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.

Does ONE FC Still Think Hype Replaces Facts?

Does ONE FC Still Think Hype Replaces Facts?

Published on January 26, 2012 by The Editor in ONEFC

It Appears ONE FC still cannot talk hype free!

ONE FC kings of hype in Asia won’t talk to me, I’m not in the ‘Inner Circle,’ so I don’t get stories, it’s a shame, but it does mean that nobody can tell me what I can and cannot  post  instead of the  hand fed articles and PR hype that the ‘Inner Circle’ are all happy to repost time and time again, sure they get access to the fighters and I don’t, it’s just a shame they are happy to just post puff pieces.

I have said it before and I will say it again, I hope ONE FC does become the biggest most prestigious MMA organisation in Asia, I really do, it will be awesome for Singapore, for Asia for the fans and for the fighters.

But please let’s get a decent copy writer and marketing team in place and start building up the excitement with real stories and facts not the weekly ‘Tickets are selling out fast’ story that keeps getting reposted time and time again. I heard it non stop for the first event, it’s like the boy who cried Wolf, they never ever sold out, not even close!

Look, I genuinely think ONE FC would be better off saying stuff like ‘Our first event in Singapore was a massive success with a crowd of 6000+ screaming MMA fans, all enjoying seeing MMA finally breaking through in Singapore, launching what will, we hope become the biggest and most prestigious MMA organisation in the whole of Asia. With representation from all over the region, this truly was the launch of something big!’

But they don’t do that they do this: from todays latest ONE FC facebook post:-

‘ONE Fighting Championship™ is Asia’s largest and most prestigious Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization. After a sold-out debut in Singapore on 3 September 2011, ONE Fighting Championship™ is holding its first event in 2012 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Fans of MMA can look forward to ten fights of non-stop adrenaline and excitement as 20 champions compete for honor and glory. Champions from every major martial art, including some of Indonesia’s own heroes, will proudly represent their nations in an epic clash of skill, determination and pure athleticism.

ONE Fighting Championship™ is broadcast across Asia to over 500 million viewers and 24 countries, showcasing the best athletes from around the world’.

Yes, I get it obviously sponsors don’t care for facts in Asia, they like over blown hype but come on it’s so pathetic! What must the rest of the world think?  

Let’s look at the facts:

If ONE FC is the largest and most prestigious MMA organisation in Asia what does that say for all the organisations that have been toiling for years to build an audience? How do you measure this claim. You don’t its arrogant bullshit. What it could be is a statement of intent. ‘ONE FC striving to be the biggest, most prestigious  MMA organisation in Asia and beyond’ But, I guess it’s best not to play it humble!

Sold Out Debut in Singapore. Really? Really? Half the stadium was curtained off and what was left still had some empty seats, do you really believe the people who were there did not notice this?

20 Champions, REALLY? Come on please, some of these fighters are genuine champions and ONE FC should be proud to have them, others are up and coming and ONE FC should be proud of that fact, they are growing MMA in Asia.

Anyway, I am sure this will ensure that I continue to be ignored by the powers at ONE FC but what the hell, MMA fans in Asia deserve some reality and plus, as many people have already told me, I am an asshole, so I might as well play the part.

What I am is a realist more importantly, I am an ex Sales and Marketing Manager who always had to back up claims for his teams performance with facts, not fakes! Believe me, facts are better, people cam strive to improve if they can see the numbers but if they are in a fog of unreality how do you really know where you are? I get that things may be different in Asia, but really are they. If you told a sponsor to expect 500 million viewers and the real numbers came in way below that number are they really just as happy?

Let’s not forget this tag line “Asia’s Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Combat Championship” do you remember that  show? Yes, it was Martial Combat, Singapore’s first MMA show. It was essentially  a warm up before VC  set up ONE FC. It was a good event with good coverage that all MMA fans in Asia would have enjoyed, but realistically it was NEVER Asia’s Ultimate anything! The crowds cage side were nothing to write home about and I don’t know what the TV figures were but I cannot imagine they troubled the BPL numbers even though the broadcaster boasted of access to 24 different countries and 300 million people. These things take time, hype cannot fill a void, people do.

I would love to speak to Victor Cui, in fact Victor, I invite you to let me interview you for my podcast, I promise I won’t censor anything, you can say anything you like providing you are prepared to answer my questions honestly. I am open to admit that I might be missing something, maybe I am missing the point altogether and let’s be honest Victor is a much better business man than I ever was, so I probably am. I don’t want to be considered an enemy of ONE FC, I’m not, I’m a big fan, I just consider  reporting facts more important than regurgitating fiction.

In the UK for many years Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United refused to speak to the BBC because he was unhappy with something they reported. In the spirit of hype and bullshit I should claim this to be as big a snub, it’s not and nobody cares but  let’s pretend!

So that’s todays news story from MMA News Asia.com the Biggest and Most Influential Website Covering Mixed Martial Arts in the World (probably) (NOT!).