Legend FC 11 Warrior Ev Ting Speaks to World MMA News Digest

Ev Ting / Legend Fighting Championship 11

Ev Ting (5-1) kindly took some time out of his final preparations for his upcoming bout to speak to World MMA News Digest.

Legend Fighting Championship 11 at Chin Woo Stadium, Kuala Lumpur. 27th April 2013

Q) What have been your preparations been for this fight?

A) Preparation wise I've been meeting up to spar with other top Kiwi fighters such as Dan Hooker, Kai France once a week as well as that I have been sharpening up my specific techniques at Auckland MMA with coach Hamish Robertson & Kamikaze Power conditioner Makoto Endo.

Q) What do you know about your opponent? (Choi Yeong Gwang (6-6))

A) Choi is a very game & tough opponent, well rounded & physically strong.

Q) You are part Malaysian although you fight out of NZ, Do you still have family here and are they coming to watch you? (Ting was born in Malaysia of Chinese ancestry)

A) I still consider myself a proud Malaysian Chinese here in NZ although I am long lost with my roots/history and own a Kiwi passport. I never really formally invite family to my competitions as I try to keep business and family separate. I will be in KL for a couple weeks afterwards where I will be catching up with them instead & fit in some training. Rest of my other family is spread out by Sarawak and Singapore.

Q) What will be different from you last fight at Legend? (Rolando Gabriel Dy Navarette at Legend 10. Ting got a Unanimous Decision)

A) My last fight at Legend's with Dy, I was playing it safe to get the W to redeem my performance from my first battle at Legend FC. This fight we can expect a more explosive & hungry me.

Q) What is your long term aim in this sport?

A) Long term goals in sport is to be happy & content with my career with no regrets. 

Q) Who do you most admire in Malaysian MMA and why?

A) Malaysian MMA. I feel the wave of fighters is still somewhat young. But it will have to be Sam Chan or otherwise Will Chope if he can be considered from Malaysian MMA.

Q)  Who is your all time favorite MMA fighter?

A) Fedor

Q) Who are you sponsors?

A) NZMMA, Nutratech. Auckland MMA, BODI Transformation Studio, Faze Authentics, Jackson & Co.

“Mugen” Gets His Chance to Impress Us…Again.

“Mugen” Gets His Chance to Impress Us…Again.

 (article by the coffee boy)

         Young, good-looking, and absolutely beastly, Mark “Mugen” Striegl has been on a tear lately and people have noticed. After making his successful debut with popular Filipino promotion PXC, submitting Robert Wusstig under two minutes, he now has what is a huge step up in MMA veteran Harris “The Hitman” Sarmiento.

         Sarmiento, the reigning PXC Lightweight Champion with a record of 35 – 23, will be dropping to the featherweight division to meet Striegl. Sarmiento is known for his grinding-style of fighting and well-roundedness, and will pose a considerable threat to Mark Striegl’s perfect 11 – 0 record.

         Striegl is known almost exclusively for his aggressive style of grappling and wide range of submission skills in his arsenal, and has demonstrated this in his fights against Ev Ting, Alcer Lozada, and more recently Robert Wusstig. Out of his 11 wins, nine have come by way of submission after more or less dominating and outclassing his opponents on the ground.

         What’s most impressive about this young man isn’t so much his skills nor his record, but rather how he fearlessly draws his opponents into his own world and does it with a “poker face” – I can’t remember the last time I saw him look frustrated, not even in one of his early fights against top Korean prospect Bae Young Kwon.

         The guys behind PXC clearly see something in Striegl, and giving him this fight against Sarmiento is probably their way of breaking him into a new scene, potentially rewarding him a title shot if he can prove that all the hype behind him is legitimate.

         Mark Striegl has had steady momentum over the last year and, what with wins over Ev Ting and Alcer Lozada and rumors that ONE FC wanted to sign him (obviously failing to do so), it was no surprise that PXC was aggressive and eager to sign him before anyone else did, and break him into their promotion.

         The significance of this fight for Striegl is, well, very significant – a win over the bigger, more experienced man in Sarmiento will show everyone in the featherweight and bantamweight division that he means business. A dominating win would serve him well right now – PXC’s featherweight and bantamweight divisions are one of the most stacked divisions around.

         Striegl’s game plan should be a no-brainer: feel him out, drag Sarmiento into his own world, and work those submissions. But make no mistake, this should be an uphill battle for the rising star and will definitely bring out the best in him.

This is Mark “Mugen” Striegl’s toughest fight to date – will he impress us again?

Legend 10 Fight Card and Videos

Legend 10 Fight Card and Videos

Published on August 11, 2012 by The Editor in Legend, NEWS

August 24, 2012 — Asia World Expo, Hong Kong

The guys over at Legend have released the card for Legend 10 – I know surprising huh? – Let’s be honest if you read certain websites, filled with journalists (who may or may not be) paid by another organisation you would think that Legend was defunct. Of course if you believe those people you deserve all that life sends you. 

I bet you reply to those letters from Widows of Nigerian Princes who need your help to release a preposterous amount of money. Or, maybe you believe those stories telling you that certain organisations have some two billion viewers!

I mean let’s be honest Asian MMA is full of bullshit stories from easily bought so-called journalists more interested in money than reporting the facts or the sport.

So lets stick to the facts shall we?

Legend 10 IS going to happen and as usual it will feature a selection of exciting Asian Pacific MMA Warriors.

Here is the Fight Card 

Yusuke Kawanago (12-3-1)  vs. Rob Lisita (10-4-0) (Legend Featherweight Championship)

Haejun Yang (7-3-0) vs. Wenbo Liu (7-5-0)  (Vacant ~ Legend Middleweight Championship)

Cole Davids (7-0-0)  vs. Brandon Ropati (6-0-0)

Rob Hill(11-6-1)  vs. Koji Oishi (21-9-9)

Xian Ji (9-2-0)  vs. Ruel Catalan (0-1-0)

Alex Niu (1-3-0)  vs. Luke Jumeau (3-1-0)

Jacques Marsters (6-1-1) vs. Yusuke Kasuya (6-1-1)

Yeong Gwang Choi (5-6-0)  vs. Leonard Delarmino (3-3-0)

Kaiwhare Kara-France (1-1-0)  vs. Sam Chan (4-1-0)

Ev Ting (4-1-0)  vs. Rolando Gabriel Dy Navarette  (2-1-0)

Legend is not just an MMA Organisation it’s the home of the MMA Ring Girls – Check out this Video!

PODCAST Ep 27 – Will ‘The Kill’ Chope On Life As An MMA Fighter in Asia

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PODCAST Ep 27 – Will ‘The Kill’ Chope On Life As An MMA Fighter in Asia

Published on February 21, 2012 by The Editor in PODCAST

It’s the MMAnewsAsia podcast Episode 27 with MMA Fighter Will ‘The Kill’ Chope 

And he kindly tells us what life is really like for an up and coming MMA fighter away from the glamour of Fight Night on Some of the Regions Biggest MMA Organisations

So a few weeks ago I had a very interesting joint podcast with Will ‘The Kill’ Chope and Mark Striegl and as sometimes happens in the podcast world, it got lost due to technical issues. It’s taken quite a while, but finally yesterday I managed to catch up with Will.

Fresh off of his latest fight a Victory at URCC Baguio 4 Battleground Vs Red Romaro. It was a first round stoppage as he pounded Romaro into submission.

It came only a few weeks after he lost to Ev Ting in New Zealand on the Merciless bill. Of course his team mate Mark Striegl avenged that loss when he himself fought Ev Ting who was a late replacement at Legend 7 last week,  Mark choked Ev out in the first round.

Anyway, I thought it would be good to ask some questions that would be fighters might take for granted. Such as how do you survive when fighting in regional events is your main income and how do you manage to keep up such a work ethic?

Soon Will, will be heading back from Baguio City in the Philippines to Manila which is a six hour bus ride, he will then fly to Malaysia to prepare for his next fight. There is some information on what those fights may be in the show.

At the end of the show Mark Striegl comes back from an evening run (this was almost 2:00am!) these are dedicated dudes and anybody who wishes to follow their footsteps into fighting would do well to listen. It’s not all UFC out there, you gotta pay your dues!

You can hear the podcast on the player on this page or subscribe on  iTunes and other devices.  Or best of all you can hear our show on Stitcher SmartRadio,  Stitcher allows you to listen to your favorite shows directly from your iPhone, Android Phone, Kindle Fire and beyond.

On-demand and on the go! Don’t have Stitcher? Download it for free today at Stitcher.com or in the app stores.  Stitcher SmartRadio- The Smarter Way to listen to radio

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Legend 7 The Undercard From The City of Dreams, Macau – Results and Reviews

Legend 7 The Undercard From The City of Dreams, Macau – Results and Reviews

Published on February 11, 2012 by The Editor in Legend

Legend 7 February 11th from the Grand Hyatt, City of Dreams, Macau – Here’s The Undercard Results

Fight 1

Ming Yen Sung (China) Vs Agustin Delamino (Philippines)  Ref: Roger Chou

Round 1:

After a few attempts at a body lock – Delamino and Sung both threw punches Sung missed but Delamino didn’t and Sung went down, Delamino looked to turn away and claim a victory but Sung was not out so Delamino went straight back down and finished him.  45 seconds of the first round.

Fight 2

Mark Striegl (Philippines) Vs Ev Ting (New Zealand) Ref: Warren Wang

Round 1:

Striegl gets an early take down and then he picks Ting up and slams him down again. Ting turns Striegl but  Striegl is trying a guilotine, Ting is on top and goes for a mount on Striegl, Striegl turns him, Ting quickly puts in what looks to be a solid armbar but Striegl slips out of it after a few seconds when he must have been concerned. Striegl has Tings back and starts to lay in some punches before trying to get in a rear naked choke, this looks like trouble for Ting, but somehow he escapes, but Striegl keeps his back and again works punches to soften him up and again he tries another rear naked choke and he still has not got it right, he continues to work on Ting, Striegl has hooks in and is in total control eventually he gets the choke in and Ting fails to tap instead falling unconscious. I woud say Striegl avenged his team mates defeat with a dominant display. Winning at 3:51 of the first round Striegl advances to 7-0. I like how Striegl is effortlessly cool in victory.

Fight 3

Koji Ando (Japan) Vs Damion Brown (Australia) Ref: Thomas Van

Round 1:

An early kick from Brown and a nice right punch, Brown is laying some very solid leg kicks, he goes for a single leg take down but Ando takes his back and a struggle begins, Ando wraps on a triangle and Brown has to tap in just at just 2:27 of Round One.

Fight 4

Taiyo Nakahara (Japan)  Vs Michael Mortimer (Australia) Ref: Warren Way

Round 1:

Nakahara has Mortimer down early and he tries an early rear naked choke and it’s looking tight, somehow Mortimer escapes but Nakahara still has an arm but then he transitions again into a rear naked choke, Mortimer again escapes and is on top he gives a couple of punches before standing up, Nakahara stays down and as Mortimer approaches Nakahara catches him with a nice kick that took Mortimer by surprise he will be a bit unsure about approaching again.

Mortimer cannot resist Nakahara’s siren call and goes to he joins him on the ground not much happens though and the ref stand them both up.

They are soon back on the floor and Mortimer looked like he had hurt him self going to ground and Nakahara was soon ontop and was pounding Mortimer, the ref is plainly heard telling im to watch the back on the head on more than one occasion but Nakahara continues to hit Mortimer until the ref stops it. There is some confusion but soon it is clear he has disqualified  Nakahara for excessive punches to the back of the head. He can have no complaint the ref did tell him clearly.

Fight 5

Ji Xian (China) Vs Leonard Delarmino (Philippines) Ref: Roger Chou

Round 1:

Delarmino’s Brother won his fight earlier in just 45 seconds could he match that?

Xian came out and went for an early take down, Delarmino takes top position and puts in a guillotine, Xian stand up and though the guillotine is still in it does not seem to be troubling Xian, it goes back to the ground and now Delarmino is in a guillotine and it looks to be very tight, for a few seconds Delarmino looks to be in trouble and then he manages to escape. They stand up again, but are soon down on the ground and it’s clear that Xian has very sharp ground skills, Xian has Delarmino in an armbar but he manages to escape and they stand up again.

Delarmino again has a guillotine in and they go to the ground Delarmino taking top position eventually Xian ends up with his head in a leg triangle but he manages to escape and takes side control and he places a couple of elbows into Delarmino and with just twenty seconds left he gets a solid rear naked choke in, Delarmino tries desperately to hold on but at the ten second clapper he has to give. 4:50 win to Xian who has an impressive ground game

And that was the free to view undercard. Here’s what I thought of it.

Well, it was full of action but sadly none of the fights got beyond the first round. This is such a difficult game to predict and fights that look good on paper can prove to be less than exciting. I don’t think any of the fights were poor but, we never had a real barnstorming crowd pleaser. I must confess my expectations were higher.

What we did see though were some very skillful fighters who I am sure will feature in further events.

At 7-0 Striegl must soon be moving up to the main event card.

Legend 7 – Fight Card Change – Gwang out – Ting in – Striegl Ready!

Legend 7 – Fight Card Change – Gwang out – Ting in – Striegl Ready!

Published on February 7, 2012 by The Editor in Legend

From Legends Own Website:

“With injury once again derailing Choi Yeong Gwang’s return to action, New Zealand’s Ev Ting has agreed to take his place against Mark Striegl of the Philippines. Ting is only a week past his last MMA fight: a January 28 TKO victory against Striegl’s teammate Will Chope in Napier, New Zealand. Unscathed by that contest, and still near peak condition, the Malaysian native showed his fighting spirit by agreeing to make his Legend debut on only seven days notice. Already driven by his desire for a seventh consecutive win, Striegl now has an additional motive for victory: revenge for his teammate. And with neither fighter having ever tasted defeat in MMA, this has the makings of one of the best fights on the card.”

This is going to be an awesome fight!

Merciless – MMA in New Zealand

Merciless – MMA in New Zealand

Published on January 21, 2012 by The Editor in Event, Merciless

Saturday 28th January in Hawkes Bay at the Petigrew Green Arena, Napier, New Zealand

This is an exciting charity event and the charities that will benefit are The Womans Refuge and Inspiration for Children.

The event organised by Jerry Sargeant of Fierce Fitness promises to put on an exciting show.

The Undercard

There will be 9 corporate fights as warriors from local companies are hoping to settle some scores in the ring and then of course the real action unfolds.

Gary Wise vs Cliff Dyer

Paul Wise vs Scott Dallimoore

John Brady vs Rob Townsend

Adam Emerson vs Shane Holst

Blayde Truts vs Louis Thompson

Mario Kearney vs Dion Cooper

Ana Morrison vs Gemma Anderson

Nigel Grootjans vs Scott Richardson

Brendon Smith vs Justin Power

Then there are three Pro MMA Bouts

Sadly I only have details of two of the fights but they promise their share of fireworks.

Well known in the Asian scene is the American Will ‘The Kill’ Chope (5-4-0) (Phuket Top Team /Team Buffet) a man who likes to fight a lot and is always looking for fresh challenges, his opponent is Ev Ting (2-0-0)(Auckland MMA)

The Main Event 

Daniel ‘The Grave Digga’ Digby (8-4-0)(Hawkes Bay) (Fierce Fitness) who is also NZ’s ICNZ
Welterweight Champion is stepping up a weight division to Middle Weight to tackle NZ’s ICNZ middle weight champion Forrest Goodwin (3-1-0)(Christchurch) (Strike Force)

We would like to wish the people behind Merciless all the best with the event.