MMA ONE Championship: Clash of Heroes

Courtesy to Metro Events, I won the consolation prize of a pair of Bronze tickets worth RM116 to the ONE Championship: Clash of Heroes at Stadium Negara. If you are a fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), surely you'd have heard of this world-class event organized by Metro Events that has gathered the best fighters from around the world. 

We were there quite early to secure a nice spot in the stadium, and bumped into a number of athletes before the match began. Too bad, they couldn't stop by for a picture as they were required to prepare themselves at the backstage. 

The stadium was flooded with thousands of fight fans as we were all excited for the battles among the best in local and international MMA talent inside the ONE Cage. 

Are you ready for the battle of their lives?

Fight 1 (Female catchweight bout): Jenny Huang defeated Amira Badr in round 2.

The match began with the female athletes, where Jenny from Chinese Taipei dominated both the first and second rounds with her boxing. It was a great 'warm up' for the audience, before the following fights where we were impressed by different showcase of powerful strikes and emphatic slams by the male athletes.

 Fight 2 (Lightweight bout): Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev defeated Mishal Alfad in round 1.

Fight 3 (Middleweight bout): Agilan Thani defeated James Kouame in round 2.

Fight 4 (Featherweight bout): Christian Lee defeated Mahmoud Mohamed in round 1.

No doubt Christian's lightning quick punches were strong and on point!

Fight 5 (Lightweight bout): Keanu Subba defeated Rayner Kinsiong in round 1.

Keanu Subba had definitely made us Malaysians proud! He was one of the champion of Malaysia Invasion MMA (MIMMA), and during Fight 5, he had once again defeated his opponent by taking him down and landing some big downward punches from the top position. Throughout the 2 minutes, it had induced a stream of cheers from the crowd with their intense lightweight matchup. 

Fight 6 (Lightweight bout): Samir Mrabet defeated Sami Amin in round 2.

Fight 7 (Catchweight bout): Geje Eustaquio defeated Saiful Merican in round 1.

Fight 8 (Catchweight bout): Jake Butler defeated Tatsuya Mizuno in round 1.

The level of excitement and thrill increased during one fight after another. I totally saluted the fighting spirit and mental strength among the fighters especially the Japanese in Fight 8 and 9. Although both the Japaneses were dominated by their opponents during the match, the fights were great with numerous takedowns and strikes before they were forced to tap out. 

Fight 9 (Lightweight bout): Eduard Folayang defeated Tetsuya Yamada in round 3.

Fight 10 (Featherweight Malaysia Warrior bout): Ev Ting defeats Eric Kelly in round 3.

Of course, the best was saved for the last! The highlight of the evening was the Malaysia Warrior Bout main event. Over 3 rounds, I really couldn't predict who would win the match as they were both so close to victory! At last, our Malaysia’s own Ev “E.T.” Ting aggressively dominated the match and won the match by submission. 

Once again, congratulations to E.T and all the winners! Since it was my first time watching MMA championship live inside the stadium, it was totally an eye-opening experience. Hope MMA continues to grow in Malaysia!