and become more dedicated, he spent two months at Team Quest in Chiang Mai this year and his game has improved. He has a long way to go but recently I have been lucky enough to watch him roll with some high levels guys and I can see where he has to improve, but I can also see how much he has improved.

Mehrdad is a muay thai fighter who has spent a good deal of time at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket. He got in Sabastians face as the lined up and he leaned back against the fence full of confidence as the fighters were announced. And that confidence looked well placed as a solid opening punch caught Sabastian right from the off. But and this is the difference, he just kept to his plan and covered up taking the opening as soon as it presented itself taking Mehrdad down to the ground around 6 seconds in and from there it was one way traffic as every-time Mehrdad attempted to escape or change position the trapped tightened until at 2:17 he had to tap. Sabastian is still only 17 so has a great deal more time to improve. But for now. I, his Dad and fiercest critic is very pleased with his progress he is very dedicated and it's starting to show.

Kenny Yap  vs Kumarasyan Perumal 

Yap is a highly rated Malaysian fighter and present MIMMA Flyweight Champion and Kumarasyan is a 1-0 fighter from Singapore who at the last Ultimate Beatdown took just 16 seconds to become a fans favorite with a RNC victory over a fellow Singaporean.

Yap came in bursting with confidence and was I am sure most peoples favorite for this bout. I had seen Kumar rolling with noted BJJ grappler Shane Suzuki at REPS Gym after the UB press conference and I knew he had a lot of skill and long limbs. He was calm and collected and he did not let any aura of confidence that Kenny Yap may have had put him off of his game and he soon set about dismantling the Malaysian champion with superb strikes and non stop aggression that had Yap on the back foot until at 3:05 of round 1 the ref had to step in and save Yap from further damage. A superb showing from Kumarasyan who must be one to watch in the Asian scene. A real up and coming prospect.

UB13 RESULTS

K-1 KICKBOXING
Jason D.C (Everfitness) vs Nur Azlam (Sparta SG)
Winner: Jason D.C R1 Time 1.37 Ref Stoppage

Agilan (Monarchy) vs Adil Hafidz (Johor)
Winner: Agilan R3 Time 5.00 Split Decision

SUB-ZERO
Charles (Grasio) vs Jason Teh (Elitez)
DRAW

Ivan Chua (BJJ SG) vs Hilmi (Fight G)
Winner: Ivan Chua Time 6.27

Huang Shi Hao (BJJ SG) vs Kelvin (Fight G)
DRAW

Yves Tan (UMA) vs Sam Chan (Hit)
Winner: Sam Chan Time 1.47 Belly Down Armbar

Ian Lee (Leveraga) vs Shane Suzuki (Fight G)
DRAW

AMATEUR (MMA)
Mohd Safuan vs Shafuan
Winner: Mohd Safuan R1 Time 1.17 Rear Naked Choke

Ben Lee (Elitez) vs Chah Wee Hang (UMA)
Winner: Ben Lee R2 Time 2.42 Submission

Jamal (Juggernaut) vs Mohd Fairul (Madman)
Winner: Jamal R2 Time 2.45 Rear Naked Choke

Raymond Beh (UMA) vs Amie Che Yun (Madman)
Winner: Raymond Beh R3 1.38 TKO

Warren (Muayfit) vs Bahrath Sirige (Evolve)
Winner: Bahrath Sirige R3 Time 1.13 TKO

Patrik (Juggernaut) vs Azmil (Grasio)
Winner: Patrik R1 Time 0.44 TKO

Putera Rudy (Sparta) vs Jarek Kochanowicz (Evolve)
Winner: Jarek Kochanowicz R1 Time 1.43 Rear Naked Choke

Shahakazack (Muayfit) vs Wong Seng Tech
Winner: Shahakazack R2 Time 2.30 Submission

Solihin (Grasio) vs Shaun Tay (Evolve)
Winner: Shaun Tay R1 Time 1.51 TKO

Jon Thoo (Team Thoo) vs Benedict (Evolve)
Winner: Benedict R3 Time 3.00 Decision

Khairul (Grasio) vs Lee Boon Chun (UMA)
Winner: Lee Boon Chun R2 Time 1.31 TKO

FEMALE (MMA)
Adek (REPS Fitness) vs Jaylen (Elitez)
Winner: Adek R2 Time 1.30 Rear Naked Choke

MAIN CARD (MMA)
Mohd Fouzein (Melaka) vs Jen Loh Lim (Penang Top Team)
Winner: Jen Loh Lim R3 Time 5.00 Split Decision

Garie Tang (Impact) vs Pranav (Evolution)
Winner: Garie Tang R3 Time 5.00 Split Decision

Mohd Firdaus vs Md Zakhir (UMF)
Winner: Md Zakhir R1 Time 1.00 Rear Naked Choke

Sabastian Cole (REPS Fitness) vs Merhdad (Iran)
Winner: Sabastian Cole R1 Time 2.17 Rear Naked Choke

Sanjivan (Evolution) vs Mohd Alsebaie (Muayfit)
Winner: Sanjivan R2 Time 4.00 TKO

Rayner (Karabaw) vs Shaharil (Grasio)
Winner: Rayner R1 Time 0.30 Rear Naked Choke

Mohd Faizul (Melaka) vs Emilio (Juggernaut)
Winner: Emilio R1 Time 0.42 Rear Naked Choke

Nico Soe (Impact) vs Mustafa Kamal (Grasio)
Winner: Nico Soe R1 Time 0.44 TKO

Malik Kreishan (Melaka) vs Keith Alden (Evolve)
Winner: Keith Alden R2 Time 1.44 TKO

CO-MAIN EVENT
Kenny Yap (Monarchy) vs Kumarasyan (SOS)
Winner: Kumarasyan R1 Time 3.05 TKO

MAIN EVENT
Brad Robinson (Fight G) vs Trestle Jun Minion Tan
Winner: Brad Robinson R3 Time 3.51 Submission