WEIGHING THE FIGHTS

Looks like my blog post on the movie The Great Gatsby will need a few more days of cooking as I have still have loads on my mind that I wish to share on that.

What can't wait is the Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) Weigh in results.Yes, I had the honour to be part of Malaysia's first ever MIMMA weigh in event and it was awesome! Although there were not much of the public crowd, as it was during working hours, I think the gym and fighters did a great job filling in seats. And also thanks to the media and bloggers who came to support. More importantly, they were so efficient with their posts it puts me to shame!

Anyway the fighters are all ready for action and their discipline paid off as ALL OF THEM MADE WEIGHT! The public weigh-in event was really similar to ONE FC's, but instead of fierce looking Victor Cui, we have a cute dopey eyed Jason Lo.

The best part of the day for me was being able to speak to Zhen Wei, the first Malaysian MMA fighter who recently competed in the Malaysian Fighting Championship. I truly admire her and I am glad I was able to convey that. It is true what they say - it is easy to talk about fighting but it takes serious guts to get into the cage and do the real thing. Zhen Wei braved it unconventionally. Not being sexist here, but it is always slightly more challenging for girls to be part of such sports that is perceived as rough and dangerous. Hence, I salute her for her courage.

The entire fightcard features seven amateur bouts, consisting of Flyweight (up to 56.7kg), Bantamweight (up to 61.2kg), Featherweight (up to 65.8kg), Lightweight (up to 70.3kg), Welterweight (up to 77.1kg), Middleweight (up to 83.9kg) and Heavyweight (up to 83.9kg and above) in addition to three professional ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) superfights. The professional fights will feature our very own local fighters Peter Davis and Saiful Merican, who will be fighting against international fighters from Ariel Sexton from Costa Rica and Aditya Deshpande from India respectively.

Below are the results of the weigh-in earlier today, which was held in Paradigm Mall.

ONE FC Superfights

Lightweight: Peter “The Pistol” Davis (69.7 kg) vs. Ariel “The Tarzan” Sexton (70.0 kg)

Catchweight: Aditya Deshpande (58.9 kg) vs Saiful “The Vampire” Merican (59.0 kg)

Featherweight: Tanaphong Khunhankaew (65.8 kg) vs. Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly (65.6 kg)

MIMMA Championship Bouts

Flyweight Championship Bout: Ngeoh Jian Chong aka “Cacador” (56.5 kg) vs Kenny Yap (56.7s kg)

Bantamweight Championship Bout: Muhd Aiman aka “Underdog Hero” (60.2 kg) vs Prabu Somanaidu aka Superman (61.1 kg)

Featherweight Championship Bout: Muhd Ikram aka “The Maxout” (65.7 kg) vs Keanu Subba (65.8 kg)

Lightweight Championship Bout: Allen Solomon Chong aka “Orang Utan” (70.3 kg) vs Shammah Chandran (70.3 kg) 

Welterweight Championship Bout: Ooi Aik Tong (76.9 kg) vs Chew Chee Chan aka “Big Sam” (77.1 kg)

Middleweight Championship Bout: Hafiz Chandran (79.0 kg) vs Jim Chong Jing Yi aka “The Believer” (82.4 kg)

Heavyweight Championship Bout: Adrian Tham aka “Tuckman” (84.5 kg) vs Christopher Leow (82.6 kg)

Not forgetting also the MIMMA Ring Girls who have made the event even more beautiful!

Yes, I've said it a million times - I can't wait! During rehearsals, the fighters were all smiles.

I am sure it is the food they get to eat after the weigh-in - besides sleep, food always makes people happy! It seemed to me like they were not even scared; but I am sure the pressure will be on tomorrow! You know, usually, the fighters all looked so tense the day before the fight but these guys were really cool. Not as scary...!

I love the feel of sportsmanship that circulated the ring and the stadium earlier. Despite being competitors, the fighters are still friendly to each other. MIMMA Grand Final is finally happening tomorrow. I have my favourites of course, but I shall try not to be biased and may the best fighter wins!

Sequence of fights, from bottom up!