THE AWESOME INVASION

Malaysia also hosted another great amateur MMA event, the Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) a week after ONE FC and I was so happy I got to be a part of it. There are so many interesting fights and as a Malaysian, I have never been so proud of those who were in the cage. They had demonstrated to the world that we have some real MMA athletes here in the country!

There were a few fights that I was really looking forward to, namely the Prabu vs Jenarthen's Bantamweight bout, Keanu Subba vs Joshua Liew's Featherweight bout, Darren Low's heavyweight bout and the Flyweight bout between Aiman and Kenny Yap. Unfortunately Aiman didn't make weight and so another contender Seah Zhang Yu came in as the challenger.

Prabu and Jenarthen's fight was awesome and I would say, that is probably the closest fight of the night. I really like both fighters, Prabu for his straightforwardness and Jenarthen for his innocence haha. Many argued it was an early stoppage. I don't know about that but I would really want to see what Jenarthen had under his belt if he was given the chance to fight longer. I think he could have went on also. Anyway, both of them are awesome fighters and I only hope for the best for them in their MMA careers. I have no doubt we will be able to see great things from both of them in the future. 

Photo by YK Tang Photography: Prabu defeated Jenarthen via a kimura lock

The Subba brothers have always been stars and everyone knew Keanu will destroy his opponent - it is just a matter of how fast. Sure enough, Keanu secured his victory within 2 minutes 39 seconds in Round 1 against Joshua Kiew aka Bruce Lee via TKO. Gianni and Keanu both have great records of defeating their opponents fast. I am personally a fan of the brothers and I can't to wait to see them in action again. This is a personal opinion, but if there is anyone I think can make it to the big leagues, it is the Subba brothers, no doubt. 

Photo by YK Tang Photography: Another impressive victory by Keanu Subba

I remember Darren Low from his impressive KO during the semi-finals! This dude is super fast for a heavy weight and I really hope he will make it to ONE FC soon! As I expected, Darren did not disappoint and this time, he showed us that he is not only fast with his striking moves, but can also perform a fantastic Kimura lock that led to a submission from his opponent. Good job Darren! Can't wait to see more action from him. 

Photo by YK Tang Photography: Darren Low demonstrated that he is both a stand-up and ground fighter

Although it was unfortunate that Aiman can't fight, I am also very glad that Seah Zhang Yu came in to take the fight and lost 6.5kg with such short notice to make weight for the fight. That is real commitment. It is also super impressive that he managed to win even with lesser training time compared to his opponent. Congratulations to Seah and he is definitely one of the highlights of the night for taking the belt from the former champ in round 1. 

Photograph by YK Tang Photography: Massive win by Seah who came in to fight under last minute notice

One thing I truly believe is that we have got some real MMA athletes here in Malaysia that can be polished into great stars and last Saturday night at MIMMA proves my point. I wish more people could see them and give them the support they deserve. With just some polishing, I believe our Malaysian fighters can even make it to win ONE FC as well as UFC one day. 

One thing I must also point out is how awesome Tune Talk is because they have made dreams possible for all these young aspiring MMA fighters as well as the professional fighters at ONE FC. Tune Talk is definitely the key to the growth of MMA in Malaysia - there is no doubt about it. And no, I do not work for Tune Talk but I really feel that Tune Talk and its MIMMA team deserve a lot of credit for the work they do in promoting the growth of the sport in the country together with professional MMA events like ONE FC. 

For full results for MIMMA 2, please click here. If you want to watch this, it is not too late! You can still watch it on this website (yes, this is how cool it is!!), mimmalive.tunetalk.com.

Here's to all the fighters who had done so well in the past two weeks and to more awesome MMA events.