ONE FC Destiny Of Warriors A Rousing Success

ONE FC Destiny Of Warriors A Rousing Success

Published on June 24, 2012 by The Editor in ONEFC

ONE FC Destiny of Warriors Delivers in Kuala Lumpur

(Kuala Lumpur 5:00am Sunday-It’s been a long exciting night!)

OK this is the big one Malaysia has never seen an MMA event of anything approaching of this size.

A big crowd is fully expected to create one heck of a buzz, I mean one heck of a buzz! The Stadium Negara has been transformed into a stadium fit for the fastest growing sport in the world.

The crowd mingling outside were looking expectant already wearing shirts showing the latest MMA labels or the MMA Gym or indeed MMA fighter they were supporting.

We got there early it was not due to kick off until 8:00pm and already a fair-sized crowd was mingling around outside, even some of the fighters were there still chatting to friends and fans.

Once we got inside the full-scale of the show became clear. It’s a nice stadium certainly on a par with the Singapore stadium that ONE FC inhabits when on home ground.

Today would be a big test, how would the Malaysian crowd respond to this event, after all to Malaysia this really is the dawning of s new sport. Before today’s show a few worthy local gyms had run smaller shows laying valuable ground work for the event to come tonight, but, this was the big one.

Sport has a great habit of bringing people together with its drama and excitement and tonight an  expected 8000 plus people are going to be brought together to cheer on their fellow countrymen and witness some of the many international fighters who train in Malaysia plus of course some top quality international fighters including an amazing six fighters from the home of MMA, Brazil.

This is a show that probably less than two years ago no MMA fan in Malaysia would have even dreamed of seeing happen in their own country and yet amazingly here it was and it was real.

The ONE FC machine has become increasingly slick from event to event and this was looking smooth from the entry.

Their were sponsors stalls outside and plenty of people to visit them and outside it was approaching evening on a delightfully sunny KL day. It was nice to enter the stadium to access cooler air.

Soon though that air would be charged as warriors entered the cage to do battle.

First order of the day was to meet the fighters they were introduced one and at time and stood circling the cage, an impressive site.

Sadly the fight between Alamurad Kurayev and Roldan Sangcha-an was cancelled due to medical reasons. A real shame Alamurad deserves a stage of this size especially a he trains in KL with the Muayfit Team and this would have been like his home town, we look forward to seeing him in a future ONE FC event.

Bout 1:

Queck Kim Hock – Peter Davis

It’s the Singaporean youngster vs the more experienced Malaysian.

It’s nice to see that ONE FC is now allowing the fighters from all teams to approach the cage with a full size entourage as it makes a much for fun spectacle for the entrance.

But of course the real action happens in the cage.

Round 1:

This was a different Pete Davis to the one I have seen fight at MFC and ONE FC from the start he was more composed and aggressive and a spinning back kick early in the round unsettled Hock and Davis then started an onslaught of knees and punches before the referee stepped in to save Hock from serious beating, as it was it looked like he might have lost the odd tooth (or three)!

Bout 2:

Marcos Escobar – Rodrigo Praxedes

Escobar a Brazilian based in Kuala Lumpur and at 36 starting his MMA career at a late stage.

Praxedes a fellow Brazilian is not much more experienced on the MMA stage. But don’t be fooled both these guys are top quality black belt BBJ practitioners.

Round 1.

These two went straight for it for the first 30 seconds or so exchanging punches and kicks before Praxedes took it to the floor. The main damage at this stage though was probably from the Elbows of Escobar from the ground which unsettled Praxedes. When they returned to their feet Praxedes caught Escobar with a kick on the way up. They soon circled again and Escobar went for a take down which he achieved easily enough and although Praxede looked less mobile he soon got up but was almost immediately taken down again and as Escobar took control for the rest of the round, unleashing knees and ground and pound till the rounds end.

Round 2.

Escobar looked the fresher of the two men, Praxedes actually looked gassed. Escobar was looking in control although their was a stoppage as Escobar kicked Praxedes in the groin.

When they resumed Escobar immediately took control. Then with two minutes of the round left they exchanged punches and Escobar went down with Praxedes following for a short while he had control but then they stood up again and Escobar agin took Praxedes down and was in total control, the ref must have been seriously considering stopping the fight but Praxedes managed to hold on although he did not look too good going back to his corner.

Round 3.

Escobar took Praxedes down easily and with less than 1:05 of the round gone Escobar succeeded in submitting Praxedes with a choke hold.

Bout 3.

AJ Lias Mansor v Mitch Chilson

It’s AJ from Borneo against Evolve team member the American Mitch Chilson.

AJ came out too rapturous applause.

During the early stages of round 1 he quickly and easily took Chilson down but Chilson soon sprung up again and then he took AJ down, from there, Chilson was in control with a series of takedowns and then he got AJ’s back and at 1:39 he completed a rear naked choke and AJ had to tap.

End of the Prelims

Bout 4.

Brian Choi Vs Arnaud Lepont

Round 1.

These two didn’t bother with any niceties then went straight for it from the bell exchanging brutal blows and kicks before Choi got Lepont down about two minutes in and he controlled him for the best part of the next two minutes and then they spent the last-minute on their feet exchanging blows right at the death Arnaud from his back attempted a submission but it was too late as the bell rang.

Round 2.

Tehses two started the second round with a tap of gloves and then a hug and then another tap of the gloves much to the crowd’s delight.

Choi looks the fresher of the two at the start and the second round goes much like the first to start with Choi succeeding with a number of take downs and controlling the fight on the floor.

Round 3.

Lepont looks really tired but is not willing to give an inch, Choi again takes him down and commences to ground and pound but Lepont managed to escape and then from nowhere Lepont did what he has done so many times before and pulled a couple of submission attempts before finally getting a real tight rear naked choke which finished it as Choi had no option but to tap. A Lepont special.

Bout 5.

Bae Yong Kwon Vs Eric Kelly

I must admit that here at MMANewsAsia there is more than a little love for Eric “The Natural” Kelly and we were so pleased when we heard that he was back in the cage, it’s been too long.

This was not going to be an easy fight though and so it turned out as they exchanged heavy blows  from the First round,  Kwon also took Kelly down on a few occasions and looked to have him in trouble with a few solid submission attempts but Kelly survived.

Round 2.

The second round was another close fought battle with both fighters having their fair share of effective punches and kicks and submission attempts but although a close round Kwon got given a yellow card for an illegal elbow.

Round 3.

Again we had the same scene a very close fight and both fighters had their chances but then with just two minutes left Eric Kelly got his favored Rear Naked Choke on and it looked all over for Kwon, but somehow he managed to escape and Kwon was on top of him for the remainder of the round although not really in an effective way.

This was a very entertaining fight and the winner really earned his W tonight, the loser deserves another chance for sure.

Eric Kelly won with a unanimous decision much to the happy relief of the MMANewsAsia team.

Bout 6.

Grogor Gracie vs Adam Kayoom

This is a Gracie, the most famous name in MMA, against local hero Adam Kayoom. This is a fight that will make the crowd go crazy if the local boy wins.

But don’t forget he is fighting a Gracie it won’t be easy, but if he does it will be epic. Gracie is by far the younger at just 25 years of age against Kayooms 34.

Kayoome enters to Michael Jackson,s Don’t Stop To You Get Enough which got the crowd going even more.

Round 1.

A few early kicks from Kayoom but before the first minute is out Gracie has his first take down. He made best use of it and started to go to work on Kayoom, But being put on bis back by MMA royalty did not make him panic he remained calm and defended himself. With about 1:30 left Gracie took his back and started to pound him all the while I am sure looking for an opening for a rear naked choke but the clock kept ticking on and although Gracie stayed on top Kayoom made it relatively unscathed to the rounds end.

Round 2.

The round started with Kayoom throwing a few kicks unfortunately one of them hit the Gracie crown jewels and the fighters had a rest.

Kayoom again continued with kicks and when Gracie took him down Kayoom did his best to neutralize the situation and Gracie really struggled to make the best of it beyond being in top position

When the ref stood it back up Kayoom made Gracie pay and worked him, Gracie looked tired.

Round 3.

Kayoom did his best to keep the fight on its feet where he was definitely the boss, But of course Gracie took him down a few times, even so Gracie again really failed to do much beyond control Kayoom on the ground. The fight actually finished with Kayoom on top of Gracie and he really pounded him and when the fight finished Gracie did not get off the floor without help.

It was no surprise to anybody when it was announced Kayoom was victorious with a unanimous decision.

The crowd rightly went crazy this is a historic victory in Malaysian MMA a Malaysian fighter beating a member of the famed Gracie family.

Bout 7.

Leandro Issa Vs Masakaza Imanari

Ashikan Judan is what they call him Master of Leg Locks and with good reason, Imanari not only tells you what he is going to do to you, but then he does it, he does it with such astonishing speed that even though people expect It they seem powerless to stop it. It’s a special kind of magic. So Issa is really going to have to work hard.

Round 1.

Imanari is such a showman he just circles coolly and attempts a few spinning back fists this goes on for a full three minutes Issa does not really know what to do with him. I’m not sure if it was a punch or a kick but Imanari went down. Once on the ground Issa pounces and quickly grounds and pounds but Imanari is calm and it soon comes down to him beneath Issa but not really suffering too much damage.

Round 2.

Round 2 is much the same as the first until Issa does a great leg kick that takes Imanari down, but he gets up like nothing happened. Finally Issa get Imanari down and seems to be in control until about the last 15 seconds when they stand up again. Another blow from Issa and Imanari is down but stands up easily as the bell rings.

Round 3.

Same as the first two until on the three-minute mark Issa took Imanari down and again was controlling him, the feared leglock seemed just a rumor. With 1:40 to go they stood up but a few seconds later and Issa had Imanari down again. With a minute to go they again stood up. With 30 seconds to go Issa again had top position this must be his fight.

This fight goes to the judges and it’s Leandro Issa who is the winner by Unanimous Decision.

Bout 8.

Roger Huerta Vs Zorobabel Moeira

Round 1.

This was another fight that started full of hard-fought action with a tough and even first round probably with honors roughly even.

Round 2.

Moeira took control and started to really work Huerta over and many times he had him rocked before finally throwing him to the ground and holding him down and h\throwing an amazing football kick to the head of  an already dazed Huerta knocking him spark out in the most brutal fashion.

A superb display from Moeira and his third straight win in a ONE FC cage. Who can stop him?

Bout 9.

Renato Sobral Vs Tasuya Mizuno

Who could have believed it was true two such top quality fighters in a cage in Malaysia?

And anybody anywhere who knows MMA knows the name Renato “Bablu” Sobral he is literally as big a name as there is in MMA. God only knows how One FC managed to get him, but we here at MMANewsAsia are mighty glad he did, let’s just hope he can reach our expectations………………

And it was over before it began Mizuno threw a few big bombs and then from off of his back Zobral threw up an armbar and it was over. He did not disappoint! His speed was astounding.

So that was it a full night of incredible bouts. ONE FC really hit a home run with this show. It was slick and professional.

The MMANewsAsia team would like to thank ONE FC for looking after us.

Malaysia’s Biggest Week Ever For MMA

Malaysia’s Biggest Week Ever For MMA

Published on June 19, 2012 by The Editor in ONEFC

Malaysia Prepares For Asian MMA’s Biggest Spotlight

This is the week many Malaysian MMA fans have been waiting for plus of course the hundreds I am sure who will cross the border from Singapore plus others from all over Asia.

This is ONE FC week in Malaysia as for the first time Asia’s biggest MMA organization are holding an event in KL and what an event.

An international cast of warriors including six from the spiritual home of MMA, Brazil. Some local boys and some locally based international fighters will be walking to the cage in front of a crowd that is estimated depending on your choice of media at anywhere from 8 – 12,000 fans.

And my recommendation is if you can get to KL and see it live do it.

Yes, it will be shown on TV in Malaysia at some time in the future but be aware that once the faceless jobsworths  at the Malaysian censorship office get their hands on it you will lose a lot of the action based upon what I witnessed last night on the Kix HD channel. They aired a Bellator event. The censors cut out decisive moments, it was like watching football and seeing the ball heading to the net and then the next thing you know the players are celebrating. You just have to guess what happened. Madness, you can watch all sorts of violence on a nightly basis on Malaysian TV but not during a sporting event seen world-wide.

Anyway back to the event:

Just a couple of years ago if Somebody had told you that Renato “Babalu” Sobral one of the MMA worlds biggest names and a former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion and UFC veteran would be fighting in Kuala Lumpur you would have got laughed out of the pub. This is no Bob “Tap” Sapp farewell tour of shame. Sobral is still relevent, he has just finished working in Brazil as one of the coaching team at the Brazilian ”TUF” series and he is not fighting a “gimmie” his opponent Tatsuya Mizuno is no mug. He certainly does not have such an exciting list of opponents as Sobral but he is on a two fight win streak and to beat Sobral would do massive things for his career.

That’s the Main Event and as you can see it’s as good as any fight anywhere.

But lower down the card are some local guys who will be hoping to make a real noise and gather an army of local fans as they appear on the big stage.

Malaysian Fighter Adam Kayoom tackles one of the sports famous Gracie family in Gregor Gracie. Kayoom is regarded as one the best Malaysian fighters, He has won titles in multiple fighting styles and now is aiming to make a name in MMA. He has black belts in three different martial arts and he is ready to make a big splash. His opponent comes from MMA royalty but in his recent fight in a past ONE FC event against Seok Mo Kim he struggled for three rounds to finally get a Unanimous Points Decision win. Kayoom against the same opponent put it all to bed inside less than one round with an impressive win. This fight should be very exciting.

AJ Lias Mansor from the Borneo Tribal Squad team is going to under go a really tough test against the American Mitch Chilson from the famous Singaporean Evolve team. Chilson was picked apart in his last fight by Eric Kelly and will be desperate to prove that he is good enough to fight at this level. Mansor will have the local support and his social media utterances sound like those of a young man desperate to put the result of his last fight behind him and make a name for himself.

Also representing Malaysia will be Peter Davis who will be making his second appearance in the ONE FC cage when he tackles Juggernaut Fight Clubs (Singapore) Quek Kim Hock “The Hulk” – Davis will be desperate to put of a great show, his last fight for ONE FC was a victory but was not the most sparkling display. The word is he has been training hard for this one. However, the word from across the causeway is that The Hulk has all the tools to tackle Davis. So look out for an exciting battle.

This is a big week also for Malaysian MMA gyms Muayfit, Leverage MMA and Borneo Tribal Squad they will all gather major press attention this week that will help drive their businesses forward as their representatives go to battle.

 ONE FC Destiny of Warriors Stadium Negra, Kuala Lumpur. June 23rd 2012

First fight 8:00pm.

ONE Week To Go – Destiny Of Warriors ONE FC – What Can Fans Expect?

ONE Week To Go – Destiny Of Warriors ONE FC – What Can Fans Expect?

Published on June 10, 2012 by The Coffee Boy in ONEFC, Opinion

ONE FC 4 – What Can Fans Expect? 

         ONE FC 4: Destiny of Warriors will be the biggest mixed martial arts event to have ever been held in Malaysia, and they are certainly not holding anything back. What can fans expect of this pivotal moment to come in Asian MMA history?

         For starters, the card is stacked with seasoned fighters such as Roger Huerta, Renato Sobral and Masakazu Imanari, and a bunch of up-and-coming MMA talent such as Arnaud Lepont, Kim Hock, Adam Kayoom, and Eric Kelly.

         The matchups in the past few events have been somewhat suspect, and of course ONE FC brought on Bob Sapp that one time (and it was a total joke of a fight), but things have gotten better, and ONE FCseem to be really working hard to prove themselves worthy of the unofficial title “UFC of Asian MMA”.

         How good are the match ups, you ask? Well this time around, records of fighters seem to have been more closely examined, as well as their perceived level of talent. The good match ups include Eric Kelly (URCC Featherweight Champion) against Bae Young Kwon, Mitch Chilson against AJ Pyro, and Renato Sobral against Tatsuya Mizuno, just to name a few.

         Fans can expect a bunch of slick grappling fests, lightning-fast striking, and a whole lot of heart-racing excitement. Expect adrenaline-rushing fights from Arnaud Lepont against Brian Choi, and Roger Huerta against Zorobabel Moreira. Expect slugfest fights from Peter Davis against Kim Hock, and Eric Kelly against Bae Young Kwon.

         So besides big names and great match-ups, what else does ONE FC 4 offer? These fights will make the picture a little more clearer in terms of how the fighters are ranked.

         It’s no secret that Roger Huerta wants to make a big impact at his ONE FC 4 debut. He is currently riding a three-fight losing streak, and with his talent here in Asia, he could make a case very soon to be a top contender for ONE FC’s welterweight championship. Before that though, he’ll have to get through the ever evolving martial artist in Zorobabel Moreira, who’s recent tear at ONE FC has been nothing short of impressive.

         Eric Kelly will also look to be making an impact at ONE FC 4.He hasn’t fought since September of 2011, back at ONE FC’s inaugural event where he absolutely dominated Evolve’s Mitch Chilson, and rumors are spreading that ties between him and the URCC are strained. ONE FC is Eric Kelly’s chance to prove he is a worthy champion, and that he can hang with the best of the Asian featherweights. Before he gets ahead of himself though, he needs to get past well-rounded Bae Young Kwon, an up-and-coming Korean mixed martial artist.

         And of course we have Arnaud Lepont, a French fighter representing Muayfit in Malaysia, who will be facing Brian Choi of Evolve in Singapore. Lepont is dropping down to the lightweight division, and will be making his debut for ONE FC. His last fight at DARE once again proved that even under tons of pressure, he manages to find the win. He is in one of the toughest divisions in ONE FC, which sports the likes of Ole Laursen, Felipe Enomoto, Eduard Folayang, and Zorobabel Moreira, so this fight against Choi will tell us where he stands in the division. Make no mistake though – Choi is fighting out of one of the best MMA gyms in Asia, and will present a lot of different problems for the French fighter.

         All in all, ONE FC 4 looks to be their best event, at least on paper. The match ups are riveting, the hype seems to have no limit, and ONE FC looks unstoppable at this point. Expect fireworks on June 23rd in Malaysia.

ONE FC War of the Lions – A Dam Good Night Out

ONE FC War of the Lions – A Dam Good Night Out

Published on April 1, 2012 by The Editor in ONEFC

ONE FC War of the Lions This is the third ONE FC event and the second held at the Indoor Stadium in Singapore

This event was a vast improvement on the first even in terms of organisation and in quality of fights.

The arena was again partly partitioned off giving a capacity of around 7000 and the arena I would say was 97% full, there were empty seats in the arena and that is sad. What will it take to get those remaining 3500 people to come out and fill this really nice stadium and then the roof can be really raised by the noise of the fans.

It’s funny on the way to the stadium I wasn’t very excited, maybe due to an overdose of MMA recently or maybe because the f&^*%£g abysmal organiation at the F1 GP event at Sepang last week almost finished off my hunger for live sporting events. But hell, this is Singapore, easy access to the Stadium via the MRT, straight into the stadium no trouble and down to our nice and roomy seats. Sepang could not even get you in to a massive race circuit in decent time, especially with the super shitty transport infrastructure.

Anyway back to the event ONE FC War of the Lions.

The show started almost on time and moved along at a grand old pace.

There is absolutely no point in me talking too much about the fights and the results they will be all over the net by now and if you were a real fan you probably watched the event live on YouTube.

But here’s my thoughts on some of the points in the event.

Firstly Lenne Hardt, Sorry I still don’t get the crazy Pride lady, can’t stand that noise and if you were depending upon here to name the fighters you would have no idea. I know the Asians love her, but I have no idea why. ONE FC does not have to follow, it has to innovate. Mark Richmond does a perfectly good job. Although personally I think the twosome who did the recent Malaysian Fighting Championship would do a better job or of course the number one MC in Asia, Jonathan Nutt over at DARE, but he’s hardly ONE FC material, too much of an individual.

The undercard was much more exciting than I expected even though all but one of the fights finished in the first round.

I have to confess I was pleased to see Yodsanan Sityodtong lose, in his last showing at ONE FC he fought a hopelessly outclassed Daniel Mashamaite to record an easy win when Mashamaite did a suspiciously Bob Tap Sapp esque dive to the ground.  

Jiang Long Yun did not read his part in the script and shut the Evolve fans up early. I have to state right here and now the whole Evolve connection with ONE FC is over the top. The fighters come to the cage with half the crowd in tow, it’s wrong and unnecessary. Why does the Evolve team seem to have 30-40 people in that area when most other fighters teams had 3 or 4? And of course a massive part of the audience is made up of Evolve shirt wearing fans which mean all Evolve fighters start with a real ‘home’ advantage. Nothing against Sityodtong, I just want to see the little guy win.

I am always drawn to the under dog, the smaller guy and so therefore I was pleased to see first blood go to the ‘away’ team.

Maybe Jian Long Yun should get another fight at a ONE FC event in the near future, how about a rematch with CFC fighter Kian “Karange” Pham, that would be a great match-up, they last met at Martial Combat.

Major Overall Vs Quek Kim Hock was the only fight on the undercard to make round two and I have to say that although he lost Overall has no reason to be ashamed. He took the fight at really short notice, I saw him at DARE a couple of weeks ago and he had no idea he would be fighting. He had little time to prepare but put on a great show, ultimately coming up short but I am sure he will be back. He certainly deserves a second chance when he is fully prepared.

Nicole Chua soon put smiles on the Evolve fans faces again as she took out a disappointing Jeet Toshi, I was expecting much more from a 7 time Muay Thai champion.

Kevin Belingon was well and truly defeated by Imanari who during the introductory video said he would win with some form of leg lock. And then he did, just like that, Even though Belingon must have known it was coming he was unable to stop it, as Imanari faked beautifully to get the leg and then it was just a matter of time. I have to say, I want to see Imanari again at ONE FC, he looks to be a real puzzle that is going to be very hard for many fighters to solve.

The Main Card started with a match-up that I described before the event thus

“ONE FC – Jian Kai Chee Vs Eddie Ng

Chee (3-3)  Aha and this is where it all falls down for ONE FC, like various fights at the last event we start to scrape the barrel for some talent to please local fans with no real record at higher level – and the ONE FC website report on this fighter that claims “Chee’s ability to trade punches with the best in the game is well-known” is frankly ridiculous he has never been anywhere near the best in the game, he is a low level fighter reminiscent of those fighters who stunk up the Undercard at ONE FC’s last event.

Ng (4-1-0) Brit Ng is a superb young fighter and he won’t have any trouble with Chee.”

And of course I was right, this fight took less than the minute I told the people sat next to me it would take. It’s a shame for Chee he was badly advised, he has a future in MMA but should build up to fighting at this level, this will damage his career, he needs to build a decent winning record at the smaller events around Asia before trying to take on people of Ng's level.

It’s a shame Eddie Ng is a talented guy and deserves to fight better people than this, this makes him look like the bad guy, but he can only fight the people ONE FC put in front of him.

The next fight Yoshyuki Nakanishi Vs Melvin Manhoef was looking to be a cracking fight, Manhoef had come to fight and put on a show and they were both doing a great job. Sadly both fighters sustained fairly serious leg cuts, Manhoefs was probably five inches long and an inch wide, it was gruesome and fair play to him, he did not want to stop, he wanted to fight. A rematch please these two guys looked like they were going to have a great battle.

The fight of the night on my card: Laursen Vs Folayang was spoilt by a terrible split decision win to Laursen who looked like he had been beaten in the face with a frying pan. I have NO doubt that Folayang was a clear winner, clear! The crowds reaction when the result was announced would seem to show that a majority of the crowd felt the way I did, Sadly Jason Chambers is NO Joe Rogan and when talking to Laursen after the fight he never mentioned the fact that the crowd did not agree with him being the winner. From there it was fairly obvious that an immediate re-match would be offered. I am sure it wasn’t planned but it certainly felt like it had been afterwards. Folayang deserves a rematch he was robbed totally and completely.

So there you have it those were my main points. So what’s my overall feeling of the event?

It was excellent, yes there were some issues, there always will be at these type of events but considering this was only event number three, I think Victor Cui and his band of merry men and women have done a spectacular job. I left the event very pumped and looking forward to the next one in Kuala Lumpur, count me in! I just hope we can get rid of those final few mismatches and then ONE FC really will be well on the way to becoming Asia’s Most prestigious MMA Organisation.

but here’s the bottom line:

I was home in Johor Bahru just 1 hour 15 minutes after the event finished using public transport. It took me that long to leave the Sepang F1 Circuit and one hell of a lot longer to get anywhere. Thank good for Singapore.

And thank you to Victor Cui, I’m starting to believe!