MMA in Asia

[GeneChing]

Poached of the China MMA (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49870) thread

Asia set for mixed martial arts "revolution" (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BK0D820091221?type=sportsNews)
By Peter Rutherford SINGAPORE
Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:38pm EST

Mixed martial arts instructors spar with each other during a demonstration for the media in Singapore December 15, 2009. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

Popularized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the United States, MMA is a fusion of fight styles that melds the stunning strikes of boxing and muay thai, the sleek submissions of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the devastating power of wrestling.

Sports

It has fought hard to gain credibility, regulatory backing and global appeal by introducing a comprehensive list of rules, stringent doping procedures and embarking on a educational campaign to win hearts and minds.

Now sanctioned in more than 40 U.S. states, the sport is experiencing explosive growth in viewership and participation. Its top athletes are winning mainstream recognition, hefty salaries and lucrative sponsorship deals.

George St-Pierre, the UFC's welterweight champion, inked a multi-year deal with sports apparel maker Under Armor Inc in November and earlier this year became the first MMA fighter to sign with Gatorade.

MMA gyms are springing up worldwide and the UFC is staging events in Europe, Canada and Australia.

Chatri Sityodtong, managing director at the new Evolve Academy in Singapore, said that MMA's massive growth lay in a primal fascination with combat -- "a reflection on humanity, the caveman instinct."

However, it did not deserve its reputation for violence, he said.

"This is the greatest misconception about the sport of MMA," said Chatri. "If it was such a violent, dangerous sport the safety record should be worse than boxing .... worse than skydiving, worse than all these other adrenaline sports. Yet it's safer."

'BLOOD AND ILLEGALITY'?

While boxing has a far longer history, the 'sweet science' has a much poorer safety record, with studies in the Journal of Combative Sport putting the number of ring-related deaths at more than 10 per year worldwide.

The death of Sam Vasquez in 2007, however, is the only fatality from a sanctioned MMA bout in North America, though there have been three other deaths in Mexico, South Korea and Ukraine.

The condition dementia pugilistica, also known as "punch-drunk syndrome," is another health risk for career boxers and is caused by repeated dazing blows to the head, resulting in memory, speech and coordination problems.

Chatri said since MMA fights are shorter (three-five rounds) and much of the action takes place on the mat, the potential for permanent damage to the brain is far less than in boxing, where fighters can be "pounded in the head for 12 rounds."

Boxing and MMA have an uneasy relationship, due in part to their battle for pay-per-view revenues.

WBC chief Jose Sulaiman told Reuters in a previous interview: "(MMA) is fed to those fans who like aggression, blood and illegality. They are not boxing fans. Boxing fans have class."

Thai Chatri, who trained at the world-renowned Sityodtong muay thai gym growing up and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, pointed to the numerous former Olympians who have switched to MMA as an example of the sport's growth and safety.

"If it was all about violence it would be like two animals fighting. But it's not," he added.

"These are professional athletes who love this stuff, dream about it all day long and give their entire lives just to be able to showcase their abilities."

MARTIAL COMBAT

Chatri said MMA was primed to take off in Asia after having become the third most watched sport in the United States, although other sources suggested the figure referred to viewers within the male 18-34 demographic.

"We blew through our three-year financial goals in three months, so there's strong interest in Singapore," he added.

"We are at the beginning of the MMA revolution in Asia."

That "revolution" will take a step forward next year with the launch of 'Martial Combat', a series of MMA events to be broadcast across Asia by ESPN Star Sports (ESS) and staged at Singapore's S$6.59 billion ($4.69 billion) Resorts World Sentosa.

ESS said the first event, scheduled for May 14-15, would feature top fighters from Asia and around the world and would be broadcast in 24 countries around the region.

Victor Ciu, director of the events management group at ESS, said they had been working for two years to create the event and had made safety their top priority.

"When we first created the X Games it was full of very similar questions: 'Is this really a sport? Is it dangerous?'" Ciu told Reuters. The X Games feature sports such as snowboarding, skateboarding and BMX.

Ciu said the event that while MMA would find it tough to replace soccer and cricket as Asia's top sports, there were definite growth opportunities.

"We think that the really exciting opportunity for the sport is not with the 'diehard MMA fans' -- those people will watch it regardless. What we want to do is ... bring the sport to people who enjoy competition, who enjoy the genre of 'fight'.

"The objective is to make this entire event an entertainment show. In the same way as if for a concert or a musical, you leave with a positive experience."

[GeneChing]

I was torn between posting this here or on the Women in MMA thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=885795). Looks like MMA is percolating in Singapore.

Dawn Tay
Tue, Dec 29, 2009
Women kick butt in mixed martial arts (http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20091229-188637.html)

IT SEEMS like a hopeless situation for any woman to be in.

Events manager Ashley Chong, a petite 27-year-old, is on her back on the floor. Looming over her is a strapping man, looking ready to do her violence.

He descends upon her, but in a blur of kicks and twists, she fells him - hard - to the mat, and straddles him, ready to deliver a knockout blow.

Like Miss Chong, more women here are holding their own - and coming out tops - against their male counterparts in several martial arts that are newer here, including mixed martial arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and muay thai.

Three martial-arts schools here reported up to a 200 per cent increase in female enthusiasts in the last few years.

Today, women make up around half the class, a far cry from five years ago, when it was common to find lone females outnumbered by men.

A typical workout session sees women going at it with the men, kicking, punching, grappling with and wrestling each other into submission.

This reflects a global trend of more women worldwide taking up martial arts, evidenced by professional female fighters entering the rings.

For example, mixed martial arts is now one of the world's fastest growing sports, despite being previously branded as "human ****fighting" by United States Senator John McCain and heavily criticised for its no-holds-barred brawls.

Professional mixed-martial arts fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the US are followed by scores of fans worldwide, and make wrestling fights in the World Wrestling Entertainment look tame in comparison.

Come May next year, Singapore will host a series of mixed-martial arts fights between top fighters from around the world, organised by ESPN Star Sports and Resorts World Sentosa.

In Singapore, the women fighters are not looking to rough up their opponents.

Keeping in shape while learning handy self-defence skills are their main aims, said trainers and women my paper spoke to.

Miss Chong said: "Though Singapore is quite safe, this martial arts helps equip me with defence skills, which may come in handy when I travel."

And women are spoilt for choice at martial-arts schools here.

They get to pick from martial arts such as the dance-like Brazilian capoeira, the Thai kick-boxing martial art of muay thai, and the Israeli martial art kapap, that lets you disarm assailants.

Many academies also offer packages that let customers try their hand at the different martial arts.

For example, at Fight G, customers can pick from muay thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and other martial arts for an unlimited number of classes at $110 a month.

At Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, prices start from $249 for membership and unlimited classes a month.

Watching over a class there, where Miss Chong trains with three other men, head instructor Rafael Lima, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu former world champion, said: "Ashley would give everyone here trouble. She can 'finish' them, put a lock on them and make them give up."

Grappling with men during her mixed-martial arts class is what Miss Chong terms a "liberating experience".

She said: "Secretly, I enjoy it and take pride whenever I manage to subdue them."

The usual bruised shins and twisted ankles aside, injuries are few and far between, say women martial-arts enthusiasts.

For production manager Jean Tan, 30, calorie-burning comes in the form of her bi-weekly 11/2-hour muay thai sessions.

Miss Tan said: "It's really intense,especially when we do pad work - 100 roundhouse kicks on each side in five minutes. We usually finish faster than the guys. It's an ego thing - we don't want them to think we're soft."

Her boyfriend is supportive of her picking up martial-arts skills - as long as she does not try them on him, she quipped.

[TaichiMantis]

She said: "Secretly, I enjoy it and take pride whenever I manage to subdue them."

Heh, no big secret there...it's true!:D

[GeneChing]

Just got this press release from ONE


ONE Fighting Championship™ launches the largest MMA organization in Asian history

14 July, 2011 - Singapore: ONE Fighting Championship™ has launched Asia's largest mixed martial arts organization in history. ONE Fighting Championship will launch a series of world-class, live events in all major cities in Asia, including the
ONE Fighting Championship™, the ONE National Qualifier Series™, and the ONE Life™ Reality TV show. ONE Fighting Championship™ is home to some of the most decorated World Champions and elite fighters in Asia, including:

-6x Muay Thai World Champion, Anuwat Kaewsamrit (Thailand)
-Wushu and MCFC Champion, Eduard Folayang (Philippines)
-Sanda World Champion, Bao Li Gao (China)
-Spirit MC Champion, Kwang Hee Lee (Korea)
-6x Muay Thai World Champion, Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn (Thailand)
-Total Combat FC Champion, Eddie Ng (Hong Kong)
-Malaysia Champion and XFC Champion, Adam Kayoom (Malaysia)
-Sanda World Champion, Zhao Zhi Long (China)
-BJJ World Champion, Zorobabel Moreira (Brazil/Singapore)
-URCC FC Champion, Kevin Bellingon (Philippines)
-WBA Boxing World Champion, Yodsanan Sityodtong (Thailand)
-Muay Thai World Champion and K1 Veteran, Ole Laursen (Philippines)
-Risingon FC Champion, Soo Chul Kim (Korea)
-2x MCFC Champion, Mitch Chilson (USA/Singapore)
-BJJ World Champion and MCFC Champion, Leandro Issa (Brazil/Singapore)
-URCC FC Champion, Eric Kelly (Philippines)
-5x Muay Thai World Champion Orono Wor Petchpun (Thailand)
-Sanda World Champion, Ba Teer (China)
-Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Gregor Gracie (Brazil)
-Muay Thai World Champion, Yoddecha Sityodtong (Thailand)
-Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Rolles Gracie (Brazil)
-Afghanistan Champion and MCFC Champion, Malik Arash Malawyi (Afghanistan)
-Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Igor Gracie (Brazil)

ONE Fighting Championship™ currently remains in confidential discussions with many of the top Asian fighters in Asia and is
expected to make additional major announcements soon. It is the goal of ONE Fighting Championship to work with all the top
Asian MMA event organizations, managers, and fighters in growing the sport of mixed martial arts in Asia.
As part of its broadcast plans, the ONE Fighting Championship™ will be shown on ESPN STAR SPORTS (ESS), Asia’s top
sports content provider, and MediaCorp Channel 5 (MC), Singapore's leading media company, across Asia. It is the largest
MMA media broadcast in Asian history. In addition, several other major Asian broadcasting partnerships will also be announced
in the near future.
Victor Cui, CEO/Owner of ONE Fighting Championship, said, ”ONE Fighting Championship marks a significant inflection
point in the sport of mixed martial arts in Asia. By our first event on September 3, we will be in more than 500 million homes
across Asia and it is only the beginning. Asia has been the birthplace and home to martial arts for the last 5,000 years and ONE
Fighting Championship has a vision of bringing mixed martial arts to the 3.9 billion people living in Asia. I am excited by the
dominant leadership position of ONE Fighting Championship in Asia and the future of mixed martial arts in this region of the
world. MMA is the fastest growing sport on the planet. We intend to showcase some of the most adrenaline-filled, exciting
fights in Asia, featuring the best Asian fighters.”
About ONE Fighting Championship™
Headquartered in Singapore, ONE Fighting Championship™ (http://www.onefc.com) is Asia's largest mixed martial arts
organization. ONE Fighting Championship hosts the most prestigious mixed martial arts event in Asia and is the only Asian
MMA organization with a pan-Asian media broadcast.

About ESPN STAR Sports
ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world’s leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia's
definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its
ultimate parent companies – Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of
international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay and free-to-air services.
ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a
cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 17 networks covering 24 countries, each
localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN SEA, ESPN
China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN SEA 2, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea),
STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports SEA 2, STAR Sports
Southeast Asia, STAR Sports Taiwan, and STAR Cricket.
On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia.
ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and
mobile. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw and footballcrazy.tv interact
with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for the sports fan that is
constantly on the move, mobileESPN and STAR Sports Mobile delivers differentiated mobile content targeted at its various
audiences. mobileESPN enables the serious sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a
combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis. STAR Sports Mobile aims to provide
interactive and entertaining opportunities to engage with sports, delivering exclusive video excerpts from leading football clubs
Arsenal and Liverpool as well as highlights from STAR Sports original programmes covering opinions, instructional tips and the
latest online game reviews.

About MediaCorp
MediaCorp is Singapore’s leading media company with the most complete range of platforms, spanning television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, movies, digital and out-of-home media.
It pioneered the development of Singapore’s broadcasting industry, with the broadcast of Radio in 1936 and Television in 1963.
Today, MediaCorp has over 50 products and brands in four languages (English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil), reaching out to all
adults in Singapore every week.
Our industry firsts include the Digital Video Broadcast technology for outdoor digital television, and Asia’s first Digital Audio Broadcast radio service. Initiatives in the digital space include online classifieds, Internet TV-on-demand and High Definition TV broadcast.
MediaCorp is an active regional player through co-productions in TV dramas and movies, magazines publishing, as well as
Channel NewsAsia International, one of the first Asian-owned English news channels.
Our financial and strategic relationships in the region since 2007 include a venture with Indonesia's most integrated media
company PT Media Nusantara Citra and its parent, Global Mediacom, and International Media Corporation in Vietnam, set up to
develop and produce television entertainment and economic news content.
Winner of numerous international awards and accolades including Asian Television Awards' Terrestrial Broadcaster of the Year,
MediaCorp’s vision is to become Asia’s top media company, delivering valued content to the world.

[GeneChing]

We have threads on China MMA (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49870) and MMA in India (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62875) already, but nothing on Asia in general. I'm poaching a few earlier posts from the China thread for this one now, just to keep it tidy.


Mixed Martial Arts contest in March (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1180176/1/.html)
By Patwant Singh | Posted: 31 January 2012 2303 hrs

SINGAPORE: The first major Mixed Martial Arts event was successfully hosted in September 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Some 6,000 people packed the venue, shouting and cheering for the fighters.

That's the kind of atmosphere fans can expect, with another set of big names taking to the ring for the second edition on 31 March.

Among them will be Brazilian Renato Sobral and kickboxing world champion Melvin Manhoef.

A total of 10 bouts are on the cards for the ONE Fighting Championship.

But it's not just a sport for men.

Nicole Chua, a petite accountant, will be carrying the Singapore flag high.

The 27-year-old is making her debut at the championship, but she has fought professionally in Thailand.

Chua's female opponent has not been confirmed yet.

"There are more females doing martial arts now because it helps them keep fit in a fun way, not like boring gym exercises," said Chua.

Organisers are confident it will be another sell-out show on 31 March.

Victor Cui, CEO and owner of ONE Fighting Championship, said: "We have eight events scheduled over the next 12 months...Jakarta on February 11, Singapore on March 31...We are looking at Kuala Lumpur, Manila and probably back to Jakarta again."

Besides the March event, another competition has been confirmed for Singapore for October this year.

The sport of Mixed Martial Arts has indeed given local martial arts a boost so much so that a kickboxing event will be staged next month.

[GeneChing]

MMA in Asia (http://www.mma-in-asia.com/)

:cool:

[LeeLi]

that is the COOLEST WEBSITE EVER! how amazing my relationship with Kungfu Magazine has evolved in the last 15 years...

[GeneChing]

Meet another rising Chinese MMA star, Legend Fighting Championship's Bantamweight Champion, Yao Honggong in The People's Champ (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1029) by Lee Li.

Let us know here how Yao does this weekend, won't you?

[GeneChing]

4 Asian MMA events in 2 weeks. Something’s got to give (http://www.thefightnation.com/4-asian-mma-events-in-2-weeks-somethings-got-to-give/)
Posted by Wesley De Souza on February 7th, 2012

There’s never a quiet week in Asian MMA with events having practically every single week. The next 2 upcoming weekends are going to be jammed packed with Asian MMA action.

Firstly, we’re going to see the return of Asia’s premier Mixed Martial Arts organization, ONE Fighting Championship making it’s debut in Indonesia on the 11th of February. This is going to be mixed martial art’s big return to the Indonesian scene and the event promises non-stop action with a mix of international and Asian fighters such as Bob Sapp, Rolles Gracie, Ole Laursen, URCC Champion Honorio Banario and CFC Australia Champion Gustavo Falciroli. The event’s main card will be streamed on pay per view at www.onefc.com and the prelim fights will be shown on Facebook live.

Also happening on the 11th of February, will be another of Asian MMA’s more established promotions, Legend FC from Hong Kong. The Legend card is stacked with homegrown fighters as well as fighters from Japan, Australia and the Philippines. Names such as Li Jingliang, Bae Myung Ho,Jumabieke Tuerxun, Matt Cain and Mark Striegl will be showcased on this card. There are 10 planned fights with both the main and co-main event being title fights for the welterweight and bantamweight championship respectively.

Just when you thought things should quieten down after this weekend, it just gets crazier with 2 MMA events being held in the Philippines by the 2 top promotions there. The first being Pacific Xtreme Combat which is the 2nd most well know MMA company in the Philippines behind the URCC. Their event will be headlined by a title fight between veteran Jesse Taitano and Ale Cali (if he sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve featured him 2 weeks ago in an exclusive interview). Oh yeah and Mayhem Miller is going to be there too as a guest.

The PXC will be going head to head with the biggest MMA promotion in the Philippines, the URCC which will be having their URCC Baguio IV event in Baguio City (no sh*t Sherlock?) on the same day. The event will be headlined by a featherweight championship between Arnold Agapito & Ricardo Sapno. The URCC has also started the trend of bringing super fights to it’s provincial events such as this one to add more star power to the card. It’s been well received and it’s no surprised that this card is being see a super fight between Rey Docyogen and Rodel Orais.

So that’s the lowdown on what’s going to happen in the next 2 weeks. It’s exhausting just writing about it and we don’t know how you can catch everything. However, it’s going to mean only one thing for the fans. We win big time. So if you happen to be able to catch all those events, then more power to you. If you can’t catch them, keep an eye on this space and we’ll bring you the news on what went down. So until then, here are some promo videos for the events mentioned above just to help you waste time in the office. Here's how we're celebrating the Year of the Dragon 2012. :cool:

[Syn7]

Heh, no big secret there...it's true!:D

I enjoy submitting anyone and I make no secret of it. It feels great. I was always under the impression that that is why we are all there. If self defense was the main point I would go to an armory, not a dojo.

[GeneChing]

sanda actually, but people always forget sanda is part of modern wushu.


Indonesian Wushu Champ Ready to Fight for MMA Dream (http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/sports/indonesian-wushu-champ-ready-to-fight-for-mma-dream/497268)
Ami Afriatni | February 10, 2012
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/media/images/medium2/20120210220150253.jpg
Youne ‘Indra’ Victorio Senduk, left, will meet Raymond Tiew in tonight’s mixed martial arts competition in Jakarta. (Antara Photo/M. Agung Rajasa) Youne ‘Indra’ Victorio Senduk, left, will meet Raymond Tiew in tonight’s mixed martial arts competition in Jakarta. (Antara Photo/M. Agung Rajasa)

Youne Victorio Senduk has been waiting seven years for another shot to become a professional mixed martial arts fighter, and he has vowed not to waste it when the ONE Fighting Championship hits Jakarta today.

Youne, who fights under the name Indra, won a silver medal in wushu, a type of martial art, at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, but he says his real passion is to become an MMA fighter.

“I fell in love with MMA when I fought in the TPI Fighting Championship in 2005. But then the tournament was scrapped with no replacement until now,” Indra said on Friday.

“Now it’s like the door has been opened again for me to be a pro MMA fighter.”

MMA in Indonesia had enjoyed something of a cult following until the sport’s top local tournament, TPI FC, was scrapped in 2005.

The Indonesian MMA Organization (OMI) and the Indonesian Martial Arts Federation (FOBI) failed to harness the sport’s popularity at the time and it gradually dissipated.

Indra said he’s been training hard since the ONE FC organizers said in December that he would be given a wild-card entry for the showdown at the Sports Mall at Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.

“The SEA Games medal has given me a morale boost for this championship, though I have had to hone my skills for close combat like this,” he said.

Indra will face Malaysian Raymond Tiew in 65.8-kilogram bout. Tiew, whose basic skill is also wushu, should be a tough opponent as he has more experienced in MMA, with a record of five wins and a loss in 2011.

“I don’t know anything about him or how good he is. But I was told that he’s also a wushu athlete, so I pretty much know what to expect,” Indra said.

“Anyway, my mission is to beat him because a win will open the MMA door wide for me.”

This is just the second ONE FC event, after the series debuted in Singapore on Sept. 3.

Twenty fighters from the region will vie for supremacy in seven weight classes.

There are three other local fighters, who won the Indonesian Martial Arts Federation qualifiers in Jakarta last December.

Former national team wrestler Ngabdi Mulyadi, who is also a TPI FC champion, will fight in the 70.3-kg division against Peter Davis, who is better known in his native Malaysia for his acting and modeling but is looking to make a name as a fighter.

“It’s been a while since I’ve competed in MMA, but I’m ready,” said Ngabdi, a Semarang native. “If I win this I’ll have better chance to pursue a career in the MMA.”

Veteran local fighters Agus Nanang and Zuli Silawanto are scheduled to meet each other in the 77.1-kg division.

ONE FC will hold a second event in Jakarta later this year.

[LeeLi]

Meet another rising Chinese MMA star, Legend Fighting Championship's Bantamweight Champion, Yao Honggong in The People's Champ (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1029) by Lee Li.

Let us know here how Yao does this weekend, won't you?

ah well, no hero is forever! but his training camp in Vegas definitely gave him a new skill set and i know we will be seeing many more bouts with him.


It was on to the co-main event, Bantamweight Champion Yao HongGang defending his title for the first time against Jumabieke Tuerxun. In his relatively short MMA career, Yao came into the Legend ring and defeated Sengoku Rookie winner Nam JinJo and highly experienced Mick Mortimer to gain the title, in the process showed off a developing skill set. Although he's relatively unknown beyond Chinese MMA aficionados, Bieke was added to the roster and given a shot at the title on his first go. Legend FC tried this tactic previously by giving newcomer Jadamba Narantalag a shot at Adrian Pang's Lightweight title, however Jadamba's list of previous opponents was stellar, including a win over Akihiro Gono in Sengoku. It paid off then with a three round war showcasing every aspect of MMA, probably the most exciting bout ever in Legend FC history. As the talent pool in Legend deepens, it will be interesting to see what other lightweight matches will be made.

People who know Bieke put him as coming out with a win by KO. Both fighters were aware of that potential and came out of their corners very cautious. Yao's UFC fight camp must have taught him strategy, and that's what he showed by darting in with a punch or kick then getting out of the pocket quickly. Yao became more confident, using footwork to circle away from Bieke, and eventually showed his punch distraction to takedown that worked like a charm. Yao was able to bloody Bieke's nose with some gnp. Beike came on strong in the second half of the round by slipping on a guillotine when Yao went for a takedown, and was able to get it to the canvas and full mount Yao, whose defense was quite good and didn't allow much pain to be inflicted. The first round ended with an interesting reversal of roles for the two fighters.

The second round saw the two willing to exchange a bit quicker, with Bieke getting the better of it by several takedowns, including a big double leg to side control at the end of the round that Yao was able to reverse it in the last few seconds. Round three saw an even quicker engagement, with Yao the first takedown aggressor. When Beike scrambled to reverse it, Yao got a solid guillotine - the reason China Top Team gets referred to as China GuilloTeam now. Eventually Yao had to let it go. The fight went back to the feet, and Bieke repeated the same scenario of takedown, ground and pound twice more. The end of the final round was a flurry of fists flying from both guys. Bieke never showcased his KO skills, instead finding the takedowns on Yao the better way to score. He earned the decision from them, and took the Bantamweight Championship belt away from Yao.

you can read my entire recap of the event on my site here (http://www.mma-in-asia.com/2012/02/legend-fc-7-bieke-wrestles-bantamweight.html).

[GeneChing]

Interesting stance. Thailand defends the integrity of the sport of Muay Thai this way. To be honest, I'd rather watch Muay Thai than MMA. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy MMA very much, but I just prefer to watch stand-up fights in general.

Thailand bans mixed martial arts (http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/286800/thailand-bans-mixed-martial-arts)
Discipline deemed to be too 'brutal'
Published: 31/03/2012 at 12:00 AM

The Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) confirmed yesterday that it has banned mixed martial arts (MMA).

"It is brutal and it is not boxing," said SAT deputy governor Sakol Wannapong who oversees professional sports.

"It is against the 1999 boxing law."

SAT officials met this week to discuss whether holding an MMA event was lawful or not following a request from a private company and they finally agreed that under the 1999 boxing law, it is unlawful to stage an MMA event in Thailand.

"Organising a MMA event here would hurt the image of Muay Thai," Sakol said.

There have been two MMA events held in Bangkok and neither were approved by the SAT, according to Sakol.

He said the SAT was asking the Interior Ministry's legal advisors to consider action against any MMA organisers.

"If you want to do this kind of business, you should do it in another country," Sakol said.

"Organising MMA here could mislead the public into believing that Muay Thai is brutal."

MMA is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, while standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Muay Thai, kickboxing, taekwondo, karate, judo and other styles.

Buakaw can't fight

The Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) said yesterday that Muay Thai superstar Buakaw Banchamek (formerly Buakaw Por Pramuk) can't take part in next month's Thai Fight unless he formally registers his new camp with the authorities.

Buakaw has severed ties with former camp Por Pramuk and has since set up his own camp.

He has also changed his fight name to Buakaw Banchamek following the split.

SAT deputy governor Sakol Wannapong said Buakaw cannot fight until he files a complaint with the SAT which will investigate if Buakaw was unfairly treated by Por Pramuk.

If his claim is proven true, then he will be allowed to fight, Sakol said.

The Thai Fight event will be held in Pattaya on April 17 and Sakol said Buakaw still has time to clear up his legal problems.

[GeneChing]

Women exercise right to fight in Singapore (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/uk-mixed-martial-arts-women-idUSLNE83A00X20120411)
By Peter Rutherford
SINGAPORE | Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:57am EDT

(Reuters) - Jeet Toshi's eyes glaze over as the blood flow to her brain begins to slow. She claws at the arm clamped around her throat but Nicole Chua's choke is sapping her strength, and the rising panic in Toshi's chest tells her she will black out in seconds.

Brutality is blind to gender in mixed martial arts (MMA).

While abhorred by its critics as a celebration of violence, MMA's explosive growth shows no signs of tapering off. It does not shy away from its violent image but rather embraces it as the ultimate sporting evolution of hand-to-hand combat.

Male fighters enjoy the lion's share of exposure and reward, and while women's MMA does have a following, it struggles due to a shallow talent pool and poor financial backing.

Discrimination has also been difficult to overcome, and while the bias may be based on outdated notions of gender roles in society, some people just are not ready to see women fight.

Not so in Singapore, it seems.

Some 8,000 fans watched Chua become the city-state's first female professional MMA fighter with her debut as part of ONE Fighting Championship's recent "War of the Lions" event.

What Chua and Toshi lacked in polished talent and experience they made up for in heart, battering each other with kicks, knees and punches before Chua took the fight to the ground.

Slithering across Toshi's body, Chua slams sharp elbows into the Indian's forehead, then rains down a hail of punches forcing Toshi to turn onto her stomach to escape. Chua sinks in a rear naked choke and squeezes for dear life. Toshi taps.

Despite the risk of personal injury involved in MMA, neither fighter made much money. Neither fighter seemed to care.

Toshi walked away with $600. Her manager, Prashant Kumar, told Reuters that was three times the sum Toshi had earned for her debut with India's Full Contact Championship in February.

"This is a passion, not a job," Toshi said in an interview. "I'm not doing it to make a living. If I wasn't fighting I really don't know what I'd be doing."

Legs dangling from a pool-side chair that threatened to swallow her whole, the seven-times Indian kickboxing champion said MMA had given her the chance to inspire her countrywomen.

"I want to be an example for girls in India who don't really participate in combat sports. I want to set an example so that we can spread awareness of the sport."

Kumar was immensely proud of Toshi irrespective of the loss, and said he had a stable of willing women fighters in India ready to step into the cage.

"This was her first time out of the country and we were running around trying to get her a passport just before we came," he said. "She's such a young girl but she was so composed despite the fact she was fighting a Singaporean in Singapore."

NUMBER CRUNCHER

Chua's story catapulted her into the media spotlight in Singapore, a bustling island hub more renowned for its safe streets and conservative values than a burgeoning MMA scene.

A full-time accountant, Chua convinced her company to let her train for the fight on condition she made up lost hours after the gym.

Sitting cross-legged on the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu mats at Evolve MMA Academy where she trained before dawn each day, Chua recalled the reaction when she asked for permission to fit work around her training schedule.

"My manager got a shock but he gave in eventually," the muay Thai specialist said with a wry smile.

The pixie-like Chua said she too was not in MMA for the money. With several years of muay Thai fighting under her belt, she wanted to test her limits in the sport.

Part of the test was coming to grips with the vicious techniques of MMA. Her training routine with no-gi Brazilian Jiu-jitsu world champion Takeo Tani saw her practice kicking a grounded opponent's head like a soccer ball.

"I hope I don't have to do that," she said with a nervous laugh, "but in a fight if I don't hit her she will hit me. Inside the cage its competition, you win or you lose."

Tani said Chua's personality changed as soon as she stepped into the cage for sparring.

"I have to look at her like a man. You can see in her eye she is not a normal girl," he added. "She's a fighter."

Chua's manager and Evolve founder Chatri Sityodtong said women's MMA was still in its infancy in Asia and that the financial incentive had to be there before women could make a career out of fighting.

"I don't think women can train and fight full-time right now because the financial rewards aren't there yet," he said. "(But) MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and it is only a matter of time for the financial rewards to skyrocket as it gains in popularity all over Asia."

WHAT A WAY TO MAKE A LIVING

Earning a living is just as tough for women getting started in the sport in the United States.

Olympic judoka Ronda Rousey, who became the new face of women's MMA after her stunning Strikeforce title win over Miesha Tate last month, said there had been little financial incentive for her when she made her pro debut last year.

"I made $800 out of it," she told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"But it was a hell of a lot more than I made for my first three amateur fights because I got nothing. I was just happy I was getting anything from doing MMA after doing it without making a penny."

Victor Cui, the CEO of ONE Fighting Championship, declined to put an exact figure on how much Chua and Toshi were paid for their fight, but said ONE FC stacked up favourably compared to other MMA promotions.

"Absolutely. And it's not just about pay, fighters want to fight on ONE FC because we are an organisation that treats them very, very well," he told Reuters.

"The contracts include not only guaranteed fees but a win bonus, flights, accommodation for them and however many cornermen they want to bring in."

Cui said Chua was a fantastic story and could encourage more women to take up the sport. While not everyone is sold on the concept of women fighting, Cui said anyone who stepped into the cage deserved the utmost respect.

"This is a sport of professionals that have dedicated their lives to it, put in decades of training in multiple martial arts whether it's muay Thai, taekwondo, BJJ, karate or sanda.

"So the message that has to come across is that whether it is a male fighting or a female fighting, they are professionals and the very best of the best." It's funny how the press focuses on the money in amateur fights.

[sanjuro_ronin]

RE: Banning MMA in Thailand.
IT was a political move, nothing more.
Seeing how the popularity of MMA can and will hurt Thai boxing events, they stopped it before it got started.
That's all.

[GeneChing]

Well, I didn't foresee that one coming.

Hong Kong's Celestial Tiger Inks Martial Arts Deals (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hong-kong-celestial-tiger-martial-arts-kix-fremantle-314905)
1:17 AM PDT 4/23/2012 by Karen Chu

The Hong Kong-based cable channel operator signed exclusive content deals with FremantleMedia, South Korea’s CJ Entertainment and France’s Fighting Spirit for its action channel KIX and other networks.

HONG KONG – Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE) signed exclusive content deals with FremantleMedia, South Korea’s CJ Entertainment & Media Corporation and France’s Fighting Spirit for programming to run on its action channel KIX and all CTE channels in Asia.

CTE inked a multi-year output deal for mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion Bellator Fighting Championships, the sixth season of which, distributed by FremantleMedia Enterprises, will premiere in May on KIX across Asia.

From France’s Fighting Spirit, CTE signed an exclusive output deal for global championship kickboxing tournament It’s Showtime. KIX has expanded its programming from action films to include martial arts and combat programs, which currently includes Japan’s worldwide promotion K-1, the US-based MMA promotion Strikeforce, and MMA combat program Dream.

CTE also closed an exclusive volume deal with South Korea’s CJ E&M Corporation for its channels in Asia, including cable series Blood Thirsty Prosecutor, starring Yun Jung-hoon (My Wife is a Gangster); drama Hero with actor Yang Dong-gun; crime series Quiz from God starring Ryu Duk-hwan, and mini-series Girl Killer K starring up-and-coming actress Han Groo as a female assassin.

[GeneChing]

In Malaysia

Asia the home of mixed martial arts (http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Sports/Story/A1Story20120701-356508.html)
By Dennis Wong
New Straits Times
Sunday, Jul 01, 2012

Judging from the 10,000 strong crowd that thronged Stadium Negara last weekend for the One FC Destiny of Warriors competition, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is here to stay.

This new form of close quarters combat, using a mix of various martial art styles, is gaining popularity not just in Asia but throughout the world, judging from the viewership of the matches that were also broadcast live on the Internet.

Malaysia is certainly making a name for herself in the MMA scene with rising stars such as Adam Shahir Kayoom, Peter Davis and Aj Lias Mansor, sparring alongside MMA greats such as Gregor Gracie, Masakazu Imanari, Renato Soboral and Tetsuya Mizuno.

"One FC is now a platform for martial arts proponents in the region to reach even greater heights in their careers," said One Fighting Championship chief executive officer Victor Cui.

He said as sports was very much culture-oriented, Asia was the home of the MMA because of its martial arts heritage.

"We have Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Donnie Yuen. Everyone in Asia knows about martial arts. It is part of our culture. In Japan alone there are 50 million karate practitioners. Now MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and we are here to stay," he told the New Sunday Times.

In the past 10 years, MMA has raked in US$500 million (S$633 billion) via pay-per-view live telecast, compared with boxing, which only netted half that amount.

"MMA creates local heroes, which also gives opportunities for local martial arts proponents to build their careers. When we watch an F1 race, many of us are supporting an international racer. We do not enjoy the pride of showing off a local hero. But in MMA we have that," added Cui.

And it was patriotic pride that drove Malaysian spectators wild the minute local fighters entered the cage despite the presence of famous names such as Marcos Escobar, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holder. This was the first time Malaysia hosted an international level MMA event.

He said Asia had a larger fan base and a deep talent pool because of its martial arts culture.

"A fighter who knows silat, karate or tae kwon do can become an MMA fighter in just two to three years.

"They just need to work on their stand up and grappling skills and they can be a complete fighter," he added.

Malaysia can also stand tall in the MMA arena as three of the 18 competitors during last Saturday's championship are locals.

One of them was Adam, who was badly taken down and pounded by Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Gracie in the first round of the championship, before emerging winner in the third round, dominating the match with his muay thai skills.

Though Adam clearly won the match against Gracie (who is part of a prominent sporting family from Brazil known for their founding of Brazilian jiu-jitsu), he was quick to honour the family.

"Without them, BJJ and MMA would not be what it is today. Thank you for helping us BJJ instructors with employment, and the knowledge of BJJ," he said after winning the fight.

The victory comes as a double joy for Adam who will be a father soon.

Adam travelled to Brazil at a young age to learn BJJ from Ricardo Liborio who trained under Carlson Gracie, considered the best in the sport.

After winning several BJJ titles in Brazil and Australia, he decided to take up Muay Thai in Thailand, where he was initially rejected from most gyms because he was considered too old to train with them.

But he proved them wrong by winning the world titles in 2006 and muay khmer in Cambodia the following year.

The two other Malaysian fighters who fought that night were model-turned actor Peter Davis, who went against 21-year-old Singaporean national boxer Quek Kim Hock.

He proved many wrong when he won the match against Kim Hock in just 55 seconds in the first round.

Former national silat champion AJ Lias Mansor, 37, however, was out of the match after 1 minute 25 seconds into the first round against American Mitch Chilson, 34, by a rear naked choke submission.

[GeneChing]

Cebu businessman bringing Asia’s biggest mixed martial arts show to Manila (http://philboxing.com/news/story-74489.html)
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 30 Aug 2012

Cebu businessman Victor Cui, the son of Diplomat and Consul General Victoriano Cui, is bringing Asia’s biggest and most prestigious mixed martial arts promotion to Manila this Friday night.

ONE Fighting Championship was founded by Cui just over as year ago and has already put on shows in sold out stadiums and arenas in Singapore, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. On Friday it is the turn of the Philippines with 16,500 fans expected to fill the Smart Araneta Coliseum to capacity at ONE FC: ‘Pride of a Nation’.

It will be the biggest MMA event to ever take place in the country and the first chance for fight fans here to get a glimpse of famous fighters such as former UFC champions Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia and Jens Pulver and DREAM champion Bibiano Fernandes.

There will also be five champions from top Filipino promotion the URCC as well as three members of the legendary Gracie family on the card and Cui says he was determined to make the first ever ONE FC event in this country a night to remember,

“This is our first time in the Philippines and this country has some of the most passionate fight fans in the world so we wanted to make it a really special card, stacked with champions from all over the world and fighters who are household names and MMA legends.”

There will also be some recognizable faces in the crowd as famous Filipino models, actors and TV personalities will be rubbing shoulders in the VIP area with former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada who has confirmed he will be attending Cui’s event.

Mixed martial arts is the fastest growing sport in the world and is a multi billion dollar industry in the US. Although extremely popular in Asia, particularly in the Philippines, there had never been a promotion in this continent to rival the UFC in the West until ONE FC came along.

Cui, who was formerly a senior director at ESPN Star Sports, clearly spotted a gap in the market but even he admits to being taken aback by the speed at which ONE FC has grown to become firmly established as the leading MMA promotion in Asia,

“In all my years of working in the sports entertainment and media industry I have never witnessed a sport with such rapid growth as MMA. My aim is to put ONE FC in a billion homes across Asia and the response so far has been phenomenal, our next two events are on course to collectively sell almost 30,000 tickets.”

Cui, who lives with his wife and two daughters in Singapore, has been described by numerous journalists as ‘the most influential man in MMA’. With ONE FC’s next event taking place in the same venue which hosted the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ when Ali fought Frazier he is already making history and he says he is only just getting started,

“ONE FC is only a year old so this is really just the beginning, next year we are going to put on events in cities all over Asia and this definitely won’t be the last time you see a ONE FC show happening right here in the Philippines.”

Fight fans in Cebu might have to wait a little bit longer for a taste of live action as, according to Cui, ONE FC won’t be coming here anytime soon,

“Nothing would give me more pleasure than to put on a ONE FC show in Cebu but it’s difficult finding a venue big enough to fit all the fans who want to buy tickets into. Manila is only a quick flight away though and there are still some tickets left but you can stay at home and still watch because all our shows are streamed live on the internet.”

For more information or to watch ONE FC: ‘Pride of a Nation’ live online visit: www.onefc.com. We'll see how this goes...

[GeneChing]

Singapore - land of shopping malls...:)

Asia's martial arts capital is ... Singapore? (http://www.cnngo.com/asias-martial-arts-capital-singapore-952881)
Here's a fistful of reasons to believe it
By James Goyder 10 September, 2012
http://i.cdn.cnngo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/article_large/2012/09/04/chatri.jpg
Evolve MMA founder and owner Chatri Sityodtong joins members of his fight team for a convincing "don't mess with us" photo shoot.

Singapore is renowned for its strict laws, clean streets and rapid urbanization. Martial arts? Not so much.

But that's fast changing. Over the years the city-state has quietly been building up its credentials to emerge as the fight capital of Asia.

Here's a fistful of reasons to put doubters into submission.
The rise of MMA

Mixed martial arts (MMA) combines several different fight styles, and is one of the fastest growing sports on the planet. Giving the sport further legitimacy, the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation was founded in Sweden earlier this year.

Much of Singapore's current martial arts success is owed to the efforts of two Asian entrepreneurs who chose to base their MMA businesses in the city.

Filipino Canadian Victor Cui is behind ONE Fighting Championship, Asia’s biggest MMA promotion.

http://i.cdn.cnngo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/inline_image_400x267/2012/09/04/one_fight_2011_.jpg
A fighter from Evolve serves his opponent a forceful kick during a ONE Fighting Championships welterweight bout in Singapore. The other, Chatri Sityodtong from Thailand, is the owner of Evolve MMA, arguably the most successful martial arts gym in Asia.

Famous fighters

Chatri, a Harvard graduate and wealthy Wall Street investor, decided to turn his business talents to martial arts in 2008. He was a veteran of numerous muay Thai fights who held a blue belt in Brazilian jiujitsu so the decision to take his entrepreneurial flair and apply it to martial arts came naturally.

“I have always been passionate about martial arts but when I first came to Singapore there really was nothing here, it was difficult to find anyone to even train with personally," says Chatri.

"I decided to set up Evolve MMA not just because I saw it as an investment opportunity but because people in Singapore seemed to live very sedentary lives and I wanted to give them somewhere they could come to stay healthy and to learn something new.”

"Asia will always be the spiritual home of martial arts but Singapore has become its epicenter," says ONE FC founder Victor Cui. Chatri would not have made his millions on Wall Street without being able to spot a trend and Evolve MMA has grown to the point that it is already regarded as being the top fight training facility in Asia.

Famous fighters from the United States such as former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Rich Franklin and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren will travel halfway across the world to train there and, according to the founder, membership is booming.

“Singapore really hasn't had a culture of sports historically, let alone martial arts but in the last four to five years the martial arts scene in Singapore has skyrocketed," says Chatri.

"Judging by our growth rates at Evolve MMA, the MMA industry in Singapore has grown eight to 10-fold during that time frame and new martial arts gyms are opening all the time.

"In the past I would have said Tokyo was the martial arts capital of Asia but now it is Singapore. Even the UFC is looking to establish its Asian headquarters here.”

Vegas-style fight nights

http://i.cdn.cnngo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/inline_image_400x267/2012/09/04/ring_girl_0.jpg
Eyes on the fight, boys. ONE Fighting Championship's first event took place in Singapore's 12,000-seat Indoor Stadium last year. Cui believes that the country he calls home has already established itself as the martial arts capital of Asia, but there's definitely room to grow.

“Singapore has always been a commercial hub but martial arts has really helped to establish it as a tourist destination too because people from all over the world will travel here to train MMA or to take in an MMA show," he says.

"Asia will always be the spiritual home of martial arts but Singapore has become its epicenter with the biggest live shows and the best training facilities.”

ONE Fighting Championship’s next show in Singapore is taking place on October 6 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and will be headlined by legendary Japanese fighter Shinya Aoki. For more information visit www.onefc.com.
A simple desire to get fit

The scene in Singapore is not just about world-class fighters competing in enormous arenas.

Most people who train in martial arts aren’t looking to slug it out in the ring or the cage but to lose weight, get fit or do something a bit different.

There are plenty of places in Singapore catering to everyone from beginners to experienced competitors. Here's a quick list of some of the most popular.

Evolve MMA

Evolve MMA is home to some of the best MMA and muay Thai fighters in the world such as Shinya Aoki, Rafael Dos Anjos, Orono Wor Petchpun and Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn, and is regarded as the top martial arts training facility in Asia.

But you don't have to be interested in an MMA career to train at Evolve MMA. There's an enormous variety of classes at all times of the day that cater to students of all abilities.

Sessions include everything from boxing to muay Thai to Brazilian jiujitsu and the trainers are all world champions with very impressive credentials. There are two locations, one is in Far East Square and the other at POMO Mall.

For more on classes and schedules, check out www.evolve-mma.com.

SA Judo Academy

The SA Judo Academy was founded in 2003 by fifth Dan Judo black belt Tang Soon Onn. He was formerly a coach for the national team and represented Singapore in many competitions including the World Judo Championships and the SEA Games.

Adult classes take place at the SA Budo Academy at SAFRA in Tampines on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and children’s classes take place at the same venue on Saturdays and Sundays.

There are also classes held in four separate locations. Visit www.sajudo.com for more info.

Vanda Boxing Club

The Vanda Boxing Club offers both boxing and muay Thai and is best known for training professionals from all walks of life for its "white collar boxing" competitions.

Often with no previous boxing experience participants will embark on a 12-week program that culminates in an amateur fight in front of a live audience.

Boxing and muay Thai classes take place every day of the week except Sunday and are held at a variety of times. There are also sessions for children and classes reserved exclusively for ladies.

For more information visit www.vandaboxing.com

[GeneChing]

Folayang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Folayang) has won several international Wushu tournaments, including a gold medal at the 2011 South East Asian Games which he won with a spinning back kick KO in the final, a silver medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and bronze medals in both the 2005 World Wushu Championship and the 2002 Busan Asian Games.


Asian fighters cash in on rise of mixed martial arts (http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/312346/sports/othersports/asian-fighters-cash-in-on-rise-of-mixed-martial-arts)
June 11, 2013 3:00pm

MANILA - In a caged ring at a newly built sports arena in the Philippine capital, 20 martial artists from around the world try to choke out, knock down or submit each other for thousands of paying fans.

Scantily-clad ring girls saunter on stage in between rounds to loud rock music and cheers, part of the razzle and dazzle of professional mixed martial arts, or MMA, that is hugely popular in the United States and is growing in Asia.

For hometown hero Eduard Folayang, MMA has been a ticket out of a career as a lowly paid school teacher and a chance to expand on his skills as one of the world's top practitioners of wushu, an ancient Chinese martial art.

"I wanted a different, higher level of martial arts, and that was my motivation in turning pro," Folayang, who won a wushu silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games, told AFP.

MMA pits fighters with different martial arts disciplines in a cage wearing thinly padded, open-fingered gloves, with the aim of submitting or knocking each other down.

Unlike boxing, fighters can grapple, kick, choke, throw and punch their opponents.

For the past two years, the soft-spoken Folayang has steadily built a cult following among fight aficionados for his fearless striking game rated as among the best and most exciting in the region.

He trains day in and day out for a life devoted to combat under the Singapore-based One Fighting Championship (One FC), the sport's biggest promoter in Asia.

As MMA begins to take root in the region, fighters such as Folayang have found a way to continue with their careers and earn big money in the process.

While Folayang's contract bars him from disclosing how much he earns, he said his career as a caged-ring fighter gave him a much more comfortable and enjoyable life than if he was still a school teacher.

"It is more than enough, and if you love what you're doing then everything else follows," he said. Folayang is a member of Team Lakay, which includes five of his former Filipino wushu teammates.

Folayang also insisted a sport that appeared brutal was in fact relatively safe.

He said bouts followed strict rules, were supervised by highly trained referees and sanctioned by gaming bodies to ensure all fighters were in good medical condition.

Victor Cui, a Filipino-Canadian who was a former executive of a major American sports network, launched One FC out of Singapore two years ago, looking to emulate the astonishing success of the sport in the United States.

"I just could not believe the growth opportunities. You are talking about a sport that is a $3-billion industry in northern America and it's just at its infancy in Asia," he said.

Rival organization UFC launched MMA in the United States in 1993 and its pay-per-view television deals now are often more lucrative than for professional boxing.

Cui said he estimated that pay per view revenues from MMA in the United States averaged 500 million dollars a year, twice that of boxing.

Cui, a black-belt in taekwondo, said a few years ago MMA in the Philippines and elsewhere in the region was mostly organized in small crowded halls by local promoters.

While One FC has yet to penetrate the biggest Asian markets, such as China and India, it has started to make significant inroads elsewhere around the region.

At the recent event in Manila, 20,000 fans filled the Mall of Asia Arena to capacity. One FC said 12,500 people attended a Singapore fight night in April.

Organizers are hoping to stage 36 more bouts throughout Asia before the end of next year, with the next confirmed event in Indonesia in September.

One FC also signed last year a decade-long agreement with pan-Asian television network Star Sports to broadcast the fights across the region.

Cui said he believed MMA could be even more popular in Asia than the United States, citing the deep histories of various martial arts in the region.

"Asians breathe and live martial arts. Arnis, silat, taekwondo, kung fu, muay thai, karate - these are all from Asia," he said.

"When you think of martial arts, you also think of Asian heroes - Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li."

American ex-UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia is now a part of the One FC stable and agreed that Asian fans had a much greater appreciation of the complexities of MMA than those in the United States.

"The fans here are so much better than in the US. They know more about the sport," Sylvia said in Manila before a surprise loss to an American wrestler.

"They respect the fact that this is what we do for a living, and there are no drunks cursing in the rafters."

Brazilian Bibiano Fernandes, a six-time jiujitsu world champion who as a child scavenged for food in the Amazon before fight coaches discovered his talent, is another big name enjoying life in Asia.

"I think I am just blessed to be here fighting," Fernandes said as fans mobbed him after beating a Japanese rival.

For Folayang, his night in front of a home crowd ended with a bruised body and a hurt ego after a more experienced Iranian wrestler took him down for most of the bout, but he remained upbeat.

"It was a wake-up call for me, but that's how MMA is," he said. "You win big sometimes, but get broken sometimes." - AFP

[xinyidizi]

This fight was interesting to watch. I think Chinese MMA is improving.


http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTU0NTgzNjE2.html

[GeneChing]

With a Spinning Elbow and Flying Kick, Mixed Martial Arts Squares Up to Asia (http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/10/11/with-a-spinning-elbow-and-flying-kick-mixed-martial-arts-squares-up-to-asia/)
New reality series The Ultimate Fighter set to help Mixed Martial Arts become the region's next big sport
By David Stout Oct. 11, 20132

http://timekeepingscore.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/mma.jpg?w=360&h=240&crop=1
Romeo Ranoco / Reuters
Japanese lightweight King of Pancrase Koji Oishi fights ONE Fighting Championship (FC) featherweight world champion Honorio Banario (bottom) of the Philippines during the ONE FC mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay city, metro Manila May 31, 2013.

On Dec. 7, around 830 million households will be introduced to spinning back fists, flying knees and the guillotine choke when the reality series The Ultimate Fighter debuts on Chinese television. The show’s basic format will remain the same as its popular U.S. counterpart — 16 Chinese fighters will live, train and brawl together, with two emerging as champions.

After a grueling tournament, the finalists are set meet in Macao in early March to battle it out at the Venetian’s Cotai arena for a couple of six-figure Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contracts. In between, stars will be born, underdogs unexpectedly triumph and rivalries forged as the world’s most populous nation is introduced to mixed martial arts (MMA) — a fighting competition without the narrow rules of, for example, boxing or judo and where, almost, anything goes.

Although the fastest growing sport in the world, this Western-born aspirant has not until now been embraced in Asia — the spiritual home of Kung Fu, Karate, Muay Thai and a host of other iconic fighting styles. That, however, looks likely to change with UFC — the original and largest of dozens of MMA promotions currently in the U.S. — aggressively staking a claim.

“Historically, The Ultimate Fighter has been a great show to introduce the sport of mixed martial arts, and the UFC as the leader of the sport, to wider audiences,” UFC Asia managing director Mark Fischer told TIME. “We expect it to be a similar type of game changer in China as we bring out the Chinese version.” Although there have been significant inroads into Southeast Asia in recent years, promoters believe the Middle Kingdom’s huge population remains the golden ticket.

Yet MMA’s domestic nascence was far from smooth. When the U.S. reality television series first hit the airwaves on Spike TV in early 2005, the sport was still nursing the black eye it had earned a decade earlier when it was little more than sanctioned street fighting. There were only three rules when UFC debuted in the early 1990s — no biting, eye gouging or fish hooking. Weight classes were nonexistent, neither were judges or rounds for that matter. Bouts ended when fighters tapped out, were knocked out or threw in the towel. A backlash against the gruesome spectacle saw 36 states bar the sport. (Senator John McCain famously derided MMA as “human ****ing fighting” and pushed for an outright ban.)

Then Las Vegas came into the mix. In 2001, Station Casino executives Frank Fertitta III and his brother Lorenzo bought the UFC brand for a meager $2 million. The owners embarked on a massive overhaul to professionalize the sport and began sanding down the barbaric edges that provided MMA with a cult following among hardcore fight fans but kept it firmly out of the mainstream.

Eventually, MMA turned the corner after bringing in weight classes, rounds, judges and a plethora of rules, as well as another $10 million in positive publicity. “It paid back in spades because it introduced all the background to the sport, putting a human face on it, telling all the stories and drama behind the sport,” says Fischer. Five years later, UFC’s President Dana White boasted of a promotion worth well over $2 billion and growing. MMA had crossed the Rubicon.

And the latest push is to bring MMA to Asia — the continent responsible for the myriad martial arts disciplines that provide its essential building blocks. Signs are already positive as the Internet and new promotions have begun to steadily introduce MMA to the Asian masses. Gyms that offer MMA training are sprouting up across the continent, with the promise of getting clients into fighting shape regardless of whether they harbor any ambition to actually face off in an actual bout.

At Hayabusa, a martial arts fitness center in middle of the Hong Kong’s pulsating financial district, white-collar bankers practice straight rights and sweeping kicks alongside aspiring amateur and professional fighters. In the year since opening, the gym has already attracted more than a thousand clients. “It’s more than we expected actually,” says Hayabusa director Andy Lai. “Hopefully, we will expand after Chinese New Year.”

In Thailand, professional and amateur fighters from Korea, China, Japan and Malaysia, along with throngs of Westerners, are heading to sparring camps near the country’s famed white beaches to sharpen their traditional Muay Thai kickboxing skills, but also improve their jujitsu holds and grappling — essential tools for MMA. Will Elliot, the director of the Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, says within just seven years his gym “went from pretty much a ragtag operation to a full-blown place where people can get world class pre-fight training under UFC veterans. I’ve seen a huge progression.”

Or take Malaysia. According to Victor Cui, owner and CEO of ONE Fighting Championship, until now the largest MMA organization in Asia, few were interested when the company first arrived in the country just two years ago. Today, there are more than 30 MMA gyms operating across the capital Kuala Lumpur alone, and ONE FC has held two sold out events.

“We have a major blue chip telecomm sponsor and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Malaysia has formally acknowledged that they will focus on the sport of mixed martial arts,” he says. “You’ve gone from zero support to government support, corporate support to public support to grassroots.”

Since launching, the Singapore-based promotion has already laid claim to 90% of MMA’s market share across Asia and packed out stadiums in Manila, Jakarta, KL and Singapore. “I’m watching this business grow into a multi-billion dollar empire in North America, but it was non-existent in Asia three years ago or four years ago,” say Cui. “Asia has always been ready for mixed martial arts… but nobody has approached it from a media-side like ONE FC has.”

Behind the scenes, Cui has made some of his largest investments in ensuring that not only his business thrives but that MMA also spreads deep roots across the region. One of Cui’s initial moves was to host a MMA summit in Singapore where he brought together about 500 people from the industry — gym owners, trainers, promoters and fighters from across Asia to discuss a cooperation scheme. Now he boasts approximately 2,000 fighters signed to exclusive contracts, and a 10-year deal with ESPN Star Sports puts ONE FC in touch with 450 million viewers in 25 different countries.

Naturally, he’s brimming with confidence. “Marital arts have been practiced in Asia for the past 5,000 years. Everybody gets it,” says Cui. “We know it. We love it. We follow it. It’s not unusual for us to see someone flying through the air and people kicking each other.” And with fans like that, the sport will always have a fighting chance.

Marital arts. lol.

[GeneChing]

In the wake of Pacquiao vs Mayweather (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68462-Pacquiao-vs-Mayweather-May-2-2015-Las-Vegas)


Thu, May 21, 2015
Mixed martial arts going mainstream across Asia (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2015/05/21/2003618789)
AFP, SINGAPORE

The explosive growth of mixed martial arts (MMA) in Asia is putting the squeeze on boxing as it attracts millions of young fans and sells out venues across the region.

Just a few years ago, cage fighting was seen as a niche and grisly pursuit, but it is moving into the mainstream, with major TV and sponsorship deals and a planned US$1billion initial public offering for Asia’s main player, ONE Championship.

Gyms are mushrooming across Asia and fights have been held in dozens of major cities across a region that groups about 4.4 billion people, two-thirds of the world’s population.

MMA has also taken hold in the Americas and Europe, but it has a particular appeal in Asia, which is the birthplace of the martial arts, but lacks homegrown sports heroes.

Its success is cutting into the fanbase of other combat sports, notably boxing, which is making a belated push for the Asian market with several big fights in Macau.

Even Manny Pacquiao, Asia’s best-known boxer, who lost this month’s “Fight of the Century” to Floyd Mayweather Jr in Las Vegas, is a fan and investor in One Championship.

The growth of the Singapore-based company, which is the most prominent of several Asian MMA organizations, is testament to the sport’s rapid expansion in the region.

In just three-and-a-half years, One Championship — renamed from One Fighting Championship — has grown to 24 events this year, including 10 in China.

Sponsors include L’Oreal and Sony, and a tie-up with Disney means One Championship promotes films such as Avengers: Age of Ultron and the forthcoming Star Wars reboot.

ONE Championship CEO Victor Cui said that by the end of 2017, the company aimed to hold one event a week, and that it planned a US$1 billion share listing in three years’ time.

“Compared to MMA, boxing attracts only the boxing fans, whereas MMA is across all the martial arts,” he said at a large MMA gym in downtown Singapore. “The appeal base across Asia is quite different, because every Asian country has some form of martial art that they already do ... whereas boxing is not as heavily rooted in every country.”

In MMA fights, competitors can use a variety of martial arts to knock out their opponent or force a submission or stoppage, as well as accumulating points on the three judges’ scorecards, making the action varied and sometimes vicious.

While opinions vary about the sport’s merits, it is attracting a large and young Asian fanbase, often male, fueled by its prevalence on TV and social media.

“There’s a misconception that it’s bloody, that it’s brutal, but there’s a lot of respect that goes on out of the cage,” said Matt Eaton, editor and publisher of the Hong Kong-based Rough magazine and Web site. “They’re martial artists; they have a lot of respect for each other.”

“Boxing has done itself a bit of a disservice by remaining relatively old school,” he said. “People still like the spectacle of boxing... but what MMA has got going for it is that it’s a relatively new sport, it’s almost a native of this whole digital world.”

Boxing’s schism with the martial arts widened this month when the International Boxing Association (AIBA) decided to pull out of the 2017 World Combat Games, preferring to maintain its “noble” image.

AIBA officials were not available to comment for this story when approached by reporters, but Cui said boxing faced “a bit of a challenge” to reach prominence in Asia.

“The conversation we had with Manny [about investing] was, only Manny could fill out a 20,000-seater stadium in the Philippines, there’s no other boxer who could do that,” Cui said. “Here’s our sport, One Championship, we don’t have our Manny Pacquiao yet, but we’re filling 20,000-seat stadiums.”

A key element to the growth is the fitness boom and the trend toward more challenging and varied workouts than the traditional approach of lifting weights at a gym.

At the Evolve gym in Singapore, dozens of people were using their lunch break to punch, kick and grapple their way into shape.

“It’s just so stimulating, so challenging... I just wanted do something different with my life,” said Singapore zoo keeper Rachel Yeo, 27. “This place makes me feel alive.”

Boxing’s cause was not helped by the disappointing “Fight of the Century,” when Mayweather skilfully picked off Pacquiao while keeping largely out of range.

“Hard to watch sober,” was the verdict of Singaporean cage fighter Stephen Langdown, 22, who said it compared poorly with the spectacle of MMA. “Nobody’s interested in seeing people run around for 12 rounds, pit-pat, pit-pat. It’s just not good TV.”

[GeneChing]

Teen MMA sensation Angela Lee fights misconceptions about women in the sport (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/teen-mma-sensation-angela/2063944.html)
The 19-year-old mixed martial arts fighter, who has numerous world titles to her name, says she hates it when people think it is just about "chicks with barely any clothes on" in a cage.

By Justin Ong
POSTED: 20 Aug 2015 21:32 UPDATED: 20 Aug 2015 21:33

SINGAPORE: Nineteen-year-old Angela Lee sports a "kawaii" look and is no stranger to the occasional bikini photoshoot to promote her career, but it is her cage-fighting prowess that she wants to be known for.

The mixed martial arts (MMA) athlete impressed on her professional debut in May at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, defeating the taller, older and more experienced Egyptian Aya Saber in less than two minutes.

Lee, who is signed to Singapore-based MMA promotion One Championship, holds a brown belt in the ground fighting style of Brazilian jiu-jitsu - just one level shy of a black belt. Since her parents started coaching her at three, she has won numerous world titles in various disciplines like wrestling and pankration.

Even with such credentials, the Canadian-American citizen of Singaporean-Korean ethnicity bemoaned how she attracts attention “for the wrong reasons”.

“When people watch women’s MMA, sometimes they’re like ‘Oh, chicks with barely any clothes on and in a cage fighting, that’s super hot’,” she said. “I hate that so much.”

“Hopefully over time, they can recognise us for our skills instead of our looks,” added Lee, who is training at Singaporean gym Evolve MMA to prepare for her sop****re fight on Sep 1, against Russian exponent Elena Pashnina in Shanghai, China.

ASIAN PRIDE

While she aims to become the first women’s champion of One Championship, she is also eager to grow MMA’s presence in Asia by emulating the impact made by the sport’s biggest female superstar Ronda Rousey.

The latter remains undefeated in her reign as the first women’s champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s largest MMA company. As an Olympic medallist in judo and budding movie actress, Rousey is also credited with bringing MMA into mainstream consciousness.

“I want to do that in Asia. I’m hoping to rise up and inspire women over here to train MMA, so we can get more recognition,” said Lee, who was quick to add that she had no wish to be an “Asian Ronda Rousey”.

“There are only one or two female bouts on fight cards in Asia and I want to get more fights on there for the women,” she added.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/blob/2063728/1440070609000/angela-lee-wins-fight-data.png
Angela Lee after winning her debut fight. (Photo: One Championship)

Lee’s own heritage, however, has been a bone of contention for online detractors, with some calling her out as more American than Asian.

One Championship labels her “Singaporean” in its promotional materials. Lee, who was born in Vancouver and raised in Hawaii, brands herself “Singaporean” and “Korean” on her Instagram account.

“I don’t like to categorise myself with one thing, because I’m not just that. It’s all a part of who I am,” she explained. “But my grandparents live with us all the time and my dad’s Singaporean, so we’ve always had an interest in Singapore, especially in its cooking and culture.”

“I want to fight and represent who I am and where I’m from, so Singapore, mostly, because I’m closer to my dad’s side,” said Lee, adding that her family has been “coming back” to Singapore every year since she was a baby.

“Hopefully if I can go past the boundary of people categorising me by nationalities, I can gain more popularity here in Singapore,” she said.

Lee is clearly serious about her career - enough to drop out of her business administration degree course at a Hawaiian university, to focus on MMA alone.

“I can always go back and get my degree. For now I have an opportunity and I’m not going to waste it,” she said. “My parents are very traditional in some ways but in others, understanding. They know that this is what I’ve always wanted to do, and I want to put my all into it.”

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/blob/2063712/1440070437000/angela-lee-and-family-at-data.png
Angela Lee with her family at the Evolve MMA gym. (Photo: One Championship)

- CNA/jo There's some facebook vids too, if you follow the link.

[SteveLau]

sanda actually, but people always forget sanda is part of modern wushu.

Yes, sanda is part of modern wushu as well as TCMA. The rules for training and tournament have now been standardized in modern China time. And it is a good development.




Regards,

KC
Hong Kong

[GeneChing]

Asia's female MMA star: 'I finish fights very quickly...' (http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/13/singapore-mma-star-angela-lee-ready-for-one-pride-bout-with-natalie-gonzales-hills.html)
Saheli Roy Choudhury
8 Hours Ago CNBC.com

http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2015/11/13/103165977-IMG_8777e-web.530x298.jpg?v=1447402909
ONE Championship
Angela Lee and Natalie Gonzales Hills during their weigh in, ahead of their bout at the ONE: Pride of Lions fighting event
At first glance, Angela Lee looks like a normal teenager. But unlike her contemporaries, the 19-year-old spends most of her time inside a steel cage, beating up opponents twice her age.

Lee is part of a new generation of mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters from Asia, and has been turning heads along the way. Raised in a family of martial artists, Lee remains undefeated since her debut earlier this year against experienced Egyptian fighter Aya Saber. It was a bout that Lee ended in less than two minutes.

Lee told CNBC her aim was always to finish a fight before the first round is over.

"It's just my style of fighting. I finish fights very quickly and the way I fight, it just ends...," she said.


On Friday Lee will compete in the ONE: Pride of Lions fighting event, organized by Singapore-based MMA promotion company ONE Championship. A ONE spokesperson said the event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium was expected to draw in a crowd of 12,000 enthusiasts. The company has held similar fighting events across Asia, in cities such as Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, and Yangon among others.

The sport is gaining momentum in China. ONE Championship recently announced a two-year tie up with Chinese sports development company Wujie that includes plans for 26 MMA fight events across the country. The first fight, which happens near the end of the month in Beijing, will see featherweight champions Marat Gafurov and Narantungalag Jadambaa battle it out at the Gymnasium of National Olympic Sports Center, the company said in a press release.

Lee's opponent on Friday evening is Natalie Gonzales Hills, who has a 2-2 record of fights won and lost and is eight years older than Lee. But speaking to CNBC ahead of the fight, the teenager appeared unfazed.

"I think it's great that she is a well-rounded fighter. I think that makes for a really exciting fight," said Lee, describing Hills as "aggressive."

Mixed martial arts is a combat sport in which fighters use techniques drawn from other full-contact sports such as the jiujitsu, boxing, wrestling and muy thai, to knock out their opponents. Its origin goes back to the early 20th century and much of its current popularity can be traced to the largest MMA promotion company, US-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). UFC fights in the U.S. can attract more than a million pay-per-views on cable television, with thousands packing stadiums and reality television shows following individual fighters.

Like most sports, MMA's big-name fights are almost entirely male-dominated. The highlight of the ONE: Pride of Lions tournament is between Thai fighter Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke and Brazilian Yago Bryan, who will compete in the ONE Strawweight Super Fight bout. But there's growing global interest in women's MMA following the rise of U.S. stars Ronda Rousey, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Miesha Tate

Lee's fight with Hills is a Main Card event, which takes place earlier in the night, and is the only female fight on the cards.

"Women always tend to put on a really great show," said Lee. "There's only one women's fight on the whole fight card [tonight] and I'm hoping that we'll stand out."

'gaining momentum in China'

[GeneChing]

Asian female MMA fighters to fight for world title (http://en.yibada.com/articles/113538/20160403/asian-female-mma-fighters-fight-world-title.htm)
Carlos Cinco | Apr 03, 2016 10:05 PM EDT

http://images.en.yibada.com/data/thumbs/full/76922/685/0/0/0/unstoppable-angele-lee-battles-mei-yamaguchi-at-one-ascent-to-power.jpg
UNSTOPPABLE | Angele Lee battles Mei Yamaguchi at ONE: Ascent to Power (Photo : ONE Championship)

Singapore is set to play host to a historic night of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), as two female mixed martial artists -- Singapore's "Unstoppable" Angela Lee (5-0) and Japan's Mei "V.V" Yamaguchi (15-8-1) -- will go head-to-head in a battle for the inaugural ONE Women's Atomweight World Championship.
MMA has surged in popularity in Asia in recent times, due largely to ONE Championship's extensive work cultivating the sport in the region. ONE is Asia's largest sports media property with a potential broadcast to over a billion homes in more than 75 countries worldwide.
Lee and Yamaguchi are set to step inside the ONE Championship cage on May 6, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore, in an event dubbed "ONE: Ascent to Power."
Lee, widely considered one of the most promising young combat sports athletes not just in Asia, but in the entire world, believes this is her chance to shine on the big stage.
"This fight is going to be the most important of my life," said Lee, who made her professional MMA debut last year. "I truly believe that since I started my martial arts journey, it's been my destiny to become a world champion. All my hard work and all my training is going to pay off."
The 19-year old Lee comes from a fighting family. Her parents are both martial arts instructors and highly decorated martial artists. Angela's father Ken Lee is a Pankration, Taekwondo and Jiu-Jitsu black belt and her mother Jewelz Lee is a Taekwondo black belt instructor and a 2-time Canadian National Silver Medallist.
Her younger brother Christian is also a martial artist, competing under ONE Championship's featherweight division and is unbeaten in two fights so far.
On the other side of the spectrum sits Mei Yamaguchi, who grew up and discovered martial arts in Los Angeles, but moved to Japan to teach Taekwondo.
Yamaguchi has more experience than Lee, as well as being 14 years Lee's senior. Like Lee, Yamaguchi understands the significance of this bout and how it helps women with aspirations in combat sports, especially in her home country where she teaches martial arts to children.
"I know there are a lot of girls in Japan who do Karate and Judo. I know a lot compete in that. If they see another girl in professional sports, and see that you're able to make a living with it, you can inspire a lot of fans," said Yamaguchi, who began her professional MMA career nearly 10 years ago.
"In the United States, MMA is really big. I know that Asian women are strong, and if they start to learn MMA, I know [the sport] is going to be big! I know a lot of good [female] athletes who can fight in MMA. This is really big. There are really good women fighters in Japan but I can show that to the world by winning this title."
Yamaguchi grew up admiring Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, and her parents enrolled her at a martial arts academy at age six. She fell in love with Karate at an early age and now, at 33, Yamaguchi finds herself a two-division world champion in MMA.
Both Lee and Yamaguchi are looking to add the ONE Championship belt to their collection. But in MMA, only one contestant can take home the prize.
"It's time to make history," said Lee. "I think that crowning the first ever women's champion is going to really help women's MMA take off. It's started in North America, but once we have a women's champion here in Asia, it's just going to skyrocket."
The Lee-Yamaguchi bout will serve as the co-main event for ONE: Ascent to Power. In the main event, ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash defends his title against Aleksei Butorin.
I should really follow ONE Championship more.

[GeneChing]

There's a vid if you follow the link but it wasn't playing for me. :(


Amazing footage of chubby MMA fighter Aorigele who weighs in at 23stone plus (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/7082052/MMA-fighter-Aorigele.html?CMP=OTH-applenews-sharing)
Chinese heavyweight does not fit the mould of your stereotypical mixed martial artist
By RICHARD HARVEY
03:23, 17 Apr 2016

WHEN you think of MMA, you think of perfectly sculpted fighters who look like, well, they’ve been chiselled out of granite.

However, Chinese fighter Aorigele doesn’t quite fit the mould – not by a long way.

The 21-year-old appears to have taken a different approach towards hitting the gym and dieting than most of his peers.

http://img.thesun.co.uk/aidemitlum/archive/02804/fight1_2804685a.jpg
MISMATCH ... Chinese MMA fighter Aorigele (right) shapes up to South Korean opponent Hong-Man Choi Twitter

The 23 and a half stone heavyweight has only fought a handful of bouts — winning two and losing three — and boasts a healthy layer of fat to absorb the impact from any nasty blows.

Unfortunately, the protective cushioning didn’t do its job in Aorigele’s latest fight against South Korean Hong-Man Choi at ROAD FC 030.

The showdown looked like a physical mismatch from the start with Hong-Man Choi standing over 7ft tall and towering over Aorigele at 6ft 2in.

However, as the video shows, Aorigele looked to have the upper hand early in the bout and was clearly the more aggressive of the pair.

He came out swinging hard and often, but evidently couldn’t sustain it.

The contest ended in in rather bizarre fashion with more than three minutes still remaining in the first round.

While the two were grappling, Aorigele appeared to just fall down of his own accord.

Lying on the floor, Hong-Man Choi laid into him with punches to the head and body before the fight was stopped.

Did he take a dive? Or was it exhaustion?

[GeneChing]

https://sports-images.vice.com/images/articles/meta/2016/04/18/fixed-hong-man-choi-stirs-up-more-controversy-1460997091.jpeg?crop=1xw:1xh;0xw,0xh&resize=900:*&output-quality=75
April 18, 2016
Jake Hughes
FIXED? HONG MAN CHOI STIRS UP MORE CONTROVERSY (https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/fixed-hong-man-choi-stirs-up-more-controversy)
At the tail end of last year it was reported that South Korean fighter Hong Man Choi was in trouble with the nation's authorities over an unpaid debt.

An arrest warrant was issued for the "Techno Goliath" after he was accused of borrowing 710,000 HKD ($92,000) from a former associate to help him buy his girlfriend watches before later refusing all acknowledgement of receiving those funds. He then ignored multiple demands to hand himself in for questioning and had a series of lawsuits filed against his name. But, Hong Man Choi roundly ignored them.

With the authorities baying for the 7-foot-2ins giant's blood, his scheduled appearance for ROAD FC's Christmas show was in doubt. However, Hong Man Choi was able to compete in the organisation's inaugural event in China—beating little-known Chinese fighter Quanchao Luo, who now owns a record of 0-1.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAvmiHE7zv0
continued next post

[GeneChing]

Hong Man Choi's fight against Luo was in the quarter finals of ROAD FC's openweight tournament. After minutes of flailing arm punches and stalling against the cage, assigned referee Herb Dean went to break up and restart the action. However, Luo had other ideas and simply chose not to comply, appearing to refuse to adhere with Dean's restart. The fight was ruled in the Korean's favour—a TKO win by way of retirement of his opponent.

Securing the Techno Goliath's signature was a massive coup for ROAD FC as they attempt to imprint their status among other top East Asian promotions such as ONE FC and Rizin FF. After all, promotions such as Pride and K1 also saw fit to use Hong Man Choi against top-class fighters including the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Mirko Cro Cop, Badr Hary, Remy Bonjasky, Jerome Le Banner and Semmy Schilt. Freak show fights have always been big bucks in kickboxing and MMA.

Four months on, the openweight tournament's semi finals took place in Beijing, China. It was Hong Man Choi's chance to shine once again. This round's opponent? A tubby Chinese brawler named Aorigele who beat the brakes off Kim Jae-Hun in the first round and refused to relent even after the fight had been waived off by the referee.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2dYcL7kqBM

Standing a foot shorter than his foe and weighing in at over 300lbs, Aorigele found early success against the Techno Goliath. It wasn't pretty, with the wide, winging shots of the Chinese Aorigele being thrown with enough vigour to trouble the giant.

The aggression of Aorigele was paying dividends. However, the fight promptly ended in strange circumstances as the pair were once again fighting against the cage following the referee's earlier break in action. The aggressor in Aorigele was once again getting the better of his bigger opponent, before a missed knee and an innocuous glancing blow led the Chinaman to collapse unsettlingly as if he were knocked out.

With confusing finishes in recent fights such as in Bellator's bout between Kimbo Slice and Dada 5000, which could have easily been a fatal ending to that particular contest with the benefit of hindsight, it's hard to say if the knockdown was genuine or not. Also, it's rather uncomfortable to say if a fighter threw a fight. But, it does look like Aorigele fell down on his own accord and that Hong Man Choi "finishes" the fight with some sloppy blows to his opponent's chest.

The replays provided by ROAD FC, rather inexplicably, only showed the ending of the contest once and at the worst possible camera angle to tell what had exactly happened. This finish, in addition to Hong Man Choi's first outing in the openweight tournament, which ended with his opponent bizarrely retiring in the middle of the fight for no reason whatsoever, reeks of fishiness. We'll let you decide what went on in both fights – ROAD FC is leaving us to our own devices, anyway.

Hong Man Choi's fighting career—coupled with his questionable exploits outside of combat sports, which has also seen him arrested for assaulting a woman over an unpaid bar tab—has been farcical since its inception and ROAD FC's latest event shows no sign of that changing any time soon.

I could get those vids to play. :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

A press release from AoW


Art of War Fighting Championship 17 — The Premier Mixed Martial Arts Organization in China is Back, Stronger than Ever, Offers Better Model for the Sport says CEO (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/04/prweb13348765.htm)

http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2016/04/18/13348765/gI_126157_AOW%20logonew-38%20copy%20white.png

Art of War Fighting Championships Reshapes Mixed Martial Arts For Chinese Market

"When the rest of the world catches on to what we’re building in China with Art of War Fighting Championships they’ll realize the real heart and soul of global martial arts is beating strong in Beijing.”

BEIJING, CHINA (PRWEB) APRIL 19, 2016

The next stage in the evolution of martial arts as a global sporting phenomenon will take place April 30th in Beijing China at Art of War FC 17. The event, which promises to combine the best aspects from the cultures of traditional Eastern Martial Arts and Western Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), will feature some of China’s best martial artists facing off against fighters from around the world.
Says AOW CEO and Chinese MMA pioneer Andy Pi, “Art of War Fighting Championships was the first Mixed Martial Arts event in Mainland China and is still the most prestigious. With our next event Art of War FC continues to lead the way in the development of Chinese MMA, a market we largely helped create.” Mr Pi who is considered the Godfather of Chinese MMA was the first to promote mixed martial arts in China and continues to see tremendous potential for the sport.
“MMA is the most exciting sport in the world but most of the big shows are promoted with US fans in mind. AOW is built from the ground up for more traditionally minded Chinese sports fans. By combining the energy and excitement of MMA with the ancient culture of honor and respect typical of traditional Asian Martial Arts, AOW brings the 21st century's fastest growing sport to the world’s largest sports fan market in a new and more powerful way,” he said.
Asked to be specific about how AOW will be different from other Western promotions or even those in Japan Mr. Pi says, “In the West the archetype for the professional fighter is the gladiator. The gladiators for the most part were slaves fighting in front of the Caesars because they had to. In Asia the fighting tradition comes from the temples and monasteries. Chinese monks developed the original martial arts, on which all the others are based, not only as ways to defend themselves but also as an outgrowth of their quest for personal virtue. This is an aspect of the combative arts that many promotions, especially in the West, ignore but which is still very important to Chinese culture.”
Mr. Pi continues, “watching people fight is exciting. It's part of human nature so there is always a market for it. But what makes a sport really take hold in a culture or an athlete really memorable, is when they represent something meaningful to the fans. When they inspire the fans it energizes their spirits as well as exciting them. This is why people have trained the martial arts in Asia for thousands of years and why people still honor athletes like Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Bruce Lee, and the great teachers like Jigoro Kano, and Helio Gracie.”
Mr Pi says he plans to extend the Art of War brand and its philosophy into other types of media and business opportunities in Asia and perhaps one day, around the world. “We see a massive opportunity because so much of the world has been waiting for something like this.“
Mr Pi is confident that Art of War FC and Chinese MMA is one of the largest untapped opportunities in global sports and one that he and his team intend to fully cultivate. “Take my word for it,” he says, “when the rest of the world catches on to what we’re building in China with Art of War Fighting Championships they’ll realize the real heart and soul of global martial arts is beating strong in Beijing.”
For tickets and fight card information, please visit: http://www.artofwarfc.com/

About Art of War Fighting Championship:
Established in 2004, the Art of War Fighting Championship is Mainland China’s premier mixed martial arts promotion. The Art of War Fighting Championship is broadcasted via satellite nationwide to a network coverage of 300 million viewers. Featuring some of China’s best mixed martial artists, including national champions and former Olympians, the Art of War Fighting Championship has set the standard for the future of China’s mixed martial arts industry.

[GeneChing]

Hold the phone...Wanda (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69324-Wanda-amp-AMC)? :eek:


Sources: Two groups post bids in $4.1 billion range to buy UFC (http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/16258572/bidding-buy-ufc-drawing-closer-conclusion)
Jun 17, 2016
Darren Rovell ESPN Senior Writer

Bidding to buy the UFC is drawing closer to an end, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The two bidding groups -- WME-IMG in conjunction with Dalian Wanda Group, and China Media Capital -- had similar bids in the $4.1 billion range, sources said.

Sources said that both bidding groups are still trying to completely finance the buyout, which would be for the entire company. Which company ultimately wins out might depend on the details of that financing. Sources say WME co-chair Ari Emanuel has been asking well-heeled investors to chip in between $25 million and $50 million.

One of those investors that said yes, according to sources, was the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution. A Kraft Group spokesman declined comment.

The WME-IMG bid with Dalian is also said to include China's Tencent Holdings, one of the 10 largest internet companies in the world and ESPN's official digital partner in the region. State-backed investment firm China Media Capital has been bankrolling many projects, including a five-year broadcast-rights deal with China's top-tier soccer league worth $1.3 billion.

Reached Thursday, UFC president Dana White said he had no comment.

Last month, ESPN reported that the entire UFC organization was actively up for sale and that bids were in the $3.5 billion to $4 billion range.

At the time, White denied that Zuffa, which bought the UFC for $2 million in 2001, was in an active bidding process.

Sources say that although White denied details of the sale publicly, the UFC forced partners to sign more extensive confidentiality agreements after the leak.

Zuffa, a company set up by brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, owns about 80 percent of the venture, and Abu Dhabi's Flash Entertainment bought a 10 percent piece for an undisclosed sum in 2010. White, who is expected to be asked to stay in some capacity should a sale go through, also has a share.

While the UFC has developed into quite a business, with a rights deal on the horizon that could very well double to more than $200 million a year beginning in 2019, the business is volatile. The UFC has kept its financial cards close to its vest, but Lorenzo Fertitta told CNN that the business grossed about $600 million last year.

The UFC is undoubtedly coming off its best year thanks to the emergence of Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey, but the return of Rousey -- who is represented by WME-IMG -- is uncertain, and both fighters are facing the prospect of their second losses in as many bouts. With both out for UFC 200, the brand was forced to make a big move to ensure that the event had some shine. It worked with Brock Lesnar to set up his one-off return to the Octagon despite his WWE contract.

Dalian Wanda has recently invested in more sports properties. Last year, it bought a 20 percent stake in soccer superpower Atletico Madrid for $48 million. In March, the company became a top-tier FIFA sponsor through 2030.

[GeneChing]

I copied the post above across two other threads. Now I gotta copy this one too. :mad:


JUN 21, 2016 @ 03:17 PM 6,236 VIEWS The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
Despite Reports, Billionaire Fertitta Brothers' UFC Isn't Being Sold, Company Insists (http://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2016/06/21/despite-reports-billionaire-fertitta-brothers-ufc-isnt-being-sold-company-insists/#bff76ee345ca)
Noah Kirsch , CONTRIBUTOR
I write about the 1% that sits on top of the world.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/9765333caf82483fb16824dfdaa69d02/960x0.jpg?fit=scale
UFC owners, from left, Frank Fertitta III, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

The Ultimate Fighting Championship isn’t going anywhere– at least not for now.

Yesterday, the reported sale of the mixed martial arts promoter made waves across the MMA online community. The deal, reportedly led by two Chinese billionaire-helmed investment groups, was rumored to be worth $4.2 billion dollars.

Those accounts now appear to be untrue.

“[The] report indicating that the UFC has been sold is false. We’ve communicated that to our staff members via an internal memo,” a spokeswoman for the UFC told this reporter.

Speculations about a potential deal have been circulating for months. In May, UFC President Dana White denied that the organization was in “advanced” talks to be purchased, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal that “The UFC [was] not for sale.” At the time, the bidders involved in the negotiations were reported to be WME/IMG, The Blackstone Group, and two Chinese investors, billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group and China Media Capital. Dalian Wanda, along with another Chinese conglomerate, Tencent Holdings (headed by billionaire Ma Huateng, known as Pony Ma) was said to lead Monday’s purported sale.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is wholly owned by Zuffa, a company founded by billionaire brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. The casino magnates purchased the UFC, then on the verge of bankruptcy, for $2 million in 2001. Since then, mixed martial arts has become one of the fastest growing sectors in professional sports, and the promoter’s fights are now broadcast to over 1 billion homes in 149 different countries.

That growth has not come without a cost. As FORBES wrote last week, Zuffa holds $475 million in debt obligations, which both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have rated “non-investment grade”–otherwise known as junk bonds. Those liabilities prompted the initial speculation that Zuffa, which is principally owned by the Fertitta brothers, alongside minority stakeholders Dana White and Flash Entertainment, was willing to sell.

For now, the UFC, which took in an estimated $600 million in 2015 revenue, is staying put. The rumors, however, are certain to persist.

[GeneChing]

...but it elicited some discussion.


ONE CEO doesn't think potential sale means a UFC expansion to China (http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/6/25/12010028/one-ceo-doesnt-think-potential-sale-means-a-ufc-expansion-to-china)
By Marc Raimondi  @marc_raimondi on Jun 25, 2016, 6:00p 23

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Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images

Even if a Chinese company is involved in the prospective purchase of the UFC, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be seeing more UFC events in China, according to ONE Championship CEO Victor Cui.

Cui isn't sure a Chinese investment firm owning a piece of the UFC is an indication that the UFC will attempt to expand more in Asia, he told MMA Fighting in a recent interview.

"For Chinese companies, why they're investing in other properties is because they're really excited about expanding outside of Asia," Cui said. "That's the goal. So they're buying properties so they can expand out of Asia. They're not buying anything to help their business in China. They don't care about that. They already have China. They don't need any help from foreign companies to dominate China."

ESPN reported last week that there are two high bidders for the UFC with the price tag in the range of $4.1 billion. Both investment groups are said to have Chinese companies at the forefront.

One is reportedly led by WME in conjunction with Chinese company Dalian Wanda. That group also has representation from Tencent Holdings, a large internet company and ESPN's digital partner in China, per ESPN.com. The other group is led by China Media Capital.

FloCombat.com reported this week the group led by WME and Wanda was the high bidder and the UFC had accepted a bid of $4.2 billion. The UFC has denied that and sent an internal memo to employees that the report was inaccurate.

Cui's ONE Championship, founded in 2011, is Asia's top MMA promotion. ONE has run three events in China, beginning in June 2015. It just announced another one for July 2 in Hefei, China, headlined by former featherweight champion Narantungalag Jadambaa taking on Eric Kelly.

Expanding to China has been difficult for both the UFC and ONE. The UFC has only been able to run a show in Macau, which is governed separately from mainland China. ONE has also had planned events for China cancelled.

Cui said the issue for ONE is that it is trying to run 20 events per year in China, not just one at a time.

"We're still only 4 ½ years old," he said. "ONE is really young. UFC has had an office in Asia for 10 years or something like that. They've been here a lot longer than us and they've had an office in China for several years. For us, we're just going to continue to focus on what we're doing and what we're good at and delivering what I think is the essence of the values of martial arts to our fans."

The UFC actually opened an Asian office in 2010 in Beijing. Most of the employees from that office moved to Singapore last year, though the Beijing office remains. Singapore is, coincidentally, the home base of ONE Championship.

While China is a focus for ONE, it isn't the only focus. ONE's base is in Southeast Asia. The promotion holds shows in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia at least twice per year. Recently, ONE has made inroads in places like Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia, too.

"We're holding our events in multiple countries," Cui said. "It's not like I'm doing 20 events in Singapore. We're going to different countries, different governments, different religions, different cultures, different languages, different backgrounds, etc."

The UFC has not had an event in Asia this year. Last year, the promotion visited Japan and made its debut in the Philippines and South Korea.

Though there seems to be heavy Chinese company backing for groups attempting to purchase the UFC, Cui does not seem concerned that means the MMA leader will be elbowing into ONE's Asian turf. Things seem to be going well for his group anyway. ONE chairman Chatri Sityodtong said recently that ONE would have a valuation of $1 billion in 12 to 18 months.

"I don't know what else [the UFC is] gonna change or how quickly they're going to be able to change it," Cui said. "I don't know what their plans are. I can only look at how we've grown and what we've done. I know we've got the best talent. We have all the top fighters in Asia. If you're an Asian top fighter in any martial art, you're already with ONE Championship. All the top athletes are locked down with us. We have fantastic sponsors and partners. That's what we're going to continue to focus on."

[GeneChing]

Major investment to aid in ONE Championship’s expansion to China (http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/7/12/12169250/major-investment-to-aid-in-one-championship-s-expansion-to-china)
By Marc Raimondi  @marc_raimondi on Jul 12, 2016, 11:00p 25

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ONE Championship

A massive financial investment from a well-known financial firm is expected to be a boon for ONE Championship and its future plans in China.

The Asian MMA promotion announced the investment from Heliconia, a subsidiary of Singapore financial giant Temasek, on Tuesday. ONE officials confirmed with MMA Fighting that the investment is in the high eight figures and will be used primarily for expansion plans in China. Sources told MMA Fighting that ONE will open up an office in Shanghai as early as this month.

"I believe this partnership marks the beginning of a long and fruitful journey to bring ONE Championship to the rest of the world," ONE CEO Victor Cui said in a press release. "Heliconia is a well-respected investment firm with the expertise, resources and contacts across Asia. For us, this investment by Heliconia represents a strong vote of confidence and a belief in the value that ONE Championship can bring. This partnership will unlock additional markets and opportunities for ONE Championship."

Growth in China is a goal for many companies in a variety of industries, because of the substantial population and potential for exponential financial success. The UFC is very interested in making moves in the country and will be attempting that with force under new owners WME-IMG, which already have deals in place there. Currently, the UFC has only had shows in Macau, not the mainland.

ONE has already held six events in China on the mainland, including one two weeks ago in Hefei. The plan is for more this year and in the future. Heliconia's support will be a big part of that. The company is a financial firm under Temasek that focuses on growth-oriented Singaporean companies. ONE is based in Singapore. Temasek as a whole manages a portfolio of nearly $200 billion USD.

"We believe ONE Championship can potentially be the next big thing for consumers in Asia," Heliconia CEO Derek Lau said. "They have the right product for Asia, they understand Asia and know how to monetize the value proposition in various ways in the New Economy. We are really excited to see ONE Championship taking the lead in the coming years to grow the sports media and entertainment industry in Asia."

I keep thinking I need to split ONE Championship off into it's own indie thread, but it wouldn't search well.

[GeneChing]

Bad meat...


UFC’s Ning Guangyou fails drug test for clenbuterol, USADA finds no fault (http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/8/9/12416676/ufc-s-ning-guangyou-fails-drug-test-for-clenbuterol-usada-finds-no)
By Marc Raimondi  @marc_raimondi on Aug 9, 2016, 5:30p 37

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Anton Tabuena

A UFC fighter has failed a drug test, but will not be suspended.

Ning Guangyou of China tested positive for clenbuterol from an out-of-competition sample taken May 19, but USADA found he ingested the substance without fault or negligence, it was announced Tuesday in a release.

Countries like Mexico and China have a high risk for meats contaminated with the substance. WADA issued a warning about the issue in 2011.

"Consistent with numerous prior reported cases globally, the issue of illicit administration of clenbuterol to animals destined for food production can result in, under specific conditions, a positive sample from an athlete," the USADA release stated.

Guangyou, 34, tested positive for only trace amounts of clenbuterol. USADA said it reviewed the evidence of the case — Guangyou's whereabouts, dietary habits and the lab reports showing "very low parts per billion concentrations" of the substance — and determined that it very likely came from tainted meat. Guangyou will not face a suspension.

"While the risk of consuming clenbuterol-tainted meat and testing positive for an athlete is extremely small, consistent with past athlete advisories, USADA reminds athletes to use the utmost care if eating meat in known high risk countries, including Mexico and China," the USADA release stated. "In line with WADA recommendations, USADA will continue to assess the presence of clenbuterol in an athlete's sample on a case by case basis, taking into account all the evidence supporting the likelihood of such contamination."

Guangyou's bout with Marlon Vera has been moved from UFC 202 to one week later at UFC on FOX 21 on Aug. 27 in Vancouver, the UFC announced Tuesday.

The UFC statement reads:


In late July, UFC was made aware of USADA's investigation into the source of the prohibited substance clenbuterol in an out of competition sample collected from Ning Guangyou. Given it was initially unclear as to the timing of the resolution of the investigation, UFC made the decision to move Guangyou's scheduled bout against Marlon Vera on August 20, 2016 at UFC 202 to UFC Fight Night: Maia vs. Condit in Vancouver, BC on August 27, 2016.

A similar issue with clenbuterol occurred earlier this year before a boxing match between Francisco Vargas and Orlando Salido. Vargas, a Mexico native, popped for clenbuterol two months before the fight, but the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) allowed the fight to go on after Vargas had passed every other out-of-competition test leading up to the June 4 date. The situation was discussed at length last week at the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports (ABC) annual conference last week in Las Vegas.

Guangyou (5-3-1) has not fought since a split decision loss to Marco Beltran last November. He won his first two fights in the UFC before that, including the TUF China championship over Jianping Yang in 2014. He has never fought outside of Asia.

Clenbuterol is clinically used by asthma patients, though it's stimulant and slight anabolic qualities have put it on WADA's banned list as a performance-enhancing drug.

[GeneChing]

http://static.atimes.com/uploads/2016/12/mma-IMG_7327-960x576-1481799063.jpg
Ma jiawen's right fist connects with the face of Jimmy “The Silencer” Yabo. Photo: ONE Championship

CULTUREMMA
China rising: Meet two fighters leading the MMA charge (http://www.atimes.com/article/china-rising-meet-two-fighters-leading-mma-charge/)
A pair of Tianjin natives are showing they have the guts and driving ambition to make it big in the mixed martial arts cage
By PEDRO CHAN DECEMBER 15, 2016 6:39 PM (UTC+8) 70

Big things are expected from these Chinese fighters as mixed martial arts continues to spread across the country, with local and American players lining up to tap the estimated potential earnings of up to US$724 billion by 2025.

Ma Jiawen

Age: 20
Fights out of: Tianjin K1 Club
Fights in: ONE Championship featherweight division (145lbs)
Record: 3-2

The Tianjin native is fast turning into a human highlight reel. Even at such an early stage of his MMA career – five fights overall for a record of three wins and two losses – the 20-year-old is building a reputation as a fighter with a knack for the spectacular.

http://static.atimes.com/uploads/2016/12/ma-jiawen-IMG_9284-1.jpg
Ma Jiawen is declared the winner of this bout. Photo: ONE Championship Ma Jiawen is declared the winner against Jimmy Yabo. Photo: ONE Championship

Consider the elbows that brought the challenge of the Philippines’ Jimmy “The Silencer” Yabo to an end at ONE Championship 45 in the third round. Ma’s explosive power has been turning heads already – and he promises there’s more to come.

“I think MMA is very masculine, just like my personality,” Ma said in an interview. “The chance to be a champion drives me all the way here. I am a very easy-going person outside the cage, so a lot of people can’t tell I am an MMA athlete, but when I walk into the cage I change into another person. I am a very tough man inside the cage. MMA sharpens my will and makes me more tenacious.”

Ma made his ONE Championship promotional and professional MMA debut in 2015, competing in the Guangzhou Featherweight Tournament.

“The sports industry is developing very fast in China,” he says. “More and more people are getting to know it and getting into it and not only the men, but also a lot of women are becoming MMA fans. I think my strength is that I keep a very clear mind inside the cage. I can always be calm and follow the strategy we set before the fight.”

And his goals for the year ahead? Simple.
“I hope I can win every single fight,” Ma says.

http://static.atimes.com/uploads/2016/12/IMG_5822.jpg
Photo: ONE Championship Li Kaiwen (in pink shorts) makes a connection. Photo: ONE Championship

Li Kaiwen

Age: 21
Fights out of: Tianjin K1 Club
Fights in: ONE Championship featherweight division (145lbs)
Record: 6-3

Power is what Li Kaiwen is all about. Another fighter to emerge from the Tianjin MMA community, the 21-year-old has bludgeoned his way to a 5-1 record in the ONE Championship (6-3 overall in MMA) with his heavy hands.

“I used to train in wrestling, which I think is the most important skill in MMA,” says Li. “I think the man in the cage is a true man. Every time I get into the cage and have my arms raised after I win, it encourages me to keep going. I think I am an all-rounder. If I have any weaknesses, I will train hard to master them and then turn them into one of my strengths.”

Watch: Manny Pacquiao buys stake in ONE FC

Among Li’s list of achievements include winning the Beijing Featherweight Tournament at ONE: Dynasty of Champions (2014) as well as outpointing Malaysia’s rising star Keanu Subba in his most recent bout back in July.

“I am a shy boy away from the the cage, but I am an aggressive and hungry man inside the cage,” says Li. “Actually MMA has been shaping my personality a lot. I have learned the importance of humility and gratitude after I started MMA.

“My short-term goal now is to be the first Chinese featherweight champion. I don’t care who the champion is – he’s just taking care of my belt and I will get it one day. My long-term aim is to get as many ONE Championship belts as possible after getting the featherweight champion.”

Does anyone here watch ONE FC fights regularly?

[GeneChing]

http://static.atimes.com/uploads/2017/02/C5uN4lZUwAAdelX-960x576-1488266259.jpg
Photo: Twitter

UFC signs up Chinese MMA fighter Wang Guan
(http://www.atimes.com/article/ufc-signs-chinese-mma-fighter-wang-guan/)
The Dongbei Tiger seeks Ultimate Fight Club debut in Singapore June 17
By PEDRO CHAN FEBRUARY 28, 2017 3:25 PM (UTC+8) 101

The eye of the Tiger has turned to the Ultimate Fighting Championship with the announcement that another Chinese fighter has been signed onto the books of the world’s biggest mixed martial arts body.

That man is 31-year-old Wang “The Dongbei Tiger” Guan, who said he is now looking to make his debut in Singapore on June 17.

“I will continue to keep a clean record in the UFC, showing the world my ‘China Power,’” Wang said in a statement on Tuesday. “It’s a dream come true … the opponents I face next will be the best in the world. This will push me to train even harder.”

Fighting out of the Xian Sports University, Wang boasts an overall MMA record of 15-1-1 in a career that has so far seen him battling away mostly in the Shanghai-based Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation, known as RUFF, where he was a featherweight champion. He’s listed at 146 pounds, and 5 feet 11 inches.


Follow
UFC_Asia ✔ @UFC_Asia
UFC signs top Chinese prospect ‘The Dongbei Tiger’ Wang Guan
📰 http://bit.ly/2m05kpS 🇨🇳
6:26 PM - 27 Feb 2017
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The signing — first hinted at by UFC at a press event in Singapore last week — is part of the Las Vegas-based group’s continued push into Asia. Events are scheduled for Tokyo (date to be decided) and another Asian city (TBC), as well as Australia and New Zealand.

But it’s China that remains an elusive target, following two UFC events in the southern city of Macau, a self-administered Chinese territory. Now, UFC is looking further north.

“We’re definitely working on our first event in mainland China,” UFC’s senior vice-president, head of international and content, Joe Carr, said in Singapore. “We were successful in Macau, and that’s fine, but our ambitions are mainland China.”

Wang joins Beijing-based Li “The Leech” Jingliang in the UFC. Li was last seen fighting on Fox 23 in Denver, Colorado, in January — and impressed with a second-round KO of American Bobby Nash to take his record with the organization to 4-2 (and to 12-4 overall in MMA).

TO GO WITH: China-Leisure-sport-social-MMA,FEATURE by Tom HancockThis photo taken on July 24, 2014 shows mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Li Jingliang training at a gym in Beijing. Li is among China's growing ranks of MMA fighters, many hoping to punch their way out of poverty by reaching the sport's higher-levels. AFP PHOTO/Greg BAKER / AFP PHOTO / GREG BAKER Only a matter of time… Photo: AFP
After the bout, Li said it was only a matter of time before Asia — and China — had a local world UFC champion to cheer.

“Asian and Chinese fighters need more time to develop our techniques,” he said. “But one day we will win the UFC title, and this day is not very far away.”

UFC's latest attempt to penetrate that Bamboo curtain.

[GeneChing]

Impressive story.


From dirt poor to multi-millionaire, Asia's top MMA promoter on how to get rich by helping others (http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/06/mma-promoter-chatri-sityodtong-on-making-money.html)
Nyshka Chandran | @nyshkac Tuesday, 7 Mar 2017 | 2:41 AM ET

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ONE Championship founder and chairman Chatri Sityodtong at the Asia MMA Summit 2016 in Singapore on September 22, 2016. ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images

The path to affluence doesn't necessarily begin with self-interest. Instead of focusing on themselves, those aspiring for affluence should look to help others, according to self-made multi-millionaire Chatri Sityodtong — a powerhouse in Asia's mixed martial arts (MMA) industry.

"Ninety-five percent of people are focused on short-term consumer spending. But millionaires are focused on increasing their usefulness and value to the world so they can get a bigger income," explained the 45-year old, a senior Muay Thai instructor who fought professionally in his native Thailand.

"If you're helping a lot of people, then by definition you're going to make a lot of money."

Sityodtong is a serial entrepreneur whose rags-to-riches story has become well-known in Asia.

After his family went broke during the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis, he earned a Harvard MBA while living on $4 a day to support his mother and younger brother. Sityodtong made his first million at the age of 30 through the sale of his Silicon Valley-based software company, and then founded the $500 million hedge fund Izara Capital Management on Wall Street.

By the time he was 37, he left Wall Street for sunny Singapore, where he returned to his first love of MMA by founding ONE Championship — Asia's equivalent to Ultimate Fighting Championship — and the MMA gym Evolve, which is a training destination for champion fighters.

ONE is now Asia's largest sports media company, according to the company, which claims its valuation is nearing $1 billion. Evolve has expanded to include a digital university, an online fight store and MMA-themed retreats.

Despite that influx of cash, Sityodtong says he's a minimalist who cares little for purchasing material goods. "Through any given year, I will maybe buy five to ten t-shirts that are $20 a piece."

Chatri's second tip for aspiring millionaires is plain hard work.

"If you really want to become a millionaire or a world champion, you have to work 18 hours a day, seven days a week. You can't get the rewards without the work."

[GeneChing]

Interesting perspective on this all...


CAN MIXED MARTIAL ARTS STARTUP ONE CHAMPIONSHIP HOLD OFF UFC’S MOVE BACK INTO ASIA? (http://www.newsweek.com/one-championship-ufc-asian-mma-chatri-sityodtong-586017)
BY TEDDY CUTLER ON 4/19/17 AT 7:53 AM

“For us, even if Conor McGregor was a free agent we would never bid for him.”

Just let that statement hang, for a second, in the air, on the page. It’s a hell of a statement because McGregor is by consensus the world’s biggest mixed martial artist, in whatever aspect you choose to judge from. He’s a pay-per-view colossus, a figure who transcends the sport. McGregor draws as much attention when he doesn’t fight, when he’s yabbering about fighting Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match, when he’s wearing mink, or turning up to the Grand National open-shirted.

Add up all of those things, spin them together into the mix that McGregor devotees find so intoxicating—then believe that Chatri Sityodtong, the owner of the bombast above as well as ONE Championship, the Singapore-based MMA company, likes none of them.

“He [McGregor] doesn’t exemplify the values of martial arts,” Sityodtong tells Newsweek. “He doesn’t exemplify the culture of Asian values. Of humility, of discipline, of courage. He says, ‘F-U,’ he throws water bottles, he talks about people’s mothers in a derogatory way. That just would not fly with the Asian audience. It wouldn’t resonate.”

Among the criticisms that can be laid at the doors of McGregor’s fleet of luxury sports cars is not, surely, his nationality. Nor would it be fair to say that the man who went from Dublin plumber to become the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) first dual-weight world champion lacks courage—a bloody war with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August of last year should be evidence enough to refute that.

And yet, Sityodtong has long since earned the right to a fair hearing for his views. Since 2011, when he started ONE Championship, the business has taken over 80 to 90 percent market share of Asian MMA, according to its Thai-born owner. Sityodtong told Forbes last summer that in the next 12 to 18 months, ONE would be valued at $1 billion.

The fortunes of UFC, the pioneer of mainstream MMA in the United States and McGregor’s home, and ONE are linked, of course. Sityodtong calls the two brands’ hold over the sport a “global duopoly.” “The largest player in the western hemisphere is UFC. The largest player in the eastern hemisphere is ONE Championship.”

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Angela Lee, ONE Championship's atomweight champion, at Evolve MMA Gym, Singapore, November 24, 2016. ONE has become Asia's answer to UFC.
YONG TECK/ACTION IMAGES

The geographical distinction is significant for Sityodtong. “Ultimately, fans want to root for people who share their common culture, values and even physical look, right?

“It’s tribal. Our roster, for example, is 70 percent Asian and 30 percent non-Asian. If you look at UFC’s roster, it is 98 percent non-Asian. I do believe their formula is very different from ours, meaning UFC tends to focus on the fights and the violence. That’s why McGregor and Jon Jones work very well, resonate very well in the western hemisphere.”

UFC’s growth, from the “no-holds barred” events of the mid-1990s to its sale in the summer of 2016 to WME-IMG for $4 billion, has not, so far, included cracking the vast Asian market. The promotion last held a live event on the continent on November 28 2015, in South Korea. “UFC has never been a major player in Asia,” Sityodtong says. “They have always been a minor player, two to three events per year. The fact that we have out-executed them comes down to the fact that we are very focused on Asia, and UFC has been focused on the western hemisphere.”

There are wrinkles in the theory. Chan Sung Jung, garishly, thrillingly nicknamed “The Korean Zombie,” has proved a popular addition to UFC, though his career was held up by the necessity of national service in his homeland. And in 2017, UFC plans a renewed assault on Asia. In June it will hold a card in Singapore—also the headquarters of ONE. Are the two brands about to step on each other’s toes, or will they start throwing hooks at each other for the same audience?

“I really wouldn’t say so,” Sityodtong says. “We are throwing a minimum of 18 events here in Asia [in 2017]. I think they are throwing one or two. So we’re not even on the same scale. We’re broadcast for far more hours than they are across Asia. Our TV ratings are much stronger than theirs. We are on TV free-to-air or paid broadcast for up to 400 hours of content per year in most countries already.

“The market also is massive. So I don’t think that we are going to bump into each other. But it’s clear who the leader is in this area.”

It hardly requires Sityodtong’s Harvard MBA to understand his reluctance to expand outside of Asia, and the UFC’s desire to take a greater slice of the pie in the far East. “We are 100 percent focused [on Asia],” he says. “There are two billion viewers in the same timezone. That’s what makes it a very interesting media market—the largest in the world [in terms of] sheer number of people.”

It’s a captive market and, most importantly Sityodtong says, one that remains relatively untapped.

“Every region in the world has several multi-billion dollar sports media properties,” he explains. “North America has NFL (the National Football League), NBA (National Basketball Association), NASCAR, UFC… they are all worth $5 billion to $30 billion each. You go to Europe and it’s the same thing, EPL (English Premier League), Formula One, Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga. There is IPL in India, that’s a billion-dollar business. Japanese baseball is a billion-dollar business there. There is also Chinese Super League. All country-specific. Asia has been the home of martial arts for 5,000 years. There is a home-grown martial art in every single country that is part of the culture, the history, the tradition of that country. That would be the genesis of ONE Championship.”

Sityodtong may be critical of some of the personalities UFC has ennobled but admits without its success ONE might never have got off the ground. “I saw UFC was exploding in America, heading for mainstream status,” he says. “And today I can say in America it is mainstream. In Asia I could see it was untouched. I could see that it was all about igniting what was already here.”

A 12-year television deal with ESPN Star Sports, signed just a year after ONE’s genesis in 2012, sent its fights into 24 countries across Asia. “The biggest driver [of growth], ultimately, is media rights,” Sityodtong explains. “If you look at something like NFL which has $13 billion in revenues, $7 billion of that comes from media rights. CBS or ESPN is paying the NFL just for the right to show it on their channels. That is what we are going for.”

While Sityodtong’s force of personality drives ONE—“I do hope to serve as an inspiration for everyone across Asia,” he says—UFC’s public face remains Dana White, the President who stayed on to run the company day-to-day when it shifted hands from the Fertitta brothers, Lorenzo and Frank, to WME-IMG.

“I think Dana is a brilliant businessman,” Sityodtong says. “I have utmost respect for him, he’s done very well.” But? “I would characterize him as a very American businessman as opposed to a global businessman, in terms of the nuances of culture and social sensitivities and values and political awareness of Asia.

“I think being a brash American, it’s a little bit more difficult in Asia because Asia is made up of very different countries, different religions, social norms, values. You can’t just come in here with an American attitude and succeed.”

Hence why, perhaps, Joe Carr, UFC’s Head of International and Content, talked in February of the “need for an Asian champion”—the UFC has never had one—and raised the possibility of signing China’s “biggest MMA star.”

Sityodtong has stolen in ahead of UFC there. Perhaps his greatest attraction right now, 20-year-old Angela Lee, was born in Vancouver to a Singaporean mother and South Korean father. In May 2016, Lee became MMA’s youngest ever world champion when she defeated Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi by unanimous decision. On Instagram—social reach matters for a fighter, whether you like it or not—she has 68.6 thousand followers.

The challenge, for Sityodtong and ONE, in building what he calls a “pan-Asian brand,” is that crowds who respond vociferously to Lee in one area might react completely differently in another.

“You really have to be very connected at the local, grassroots level,” he says. “But at the same time on a pan-Asian basis.

“In Japan they [fans] are very quiet. But let’s say you come to Singapore, they are very passionate fans. We have to tailor and customize our approach to local differences.”

UFC—despite playing catch-up—must present a challenge, too. Competition in business is welcome but not when it builds a pop-up store on your doorstep. Sityodtong may not like McGregor and he may think White paints with too broad a brush to appeal to Asia’s combat sports audience. But the essential truth is that ONE and UFC have different approaches to similar goals: hoovering up pay-per-view buys, ticket sales and sponsorship.

“My vision, my dream, is to have four billion viewers who are absolutely in love with ONE Championship,” he says. “And broadcasters who end up paying us billions of dollars in media rights. That’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Is that pot big enough for two giant mixed martial arts companies? As UFC begins to look east again, we are about to find out.

[GeneChing]

Mixed martial arts hoping to ‘awaken the dragon’ with China to host Asian Open Championship in 2018 (http://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2103631/mixed-martial-arts-hoping-awaken-dragon-china-host-asian-open)
Governing body is looking to regulate, standardise and promote the sport within the Greater China region
PUBLISHED : Friday, 21 July, 2017, 5:35pm
UPDATED : Friday, 21 July, 2017, 7:01pm
Mathew Scott

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2017/07/21/713fd0dc-6df5-11e7-9575-882aa2208a4d_1280x720_190056.JPG?itok=S8XevwyH

Mixed martial arts has amped-up its move into the mainstream in China with the announcement on Friday that the country will host next year’s amateur International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (Immaf) Asian Open Championship.
The announcement – made in Beijing by Immaf chief executive Densign White and heralded as the “Awakening of the Dragon” – follows the first staging of the regional event in Singapore in June and comes just eight months after the China International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (Cimma) came into being.
A delegation from the Cimmaf was at the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore for the event and quite obviously liked what they saw as fighters from 15 nations battled it out inside the cage.

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2017/07/21/9d5781ec-6df5-11e7-9575-882aa2208a4d_1320x770_190056.JPG
Chen Lei celebrates a victory in Singapore in May. Photo: Handout

“Cimmaf’s mission is to regulate, standardise and to promote MMA sports within the Greater China region (including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau), especially in existing fitness clubs and gyms; as well as into the sports education sector and professional training in the near future,” Cimmaf president Wei Yonghua said.
A date for next year’s Asian Open is yet to be decided. The Immaf has been gradually expanding its reach around the globe since its formation in 2012, and it has been working with the likes of professional mixed martial arts promoters the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), as well as the International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency as it seeks to establish “rule sets on athletes, referees, coaches and paramedics; as well as providing benchmarked guidance in setting up world-class MMA training facilities and academies”.
The sport has taken off in China over the past decade, much as it has around the globe, with the UFC estimating the sport has 77 million fans across the mainland.

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2017/07/21/4faf59d8-6df5-11e7-9575-882aa2208a4d_1320x770_190056.JPG
The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation is upping its commitment to China. Photo: Handout

On the ground in the country any number of local promoters – and fighters – have rallied to the cause and the Cimmaf announced on Friday it would be working closely with the Reign In Power Fighting Championship (RIPFC).
A Cimmaf statement said particular organisations had set out to “promote and to excavate even more potential MMA athletes to step into the MMA platforms, both local and the international scene”.
The Cimmaf also announced a preliminary mutual agreement with the China-wide Dream Muscle School (DMS) to use its 2,700 gyms across the country as training centres for the sport’s athletes, coaches, referees and paramedics, while signing strategic partnership agreements with the Beijing Fangshan Sports Bureau and the Hangzhou Municipal Government.

If they can make this happen in Beijing, it'll be notable. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau aren't as significant for this.

[GeneChing]

This may well deserve its own indie thread but for now, I'm posting it on MMA in Asia (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62987-MMA-in-Asia) and China MMA (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49870-China-MMA).


UFC confirms first event in mainland China with Fight Night Shanghai to take place on November 25 (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ufc/article-4744262/UFC-confirms-China-event-Fight-Night-Shanghai.html)

UFC is set to reach new shores with first live event in mainland China
Fight Night Shanghai to take place on November 25 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena
None of the fighters have yet been announced but tickets go on sale August 1

By MATTHEW SMITH FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 12:22 EDT, 30 July 2017 | UPDATED: 13:42 EDT, 30 July 2017

UFC is set to reach new shores after it was announced the first event in mainland China will be held later this year.

UFC Fight Night Shanghai will take place on November 25 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in the Chinese city.

None of the fighters at the event have yet been announced, however fans will be able to buy tickets from August 1.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/07/30/17/42D00C6300000578-4744262-Jones_leapt_on_top_of_Cormier_and_referee_John_McC arthy_was_forc-a-25_1501431350554.jpg
UFC is set to reach new shores after it announced the first event in mainland China

UFC senior international vice president Joe Carr said: 'We are always asked when the UFC will be making its debut in mainland China.

'We are honoured to confirm that Shanghai will be the home of the very first live event and to say that we are excited is an understatement. The entire organisation is looking forward to making history this year.'

It was also confirmed that fighters will be touring Shanghai and other Chinese cities to meet fans and promote the event, including UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/07/30/17/42D111AD00000578-4744262-Cris_Cyborg_overcame_Tonya_Evinger_in_the_third_ro und_of_their_c-a-26_1501431354766.jpg
UFC Fight Night Shanghai is set to take place on November 25 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena

[GeneChing]

I'm only posting this because it says she has a Wushu background (probably Sanda (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?58601-Sanda) but I'm not going to bother chasing it down).

You think they mean 'Conviction' ala Gina Carano (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?55819-Gina-Carano)? :rolleyes:


MMA: Iniong looks to leap into world title picture (http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/11/20/17/mma-iniong-looks-to-leap-into-world-title-picture)
ABS-CBN News
Posted at Nov 20 2017 04:11 PM

https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/trending/11/14/112017-gina-iniong.jpg
Fighting for the second time in two weeks, Gina Iniong seeks a statement victory. Handout photo

MANILA, Philippines – A professional martial artist for some seven years now, Gina "Convinction" Iniong admitted had a difficult time in adjusting to the spotlight.
Even as her extensive experience a wushu champion brought her from the boxing ring to the Muay Thai circuit, and eventually to the ONE Championship cage, Iniong has remained soft-spoken and reserved.
She prefers to do her talking inside the cage, where she now pursues her dreams of becoming a world champion.
"Although I have been in this game long, I am still very shy," Iniong admitted. "I do not think I will ever get used to talking to a large group of people."
"Speaking my mind and sharing my thoughts is a lot scarier than being inside that cage, that is for sure. It is better to let my fists do the talking," she added.
Ever since she directed her career path to ONE Championship, Iniong has let her actions speak louder than her words as she looked absolutely dominant on the global stage.
READ: Former ONE champ Shinya Aoki sets sights on another world title
The 28-year-old Team Lakay product battered Natalie Gonzales Hill en route to a unanimous decision this past April.
In front of a hometown crowd last November 10 at ONE: Legends of the World, Iniong extended her winning streak inside the ONE Championship cage to two matches with an outstanding second-round finish of Indonesia’s Priscilla Hertati Lumbangaol.
Exactly 14 days after her remarkable conquest of Lumbangaol, Iniong will make an immediate return to action to face Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi in a three-round atomweight encounter at ONE: Immortal Pursuit, which takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Friday, November 24.
Iniong accepted the offer to fill in for ONE atomweight world champion Angela Lee, who withdrew from her title defense against Yamaguchi after suffering injuries from an unfortunate car accident nearly two weeks ago.
It will be a rematch of their first encounter three and a half years ago during a regional show in the Philippines, which saw Inion hack out a split decision over Yamaguchi.
Iniong is determined to claim a more decisive win this time around, as she believes her second meeting with Yamaguchi could be a stepping stone to a future shot at the world title.
"That is my ultimate motivation, to become world champion," said Iniong. "That is why I joined this organization, to showcase my skills and to prove to the world that I have what it takes to be the best."
"My opponent is a good striker, so I have no doubt that this will be an entertaining contest," she added.
Iniong has no qualms about going into an instantaneous title shot against Lee should she be victorious over Yamaguchi on Friday.
"I will face whoever ONE Championship wants me to face. I am ready, anytime. But I have my eye on the champion, and I want that belt," she declared.
As Iniong is set to step inside the ONE Championship cage for the third time this year, she has a clear vision in her mind.
Iniong knows that she will be locked inside the steel structure opposite a familiar foe like Yamaguchi, but she also recognizes what she has to do to get the job done.
"I will try to finish my fight in with a first-round knockout or submission. This is an opportunity to put me closer to my dream. I am giving everything that I have to get my hand raised this Friday," she vowed.

[GeneChing]

This may well deserve its own indie thread but for now, I'm posting it on MMA in Asia (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62987-MMA-in-Asia) and China MMA (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49870-China-MMA). I guess it didn't really deserve it's own indie thread after all.


UFC FIGHT NIGHT SAT. NOV. 25, 2017 BISPING VS GASTELUM (http://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-fight-night-shanghai-nov-25-2017)

Bisping v s Gastelum Bisping WIN Gastelum **
Jingliang v s Ottow WIN Jingliang **
Ottow Guan v s Caceres WIN Guan
Caceres Salikhov v s Garcia Salikhov WIN Garcia
EARLY PRELIMS 3:45AM/12:45AM ETPT
Magomedsharipov v s Moraes W Magomedsharipov **
Moraes Kenan v s Nash WIN Kenan Nash
Curran v s Xiaonan Curran WIN Xiaonan


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eat4i8OyVsE

[GeneChing]

Time to split ONE Championship (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71006-ONE-Championship) off into its own indie thread from the MMA in Asia (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62987-MMA-in-Asia) thread


Oct 8, 2018, 01:35am
ONE Championship's Latest Equity Investment Drives Total Capital Beyond $250 Million (https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianmazique/2018/10/08/one-championships-latest-equity-investment-drives-total-capital-beyond-250-million/#61b4e652166e)
Brian Mazique
Contributor

On Monday, ONE Championship announced it had closed a $166 million Series D financing round led by venture capitalist firm Sequoia Capital.

https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fdam%2Fimageserve%2F87147133 8%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale
YANGON, MYANMAR - NOVEMBER 03: Aung La N Sang prepares to face Alain Ngalani in an Open Weight Super Bout during ONE Championship: Hero's Dream at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium on November 03, 2017 in Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo by Dux Carvajal/ONE Championship/Getty Images)

This is the second investment deal between the two sides in the last 15 months. A Series C round spearheaded by Sequoia India and Missions Holding helped ONE Championship launch its mobile application. The latest round also includes investors like Temasek, Greenoaks Capital, and others.

With the latest investment, ONE Championship now exceeds $250 million in total capital base, per a press release from the promotion. ONE had already established itself as the largest sports media property in Asia. This only helps to further solidify that position. The promotion has expanded its overall scope in 2018. It's gone from featuring singular martial arts combat to kickboxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing. the aforementioned ONE app was launched and is available to fans around the world for free.

It streams all of the ONE events.

On Saturday, the promotion made its second trip to Bangkok, Thailand for ONE: Kingdom of Heroes.

The newly signed Srisaket Sor Rungvisai retained his WBC Super Flyweight title with a unanimous-decision win over Iran Diaz. The next event for the martial arts promotion is October 26 in Myanmar. ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion Aung La NSang will defend his 185-pound title against Mohamad Karaki. It's the first of six events scheduled to close out the year that will culminate with ONE: Realm of Champions on December 15 from Shanghai.

As ONE continues to turn out events in several countries across Asia, it seems the opportunities for growth and expansion will continue.

I write about sports and video games. I began my career with Bleacher Report in 2010 and I'm now a Forbes Contributor as well as a YouTuber. I've been blessed to make a living discussing things I'd talk about for free.
Follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page and subscribe to my YouTube channels: Mazique on Hoops and Unique Mazique Sports and Gaming

[GeneChing]

More on the IMMAF here (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62987-MMA-in-Asia&p=1304013#post1304013).


https://cdn.asianmma.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMMAF-fighters-1024x683.jpg
The IMMAF is going bust! (https://asianmma.com/the-immaf-is-going-bust/)
By: News | March 10, 2023 11:02 am

The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) is on the verge of bankruptcy by the sounds of it. A leaked letter from the ‘founder and honorary president’ reveals that the organization has already burned through its entire budget for 2023 with many key staff choosing to resign.

Apparently the organization was being funded by the UFC who paid $1 million USD per calendar year. Unfortunately this doesn’t even come close to covering the costs which IMMAF has somehow managed to accrue.

The leaked letter appeared on Twitter yesterday:

Copy of a letter that from current IMMAF leadership pic.twitter.com/L6WY6kiUvk

— MyMMANews (@MyMMANews) March 9, 2023

Dire state

August Wallen was one of the best mixed martial artists in Scandinavia at the start of the century. He retired with an 8-1 record and the sole loss of the Swedish middleweight’s career came at the hands of UFC veteran Yuki Kondo.

It seems that facing the best 185lbers in Europe and beyond was a much easier job for the 54 year old than running a regulatory body. His letter lays out in start terms the dire state of IMMAF,

The federation is in substantial debt. Moreover many key staff have chosen to resign. In other words we have a financial as well as a staff crisis on our hands

A post shared by IMMAF (@immafed)
Amateur action

IMMAF has promote amateur tournaments all over the world since being founded in 2012. The Youth World Championships are scheduled for Abu Dhabi in August although it remains to be seen whether this event will go ahead.

Last year IMMAF put on events in Asia, Africa, Europe and the US. But all is clearly not well behind the scenes with Wallen writing that,

We have a serious democratic democratic crisis on our hands.

He is unhappy at being asked to conduct an enquiry into the crisis at IMMAF and then having his mandate to do so revoked. The former mixed martial artist is clearly involved in a messy conflict with the board of the federation he founded.

There are currently two governing bodies in the MMA world, which is probably one too many. IMMAF is the longest running but it looks like GAMMA is more likely to stand the test of time. Not sure that I've ever watched any IMMAF events. I haven't kept up. Anyone?