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Showing posts with label Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Show all posts

ONE FC 10: Champions & Warriors | Results, recap & review

  

Colossa wins by easy decision after dominating in standup battle against Boku


Kotetsu Boku punched by Vuiyisile Colossa in ONE FC 10 Champions & Warriors

Ironically, Champions & Warriors was without a single ONE FC champion on the card and with the actual main event between Andrew Leone & Shinichi Kojima being pulled out completely without any replacement, hardcore MMA fans could only wish for these other bouts were able to make up for it... unfortunately they didn't. This has got to be the least entertaining ONE Fighting Championship of the year with 6 out of 10 bouts ended within the minutes, if not seconds, of the first rounds with submissions. It lacked of exciting match-ups and the fights didn't turn out as good as previous ONE FC cards; harsh but true.

It was a slow start in the main event, with both fighters testing each other's reactions throughout round 1. Viyusile Colossa seemed to have loads of energy, moving a lot with his light-hopping footwork and air jabs. 2nd round was the beginning of the end for the former ONE FC Lightweight Champion Kotetsu "No Face" Boku as his opponent found his range with his powerful low kicks, some which were followed up with some clean punches to his face. Boku back pedaled a lot, running away from Colossa's gradual advances. There were a few odd times where it seemed like he tried to punch but ended up with his face landing forward. In the final round, Colossa began to feel even more comfortable with his low kick-punches combinations. Boku attempted a few times to time a counter overhand right when his opponent kicks but none connected significantly. Colossa had a good chance to finish the fight when Boku got tagged till his back was on the fence but Colossa remained discipline, backed off after his deadly series of knees and elbows failed to drop Boku. The former champ from Japan sure has a hell of a chin but it was the South African kickboxer who won by unanimous judges decision in the end.

Although the live broadcast didn't show much of the audience, the atmosphere in the Istora Senayan stadium of Jakarta Indonesia seemed to be quite awesome as the noise from the crowd was pretty loud on TV. The performance of their local heroes weren't bad, winning 2 out of 4 on the night. Our Malaysian representatives both had their bouts ended quickly. Raymond Tan choked out his Indonesian opponent Brianata Rosadhi within 22 seconds whereas 19 year-old Eugenio Tan couldn't escape Vincent Majid's persistent dangerous, keylock submission which ended with a referee stoppage. The co-main event bout also ended fast in the first round after Willy Ni (apparently a Malaysian representing Netherlands) tapped out to the guillotine choke by Indonesian Vincent Latoel.


ONE FC: Champions and Warriors Results


MAIN EVENT
Lightweight: Vuyisile Colossa def. Kotetsu Boku via Unanimous Decision

MAIN CARD
Lightweight: Vincent Latoel def. Willy Ni via Submission (guillotine choke) - R1 1:51
Catchweight (90kg): Jake Butler def. James Kouame via Submission (arm triangle choke) - R1 2:11
Featherweight: Bruno Pucci def. Bashir Ahmad via Submission (rear naked choke) - R1 3:13
Light Heavyweight: Vincent Majid def. Eugenio Tan via Technical Submission (keylock) - R1 1:30
Flyweight: Almiro Barros def. Kian Pham via Unanimous Decision
Heavyweight: Alain Ngalani def. Mahmoud Hassan via KO (spinning wheel kick & punches) - R1 0:31

UNDER CARD
Lightweight: Caros Fodor def. Yang Seung Ho via Unanimous Decision
Featherweight: Max Metino def. Long Sophy via Technical Submission (keylock) - R2 3:24
Flyweight: Raymond Tan def. Brianata Rosadhi via Technical Submission (guillotine choke) - R1 0:21

Official weigh-in results here.


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ONE FC 10: Champions & Warriors Official Weigh-in Results

  
ONE FC 10 Champions & Warriors weigh-ins - Boku face off Colossa with Victor Cui looking on

The bad news is that Andrew Leone's injury has forced his bout with Shinichi Kojima to be completely pulled out from the card but good thing's that it's still on. The co-main event between former ONE FC Lightweight Champion Kotetsu Boku and Vuyusile Colossa is now the new main event of ONE FC: Champions & Warriors happening tomorrow at Istora Senayan in Jakarta Indonesia and the weigh-ins which took place earlier today has apparently gone very smoothly (with one catchweight though haha!). Here are the official results:

MAIN EVENT
Lightweight: Kotetsu Boku (68.3 kg/ 150.6 lbs) VS Vuyisile Colossa (68.3 kg/ 150.6 lbs)

MAIN CARD
Lightweight: Willy Ni (70.1 kg/ 154.5 lbs) VS Vincent Latoel (68.3 kg/ 150.6 lbs)
Catchweight (90kg): Jake Butler (89.8 kg/ 198.0 lbs) VS James Kouame (88.2 kg/ 194.4 lbs)
Featherweight: Bruno Pucci (65.3 kg/ 144.0 lbs) VS Bashir Ahmad (65.6 kg/ 144.6 lbs)
Light Heavyweight: Eugenio Tan (92.5 kg/ 204.0 lbs) VS Vincent Majid (91.8 kg/ 202.4 lbs)
Flyweight: Almiro Barros (56.2 kg/ 123.9 lbs) VS Kian Pham (56.7 kg/ 125.0 lbs)
Heavyweight: Mahmoud Hassan (101.5 kg/ 223.8 lbs) VS Alain Ngalani (101.5 kg/ 223.8 lbs)

UNDER CARD
Lightweight: Caros Fodor (69.9 kg/ 154.1 lbs) VS Yang Seung Ho (69.6 kg/ 153.4 lbs)
Featherweight: Long Sophy (64.1 kg/ 141.3 lbs) VS Max Metino (64.2 kg/ 141.5 lbs)
Flyweight: Raymond Tan (56.2 kg/123.9 lbs) vs Brianata Rosadhi (55 kg/ 121.3 lbs)

ONE FC 10: Champions & Warriors finalised card
It'd be interesting to see the debut of Malaysian fighters Eugenio Tan and Raymond Tan as they'll be up against the Indonesian representatives. It won't be a walk in the park, especially with the local crowd's support for their opponents.

Anyway, for Malaysians, we can watch the main card live on Astro ESPN Star Sports starting at 9.30pm while the others from the rest of world are witnessing the action online via live streaming at www.onefc.livesport.tv. The first three undercard fights are available for viewing free-of-charge on the website and the main card fights will be available for pay-per-view at just US$9.99. If you still somehow missed it, stay tuned for my usual quick recap/review/results here.


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Souza impresses UFC Fight Night 28: Teixeira gets TKO win

  
Texeira knocks out Bader in UFC Fight Night 28

If there was one thing I learnt very well from this UFC Fight Night is that timing and surprise can really win you some fights, in both main event and non-main event bouts. A pretty decent main card in Belo Horizonte Brazil, almost all of the fights were highly entertaining, on both striking and grappling.

Glover Teixeira started off seemingly going to lose at standup, ate some pretty heavy clean shots by Ryan Bader. Teixeira dropped to one knee when he got caught with Bader's counter left hook and Bader thought he could finish him, tried to take him down but Teixeira managed to stand up with back on the fence. Bader kept throwing uppercuts and power rights but Teixeira burst out of sudden with a one-two that landed right on the button, dropping his opponent in return. The local finished off with some ground and pound. All of that, within Round 1. Glover Teixeira will face whoever that wins in the next UFC main event for the Light Heavyweight title. I'd put my money on Jon Jones to beat Alexander Gustafsson.

In the first main card bout between flyweights Ali Bagautinov and Marcos Vinicius, it looked like it was going to end with the judges decision. Vinicius had his hands up the entire time and yet Bagautinov still somehow got his face with his right punch. Straight between his gloves, dropped him and finished off with a Hiroshima's.

In the co-main event, we saw Ronaldo Souza dominated the former Middleweight belt contender Yushin Okami by TKO as well. The Japanese just couldn't seem to find a weakness of his Brazilian opponent, throwing only high-fives to check the reactions but Souza didn't give no attention to that. Okami threw a pathetic light body kick when Souza was closing in and got countered with a one-two which the two, was nothing but power, and dropped him right away. I was like, wow! The referee stopped the fight as Okami failed to respond to Souza's ground and pound. Souza's a real deal, people. Look out, Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva.

That's what I'm trying to say, timing and surprise, proved that they're everyone's weaknesses here.

UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. Bader RESULTS


Fight of the Night: Rafael Natal vs. Tor Troeng
Knockout of the Night: Glover Teixeira
Submission of the Night: Piotr Hallmann

MAIN CARD
Light Heavyweight: Glover Teixeira def. Ryan Bader via TKO (punches) - R1 2:55
Middleweight: Ronaldo Souza def. Yushin Okami via TKO (punches) - R1 2:47
Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez def. Jussier Formiga via TKO (knee to the body and punches) - R1 3:07
Lightweight: Piotr Hallmann def. Francisco Trinaldo via Submission (kimura) - R2 3:50
Middleweight: Rafael Natal def. Tor Troeng via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Flyweight: Ali Bagautinov def. Marcos Vinicius via TKO (punches) - R3 3:28

PRELIMINARY CARD
Featherweight: Kevin Souza def. Felipe Arantes via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Bantamweight: Lucas Martins def. Junior Hernandez via Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) - R1 1:10
Welterweight: Elias Silvério def. João Zeferino via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight: Ivan Jorge def. Keith Wisniewski via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Welterweight: Sean Spencer def. Yuri Villefort via Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)


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UFC 164: Pettis takes another belt from Henderson, Mir KO-ed by Barnett

  
Pettis armbar submission on Henderson at UFC 164

Poor Henderson. He has the good-guy charm with the cool hair and all but he has Kryptonite, and that is the man who's now the new UFC Lightweight Champion of the World. When Henderson was the lightweight champ in the WEC, it was Pettis who dethroned him (who could forget the hop-off-the-fence-kick that Henderson somehow survived?). Henderson moved to the UFC and became an undisputed lightweight champion but Pettis came and took it away as well. The first time they fought, it went to the judges scorecard but this time, Henderson was beaten within the final minute of the very first round by Pettis' quick transition from guard to an armbar which forced the former champ to verbally tap out. It was awarded the submission of the night. If I was Henderson, beating Pettis would be my life's priority from now on.

It was quite a quick one as well in the co-main event between Josh Barnett and Frank Mir as the two former heavyweight champs broke out swinging, which ended up in a clinch with Mir on the fence. Barnett gave a clean, close elbow shot to the face of Mir before locking his right shoulder to set him down for a knee to the face. As soon as Mir dropped, the referee stopped the fight and Mir bounced right back up. Mir complained that the stop may have been premature and he might have a case. It did look like he was knocked out completely though.

The KO of the night, surprisingly, didn't go to Barnett, presumably Dana White also felt that the stop by the ref was premature. Instead it went to Chad Mendes, who won by technical knockout with his great combination on his opponent Clay Guida, who was The Ultimate Fighter 13 finale winner against, guess who, Anthony Pettis. Guida moved down to 145 pounds after much criticism for being a defensive-waiting fighter that he was. He's a lot better now despite the lost, was all hyped up and constantly moving throughout the bout. It's just unfortunate that Mendes' another level above in this weightclass.

UFC 164: Henderson vs. Pettis Results


Fight of The Night: Pascal Krauss vs. Hyun Gyu Lim
Knockout of The Night: Chad Mendes
Submission of the Night: Anthony Pettis

MAIN CARD
Lightweight: Anthony Pettis def. Benson Henderson (c) via Verbal Submisson (Armbar) - R1 4:31
Heavyweight: Josh Barnett def. Frank Mir via TKO (knee and punches) - R1 1:56
Featherweight: Chad Mendes def. Clay Guida via TKO (punches) - R3 0:30
Heavyweight: Ben Rothwell def. Brandon Vera via TKO (punches) - R3 1:54
Featherweight: Dustin Poirier def. Erik Koch via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Fox Sports 1)
Lightweight: Gleison Tibau def. Jamie Varner via Split Decision (29-28, 27-29, 29-28)
Flyweight: Tim Elliott def. Louis Gaudinot via Split Decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Welterweight: Hyun Gyu Lim def. Pascal Krauss via KO (knee and punches) - R1 3:58
Bantamweight: Chico Camus def. Kyung Ho Kang via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook/YouTube)
Heavyweight: Soa Palelei def. Nikita Krylov via TKO (punches) - R3 1:34
Lightweight: Al Iaquinta def. Ryan Couture via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Middleweight: Magnus Cedenblad def. Jared Hamman via Submission (guillotine choke) - R1 0:57


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UFC Fight Night 27: Condit gets his revenge on Kampmann with a swagger

  
Condit punching Kampmann in UFC Fight Night 27

Sorry for this late review on this event. Didn't even realise that it was on a weekday. It's going to take some getting used to as it seems that there will be more UFC on Fox Sports 1 on Wednesday evenings in the US. But anyway, it's not like there was a title bout or a card filled with big names. The best fight of the main card was definitely the titular fight between Carlos Condit and Martin Kampmann, whereas the others were, honestly, pretty boring (to be fair, it's hard to follow after the fantastic previous Fight Night). Great punch combination and the rear naked choke finish by Ultimate Fighter season winner Kelvin Gastelum on Brian Melancon though.

Well now let's talk about Condit versus Kampmann II. Kampmann was the winner by split decision in their first encounter with each other back in 2009 (Fight Night 18) and he attempted to repeat what he did by taking the fight to the ground. He was pretty successful in the first round but did not do much damage. Condit's corner pointed out Kampmann's strategy during the break and went out determined not to get taken down again. Condit found his range, so well that he begun looking absolutely laid back, like an easy walk in the park. Everything landed, including his short elbow which cut his opponent open above the brow. Kampmann showed heart as he tried to stay in the fight but unfortunately Condit's striking abilities and take down defense were just too good. In the fourth round, Condit connected with consecutive punch combinations which got Kampmann backing off all the way to the fence before dropping to his butt after blocking a couple of mini-flying knees. Ref. Herb Dean stopped the fight right there and then as Kampmann certainly should not go on eating punishments like that without defending himself intelligently.

Will try to catch UFC 164 as soon as I could and write up a bit about it here later this week.


UFC Fight Night: Condit vs. Kampmann 2 results


Fight of the Night: Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann
Knockout of the Night: Brandon Thatch
Submission of the Night: Zak Cummings

MAIN CARD
Welterweight: Carlos Condit def. Martin Kampmann via TKO (punches & knees) - R4 0:54
Lightweight: Rafael dos Anjos def. Donald Cerrone via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight: Kelvin Gastelum def. Brian Melancon via Submission (rear-naked choke) - R1 2:26
Welterweight: Court McGee def. Robert Whittaker via Split Decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
Bantamweight: Takeya Mizugaki def. Erik Perez via Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Middleweight: Brad Tavares def. Bubba McDaniel via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Fox Sports 2)
Middleweight: Dylan Andrews def. Papy Abedi via KO (punches) - R3 1:32
Welterweight: Brandon Thatch def. Justin Edwards via TKO (punches) - R1 1:23
Featherweight: Darren Elkins def. Hatsu Hioki via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight: Jason High def. James Head via Submission (guillotine choke) - R1 1:41

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Welterweight: Zak Cummings def. Ben Alloway via Submission (D'Arce choke) - R1 4:19
Lightweight: Roger Bowling vs. Abel Trujillo - No Contest (doctor stoppage) - R2 4:57


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Kick-Ass 2 | Movie review

  
Kick Ass 2 movie poster large malaysia
Release date in Malaysia: August 29th 2013
Distributor / studio: United International Pictures / Plan B Entertainment, Marv Films
Rated: 18
Genre: Action comedy, superhero
Running Time: 103 minutes
Director & writer: Jeff Wadlow
Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Morris Chestnut, John Leguizamo, Donald Faison and Jim Carrey

Synopsis: Kick-Ass, Hit Girl and Red Mist return for the follow-up to 2010’s irreverent global hit: Kick-Ass 2. After Kick-Ass’ (Aaron Taylor- Johnson) insane bravery inspires a new wave of self-made masked crusaders, led by the badass Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey), our hero joins them on patrol. When these amateur superheroes are hunted down by Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) - reborn as The Mother Fucker - only the blade-wielding Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) can prevent their annihilation.


Verdict: A fall from cool, dark, witty, satirical, shocking and skillful action choreography to teen flick-cliched comedy with predictable jokes, senseless gore, straightforward cinematography and poor editing (one scene is noticeably reused). Not anywhere near to being as good as the first Kick-Ass film (2010). Matthew Vaughn is greatly missed due to the horrible script and unintriguing narrative by Jeff Wadlow. Perhaps the greatest disappointment to me, personally, is that Jim Carrey isn't being very Jim Carrey here and his role is not as big as indicated in the trailers. However, although the movie is not great and is certified rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, it's certainly a more enjoyable cliched-flick than the surprisingly certified fresh The Wolverine (2013).

Girlfriend's opinion: "I didn't watch the first film but this one's funny to me." With that being said, I guess those who haven't seen the first film could actually go ahead and watch this one without worrying that you'd get lost. I personally would recommend them to skip this one, just watch the first one instead and then wait for the home media of this sequel to release.

Surprise guest appearance: Retired MMA fighter, UFC Hall of Famer - Chuck Liddell. The whole scene's pretty much a UFC product placement. Wonder how much they sponsored or got sponsored just for that?

Malaysian censorship: Sex, nudity, hand-chopping, body-stabbing and probably more scenes like that were cut, but a guy getting ran over by a car was not. Our dearest local board of censorship must be proud of themselves for preventing full enjoyment of the movie. At least they did not censor the vulgarities like they did with the first film.

Post-credit scene: There is one but probably not worth waiting for. I didn't bother 'cause it was freakin' cold in the cinema hall.

Moretz's stinging comment on another sequel: "I would only do the third one if it was logical. It needs to be a good script and a director, probably Matthew (Vaughn). The third film needs to fully wrap up the series and has to be a good note to end on." Quite clearly, she thought Jeff Wadlow (director & writer of this film) was rubbish too.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

[SPOILER SECTION BEGINS HERE]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How predictable some scenes are: "Don't just say fine and then shoot me in the chest, it's not cool at all." Gets shot. "If you don't hold that gun tight, you're gonna get hit by the recoil." "Shut up, don't need you to teach me this!" Fires gun and gets hit. There's also an outdated Batman-Robin reference joke. Then also a scene at the beginning of the film where they talk about a syringe that obviously will come to use at the end of the film. Am I having a laugh?

Realistic my balls! Mark Millar, the writer of the original comics that this movie was based on, proclaims that Kick-Ass is a realistic superhero story. Maybe it is in his graphic novels but this film adaptation of the sequel... hell no. A 15 year-old little girl can survive battling a strong, built Russian criminal who easily destroy 5 cars of cops. None of the villains rape any chick. Superhero's dog's life is spared. Dangerous road situation where guns are being fired in a moving vehicle with a little girl on top of it but cars around aren't surprised at all, just minding their own business instead of stopping or keeping their distance and call the police even when bodies are flying out of it. The police here are portrayed as a bunch of useless buggers who they can't stop, find or arrest a bunch of masked idiots who walk around playing evil villains openly and have their social media channels updated frequently (wonder how they catch robbers with masks then?).

Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars & Stripes in Kick-Ass 2 meme

Kick-Ass 2 still meme


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UFC Fight Night 26: Sonnen proves he ain't all talk, Overeem gets KO-ed again

  
Chael Sonnen choking Mauricio Shogun Rua for the win in UFC on Fox Sports 1

This may not be one of the best cards of the year but it's definitely one of the very few events of year with this many entertaining fights. It was the first UFC event broadcast on Fox Sports 1 (not live in Malaysia, unfortunately) and it had some pretty cool new camera angles that were shown during the fights. The picture, too, seemed higher definition than usual. I totally enjoyed, way more than the previous few UFC events at least.

Chael Sonnen wins Shogun Rua meme
Chael Sonnen finally did it, he's back on the winning table, and it wasn't luck. He went up to the Light Heavyweight Division from Middleweight and faced one of the best UFC fighters in this weightclass, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The American wrestler dominated his Brazilian opponent immediately from the start of the bout with his very effective trademark double-leg takedown and controlled top position with some usual light pounding (seriously, no idea why his punches on ground never seemed damaging). He locked up the guillotine choke when Shogun was getting back to his feet and pulled guard. The Brazilian tried to escape but couldn't and was forced to tap out. All of that happened in the very first round. I'm personally delighted that Sonnen won. Can't imagine how embarrassing it would've been if he lost again. Been rooting for him ever since his rematch against Anderson Silva. The way he trash talks is just world class and I absolutely love him for that. He's hilarious and I just hope he keeps pretending to be cocky while attempting to get a title shot again.

Then in the co-main event, we saw Alistair Overeem almost getting a referee stoppage win in the first half of the first round where he got his opponent Travis Browne on the fence and blasting consecutive powerful punches and knees but Browne managed to survive and then in last minute of the same round, he knocked Overeem out with a front kick to the chin and reaffirmed the finish with two hammerfists. Overeem looked to have had underestimated his opponent's striking again, standing right in front of Browne and moving forward regardless of what's being thrown at him. Until he snatches his second UFC win, those steroid puns probably won't end. To be fair, he did look fitter before he got tested positive for drugs.

Fifth degree BJJ black belt Urijah Faber got unanimous judges score card win against the taller Iuri Alcantara by dominant on the ground in all three rounds. Faber may be close to another shot of the Bantamweight Championship. Matt Brown, too, was impressive, finishing off Mike Pyle within seconds of the bout, and sort of called out GSP too during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. I certainly wouldn't mind witnessing his ass getting whooped by the current Welterweight champ.


UFC on Fox Sports 1: Shogun vs Sonnen (UFC Fight Night 26) Official Results


Fight of The Night: Michael McDonald vs. Brad Pickett
Knockout of The Night: Travis Browne and Matt Brown
Submission of the Night: Michael McDonald and Chael Sonnen

Main Card
Light Heavyweight: Chael Sonnen def. Mauricio Rua via Submission (guillotine choke) - R1 4:47
Heavyweight: Travis Browne def. Alistair Overeem via KO (front kick & hammerfists) - R1 4:08
Bantamweight: Urijah Faber def. Iuri Alcantara via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Welterweight: Matt Brown def. Mike Pyle via KO (ground punches) - R1 0:29
Middleweight: John Howard def. Uriah Hall via Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Lightweight: Michael Johnson def. Joe Lauzon via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)

Preliminary card (Fox Sports 1)
Bantamweight: Michael McDonald def. Brad Pickett via Submission (triangle choke) - R2 3:43
Featherweight: Conor McGregor def. Max Holloway via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Featherweight: Steven Siler def. Mike Brown via KO (punches) - R1 0:50
Featherweight: Diego Brandao def. Daniel Pineda via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary card (Facebook/Youtube)
Featherweight: Manvel Gamburyan def. Cole Miller via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Light Heavyweight: Ovince St. Preux def. Cody Donovan via KO (punches) - R1 2:07
Lightweight: James Vick def. Ramsey Nijem via Submission (Modified Standing Guillotine Choke) - R1 0:58


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Unbeatable (2013) | Movie review

  
Unbeatable MMA HK movie poster malaysia featuring nick cheung & eddie peng
Chinese title: 激戰
Previously known as: MMA
Release date in Malaysia: August 15th 2013
Rated: P13
Distributor / studio: Ram Entertainment / Bona Film Group, Film Fireworks
Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin
Genre: Mixed martial arts, action, sports drama
Running Time: 117 minutes
Director: Dante Lam
Writers: Dante Lam, Jack Ng, Fung Chi-fung
Cast: Nick Cheung, Eddie Peng, Andy On, Philip Keung, Crystal Lee, Mei Ting

Synopsis: Fai (Nick Cheung), once a world champion in boxing, escapes to Macau from the loan sharks and unexpectedly encounters Qi (Eddie Peng), a young chap who is determined to win an MMA tournament. Fai becomes Qi’s mentor and rediscovers his passion to fight not only in the ring but for his life and the ones he cares.


Verdict: If you're a hardcore fan of MMA (mixed martial arts), you'd find the fight scenes here rather unrealistic and poorly executed; even all the shaky, closeup and zoom in-out camera works failed to cover that up. But that's forgivable, thanks to the film's heartfelt storyline, strong acting performance, decent humour and moral purposes. Nick Cheung Kar Fai is top class for Unbeatable, practically carried the movie with an engaging emotional display without leaving his trademark comedic ways. Eddie Peng, too, plays his innocent, determined character so convincingly that it gets the audience rooting and fearing for him in his fight scenes despite the illogical choreography. The film's biggest issue is that it seems to portray MMA as a dodgy, brutal and fatal sport. However, it narrates the basics of the combat sport effectively.

Second opinion: "For someone who doesn't know much about MMA, I thought the movie's highly entertaining; surprised to find that Crystal Lee's acting here's actually very unnatural & probably not worthy of the Shanghai International Film Festival's Best Actress award she just won from playing this role" (girlfriend).

The English title: Can somebody explain why they decided to change the original title "MMA" of their film to an extremely typical Chinese film English title? After watching the movie, I'm still wondering why they entitled it "Unbeatable".

Malaysian censorship: It's a Chinese sports drama, I'd be surprised if there's anything to cut at all.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

[SPOILER SECTION BEGINS HERE]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things left unexplained: At beginning of the movie, Qi (Eddie Peng) is introduced as a young man from a wealthy family who travels around to mostly small villages. However, his background and the reason why he refuse to spend his father's money are not further clarified. The other thing's that's left unsettled is the loan shark/gangster who gets stabbed by Gwen (Mei Ting). Fai (Nick Cheung) owes these people a large sum of money and is visited by them at his new place in Macau. To fight them off, he injures most of them and Gwen actually stabs the boss. At the end, Fai hands his MMA winnings to his friend who's going back to Hong Kong to help him repay his loan. What makes him think that the gangsters will forgive them just like that? His friend would be kidnap or at least get beaten up.

The portrayal of MMA: It starts off commendably logical. The character, Qi, only trained in Taekwondo before but wishes to participate in an MMA tournament. When he shows the MMA trainer his basic Taekwondo techniques, he's told to learn from scratch. After a sparring match, he's advised to block low kicks with his shin. Due to the lack of time, he's mostly trained to defend and escape from submission attempts instead of attacking as well. Up to that point, I thought this film's very tightly written... until Qi gets his neck severely injured from a belly-to-back suplex by his opponent, which probably never ever happened in the sport before. The character, Fai, places bets on (and against) Qi, who's his student by the way, and also places bets on himself when he fights (and that's how he gets the money to repay his loan at the end). It also seems that both these main characters fight in MMA not because they love the sport or have real passion for it. It's revealed that Qi joins the tournament to inspire his bankrupt dad to start anew while Fai, a former boxing champ, fights as a last resort to redeem himself from his past mistakes. The scenes of post-fight celebrations and commentary are also not very enthusiastic. I then realised that the film probably intends to portray MMA as a dodgy, brutal and fatal combat sport with heavy gambling involved. The tournament in the movie is also pretty dumb. There's no mention about the weight class and has only one fight per event. Winner of the fight gets to pick his next opponent by random while the new challenger only has to survive two rounds to win. So if the new challenger wins the last fight of the season, he becomes the grand champion just like that? Also, I guess the MMA consultant didn't do a great job informing the director about the unified MMA rules 'cause in the fight scenes, we see the fighters striking to the back of the opponent's head and blood being completely wiped off by doctor during a round, which are not allowed, I believe, in any MMA tourneys.

Unbeatable 激戰 Philip Keung Ho-Man & Dante Lam meme

I assure you, this doesn't happen in MMA:

Eddie Peng kisses Nick Cheung in Unbeatable 激戰 movie still image


Unbeatable is presented by TuneTalk, the major sponsor of ONE FC and MIMMA. Special thanks to TuneTalk for the exclusive invitation to the official local premiere screening of the film.

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UFC 163: Aldo retains Featherweight belt, Korean Zombie injures himself

  
Jose Aldo kicking Korean Zombie Chan Sung Jung's dislocated shoulder in UFC 163

Since I'm already really late for this, it shall be a quickie. Sorry, been struggling to find the extra time to recap this. Movie reviews will remain as my main content until the traffic for my UFC entries start to grow.

Anyway, Chan Sung Jung dislocated his right shoulder while attempting a combo in the fourth round. Don't bother looking for the photo or video, it's not obvious or gruesome or anything like that. Featherweight champ Jose Aldo, of course, took advantage of Chan's injury. He threw kicks right at it, took him down and finished the fight with ground and pound which the Korean Zombie couldn't respond to. If it went to the judges, Aldo would probably have won by unanimous decision anyway with his takedowns and strikes landed. Neither did anything significant though. Chan practically didn't do anything at all. Guess we're still not close to having a pure Asian UFC champ.

In the co-main event, Phil Davis was the winner by unanimous decision against Lyoto Machida which nobody agreed with. Machida definitely connected with more damaging strikes. Probably Davis' takedowns and active movement fooled the judges. But to most who've seen this fight, without much of a doubt, Machida won this bout.


UFC 163 Official Results


Fight of The Night: Ian McCall vs. Iliarde Santos
Knockout of The Night: Anthony Perosh
Submission of the Night: Sergio Moraes

Main card
Featherweight: Jose Aldo (c) def. Chan Sung Jung via TKO (punches) - R4 2:00
Light Heavyweight: Phil Davis def. Lyoto Machida via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Middleweight: Cezar Ferreira def. Thiago Santos via Submission (guillotine choke) - R1 0:47
Middleweight: Thales Leites def. Tom Watson via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Catchweight (129 lbs): John Lineker def. José Maria via TKO (punches) - R2 1:03

Preliminary card (FX)
Light Heavyweight: Anthony Perosh def. Vinny Magalhães via KO (punches) - R1 0:14
Women's Bantamweight: Amanda Nunes def. Sheila Gaff via TKO (elbows) - R1 2:08
Welterweight: Sergio Moraes def. Neil Magny via Submission (triangle choke) - R1 3:13
Flyweight: Ian McCall def. Iliarde Santos via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Preliminary card (Facebook)
Featherweight: Rani Yahya def. Josh Clopton via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight: Viscardi Andrade def. Bristol Marunde via TKO (punches) - R1 1:36
Light Heavyweight: Francimar Barroso def. Ednaldo Oliveira via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)


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UFC on FOX 8: Mighty Mouse retains Flyweight belt; MacDonald defeats Ellenberger

  
Johnson submits Moraga with an armbar in UFC on FOX 8

Sorry for the late entry about this. I've finally managed to get some time to watch the main card fights last night. Demetrious Johnson defended his UFC Flyweight Championship belt with his first ever submission win in the UFC. It was a world class wrestling and grappling from the "Mighty Mouse", a rare thing to say about this super quick and strong champion who was showing incredible standup striking abilities in all his previous fights in the UFC before this.

Although Johnson dominated the entire bout, he didn't manage to finish off his opponent John Moraga until the 5th round where he pulled off a 2nd kimura arm lock attempt from side control which he beautifully transitioned into a cross-legged arm bar. We can actually hear his great trainer Matt Hume's calm instruction saying, "There it is, there it is," notifying him that Moraga's right arm is there for the lock. Moraga did show a lot of heart, defending everything thrown at him until the final 3.43th minute of the bout. It's a great fight.

In the co-main event bout between Rory MacDonald and Jake Ellenberger, however, was not as entertaining. MacDonald played the safe game using his reach advantage and long jabs the entire fight while Ellenberger was able to only get within range a couple of times but didn't do enough. And thanks to the rangy jabs, MacDonald won by unanimous decision. It was a bore, to be very frank.

UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Moraga Official Results


Fight of The Night: Ed Herman vs. Trevor Smith
Knockout of The Night: Melvin Guillard
Submission of the Night: Demetrious Johnson

Main card
Flyweight: Demetrious Johnson (c) def. John Moraga via Submission (armbar) - R5 3:43
Welterweight: Rory MacDonald def. Jake Ellenberger via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler def. Bobby Voelker via KO (head kick & punch) - R2 0:24
Women's Bantamweight: Liz Carmouche def. Jessica Andrade via TKO (punches & elbows) - R2 3:57

Preliminary card (FX)
Lightweight: Jorge Masvidal def. Michael Chiesa via D'arce Choke Submission - R2 4:59
Catchweight (160 lbs): Danny Castillo def. Tim Means via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lightweight: Melvin Guillard def. Mac Danzig via KO (hammerfists) - R2 2:47
Lightweight: Daron Cruickshank def. Yves Edwards via Split Decision (30-27, 27-30, 30-27)
Middleweight: Ed Herman def. Trevor Smith via Split Decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
Women's Bantamweight: Germaine de Randamie def. Julie Kedzie via Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary card (Facebook)
Lightweight: Justin Salas def. Aaron Riley via Split Decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) - R3 5:00
Catchweight (137 lbs): Yaotzin Meza def. John Albert via Rear-naked Choke Submission - R2 2:49


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Man of Tai Chi | Movie review

  
Man of Tai Chi movie poster malaysia large
Chinese title: 太极侠
Release date in Malaysia: July 18th 2013
Distributor / studio: United International Pictures / Village Roadshow Pictures, China Film & Wanda Groups

Rated: 18
Genre: Martial arts action
Languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin
Running Time: 105 minutes
Director: Keanu Reeves
Writer: Michael G. Cooney
Cast: Tiger Chen, Keanu Reeves, Karen Mok, Simon Yam, Michael Tong, Sam Lee, Ye Qing, Yu Hai

Synopsis: "Man Of Tai Chi" marks the directorial debut of actor Keanu Reeves. Tiger Chen stars as a young martial artist who is recruited to take part in a no-rules underground fighting tournament. The tournament's leader, played by Reeves, is set on corrupting the young fighter.


Verdict: Entertainingly horrendous is the best compliment I can give to Man of Tai Chi. It's a crossover of cliches from traditional Kung Fu flicks and from Hong Kong police-crime films with acting and dialogues so bad that it makes the dozens of similarly plotted straight-to-DVD movies seem like masterpieces. The fight scenes are entertaining and flashy (with a lot of unnecessary posing) but may seem completely unrealistic to hardcore MMA fans. The film features The Raid: Redemption (2012) Indonesian martial art star Iko Uwais didn't use him for a proper fight scene, and the beautiful Chinese actress Ye Qing but didn't develop her character's love relationship with the hero or at least get her topless. It makes one wonder what exactly Keanu Reeves wanted to offer in this movie besides the commendable fight choreography and martial arts display of Tiger Chen, who shows why a stuntman like himself shouldn't have played any leading role of films with dialogues and story.

Second opinion: "It's all right, the fight scenes are quite cool..." (girlfriend).

Malaysian censorship: Nothing to cut 'cause it's not very brutal.

Subtitles: According to my girlfriend, the Chinese subtitles were apparently very elementary and inaccurate, as though it's translated from the English subtitles.

Rating: 1 / 5

[SPOILER SECTION BEGINS HERE]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most annoying phrase: "You must meditate," that's what the protagonist's sifu, Master Yang (Yu Hai), tells him whenever he tries to explain his frustrations to him.

Most incompetent police & villains in a film: A police detective woman (Karen Mok) who doesn't suspect that her illegal underground fighter-turned-undercover man (Tiger Chen) is bugged by the bad guys she's chasing even after the guy which she promised to look after has mysteriously disappeared). A villain (Keane Reeves) who hires a hitman murder this armed police woman with his bare hands. Whaaat....?

Typically dumb ending & worst scene: So it all boils down to this; the Tai Chi man Tiger Chen visits his temple and the villain Donaka Mark (Keanu Reeves) is waiting there for him after being able to escape from the "successful" police raid on his Truman Show-like death tournament and apparently SWIMMING back to China from I can't really recall where. And of course, they fight. The earlier fight scenes are way more entertaining then this final climatic one 'cause Keanu Reeves' movements are slower and less flashy. When he kicks, it reminds me of how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar kicks in Bruce Lee's Game of Death. Although being just an underground fighting tournament organiser, Donaka manages to put up a long fight against the unbeaten Tai Chi man. Then at the end of the fight, Chen fires an qi ball (hadouken-ish move), which the film doesn't explain how he learns this supernatural ability, and Donaka presumably dies after vomitting and having a brief headache caused by that "air ball". The hero not only doesn't face any sort of police charges, he also gets to keep the temple that's under demolition order from the government. #facepalm

Expressionless robot face Kristen Steward & Keanu Reeves meme


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UFC 162: The best pound-for-pound MMA fighter finally dethroned

  
UFC 162 Chris Weidman knocking out Anderson Silva KO of the night

So Anderson Silva has lost for the first time ever in the UFC since joining in 2006 and that means he is no longer the UFC Middleweight Champion. He got knocked out by Chris Weidman in the 2nd round by a seemingly simple, practice-like combo. It was probably the light left hook that caught Silva first, which Joe Rogan felt he was pretending to be hurt. When Weidman saw Silva's knees soften a little, he knew it was an opportunity to strike and so he went in with a combo. Silva managed to evade the left hook, right cross and a backhand swing-back (from the cross) but the one more left hook that came right after landed clean on his chin and that dropped him.

Many criticised and accused the former champ for not taking Weidman seriously, being overconfident and cocky, that his arrogance kept his guards down, showboating and didn't respect Weidman's standup, etc etc. It really did seem like that but after watching the post-fight press conference, I understand that it may be tactical and the "style", if you will, of Anderson Silva. He got taken down easily early in the first round and Weidman landed pretty good shots on top so it's possible that Silva kept his hands lower after that to defend against Weidman's takedown attempts 'cause he knew that his opponent's dangerous on the ground. But of course, he couldn't be too overt with that so he improvised by pretending to be very confident that he wouldn't be hurt and taunting Weidman to hit him and all. This worked for his previous opponents, they probably freaked out and made an error which allowed Silva the opportunity to do his deadly counter. It's just unfortunate for Silva that this fighter was too composed to fall for this trick and should've just fought normally instead.

With all that being said, I personally think Chris Weidman totally deserved the credits for his win. You can see the finish in GIF format here.

Was the Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman fight fixed by the UFC?


Please, why in the world would they fix the fight for him to lose? To sell the most likely inevitable rematch? Fedor Emelianenko is still considered by many as the best MMA fighter in history, and he was unbeaten for nearly a decade. If I was Dana White and wanted to rig this fight, I would have had Silva winning instead and let his arrogance continue to dominate because it gets people watching. And if Dana could fix it, why did he choose now and not before or a bit later? For money? People should be questioning Silva as well if that's the case. He said he doesn't want a rematch and he's tired of fighting for the title so if anything, it's Silva who refused to defend the belt on this night properly. I certainly don't believe this fight was rigged but I do feel that if Silva had a more orthodox game plan, I don't think Weidman would've won so easily.

Due to extremely slow internet connection today, I haven't got to see the other fights on the card yet so I'll just update this post if I have anything I wanted to say about any of them.


UFC162 Official Results


Knockout of The Night: Chris Weidman
Submission of the night: No submissions on the night
Fight of The Night: Frankie Edgar vs. Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson vs. Dennis Siver

Main Card
Middleweight: Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva (c) via KO (punches) - R2 1:18
Featherweight: Frankie Edgar def. Charles Oliveira via Decision (unanimous)
Middleweight: Tim Kennedy def. Roger Gracie via Decision (unanimous)
Middleweight: Mark Muñoz def. Tim Boetsch via Decision (unanimous)
Featherweight: Cub Swanson def. Dennis Siver via TKO (punches) - R3 2:24

Preliminary Card (FX)
Middleweight: Andrew Craig def. Chris Leben via Decision (split: 29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Lightweight: Norman Parke def. Kazuki Tokudome via Decision (unanimous)
Heavyweight: Gabriel Gonzaga def. Dave Herman via TKO (punches) - R1 0:17
Lightweight: Edson Barboza def. Rafaello Oliveira via TKO (leg kicks) - R2 1:44

Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Welterweight: Brian Melancon def. Seth Baczynski via KO (punches) - R1 4:59
Welterweight: Mike Pierce def. David Mitchell via TKO (punches) - R2 2:55


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Photo on top credits to UFC's Facebook Page.

UFC 161: Evans defeats Henderson, Roy Nelson beaten | Results & recap

  
Dan Henderson punching Rashad Evans at UFC 161

Just a quick recap 'cause there isn't much I feel like talking about. It was one of the less exciting UFC cards. Interim Bantamweight Championship main event was removed from the card, leaving the night without any title or a 5-round bout. Even the intended co-main event was pulled out. Good guy Sonnen wanted to replace Rogerio Nogueira but couldn't apparently due to visa issues with Canada. That would've been something at least.

Rashad Evans got a split decision win against Dan Henderson which most keyboard warriors disagreed with. I dunno if he deserved it but I thought Evans looked more versatile, even rocked Henderson in the third round with a right hook but backed off instead of trying to finish the fight. Evans may face Jon Jones next for the UFC Light Heavyweight belt.

"The Big Country" Roy Nelson took the fight against Stipe Miocic with just 6 weeks notice and that was likely the reason why he looked totally unprepared for the challenge. Miocic dominated all three rounds and if it wasn't for Nelson's ridiculous chin, he would've gotten a knockout win in every round, I believe. Pity 'cause Nelson was on the way up to a title shot. Perhaps it's time for him to mix his style a bit instead of just relying on his one-punch KO power. It's frustrating to see a BJJ black belt to not utilise his skills when he's obviously losing on his feet.

Coincidentally, there's also a Sexton vs. Davis bout on this same very day as the MIMMA Grand Finals, only that it was a women's bantamweight bout. Alexis Davis won by unanimous decision. Rosi Sexton did well but her opponent had closer chances to finishing the fight.

UFC 161 Official Full Results


Fight of the Night: Sam Stout vs. James Krause
Knockout of the Night: Shawn Jordan
Submission of the Night: James Krause

Main card
Light Heavyweight: Rashad Evans def. Dan Henderson via Split Decision
Heavyweight: Stipe Miocic def. Roy Nelson via Unanimous Decision
Light Heavyweight: Ryan Jimmo def. Igor Pokrajac via Unanimous Decision
Women's Bantamweight: Alexis Davis def. Rosi Sexton via Unanimous Decision
Heavyweight: Shawn Jordan def. Pat Barry via TKO (punches) - R1 0:59

Preliminary card (FX)
Welterweight: Jake Shields def. Tyron Woodley via Split Decision
Lightweight: James Krause def. Sam Stout via Submission (guillotine choke) - R3 4:47
Welterweight: Sean Pierson def. Kenny Robertson via Unanimous Decision
Bantamweight: Roland Delorme def. Edwin Figueroa via Unanimous Decision

Preliminary card (Facebook and Youtube)
Lightweight: Mitch Clarke def. John Maguire via Unanimous Decision
Bantamweight: Yves Jabouin def. Dustin Pague via Split Decision

MIMMA Grand Finals: Sexton ends Davis' winning streak | Results, recap & review

  
Ariel Sexton vs Peter Davis in the cage at MIMMA Grand Finals ONE FC Superfight

Majority of the crowd at Stadium Negara Kuala Lumpur last night probably hoped that Ariel "Tarzan" Sexton's strong built body and Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt advantages would be cancelled out by our home boy Peter "The Pistol" Davis' longer reach, unorthodox striking and confidence gained from his winning streak... but unfortunately it didn't. Sexton got the referee stoppage win with 10 seconds left in the first round. The grappler beats the striker in this one. It was the perfect debut for the newly signed ONE FC lightweight fighter.

As soon as Peter Davis threw his first test kick at Ariel Sexton, I knew it was going to be way tougher for Peter that I had anticipated 'cause Sexton dodged it so quick and smooth like it was nothing. None of Peter's  previous opponents had gave this feeling of great concern before. I could actually sorta feel the threatening presence of Sexton even from where I was sitting. Sexton caught one of Peter's kicks with his hands and used it to pull Peter to him to get the double underhooks which led to the take down. Peter did a great job trying to defend Sexton's patient advancement but in the end, he still got mounted and took some pretty vicious elbows. He got cut above the eye and couldn't defend himself from the blows, leaving the referee no choice but to stop the fight.

Ariel Tarzan Sexton MMA ONE FC
During the post-fight interview, Sexton said it was his game plan to take Peter down and had no intention to stay on the feet with him. When asked if he had a next opponent in mind, he said no one in particular at the moment but believes he's the best fighter in his weight class. Honestly, I didn't expect someone with the nickname of "Tarzan" to be so humble, approachable and well-mannered, very much like Peter. He speaks very fluently as well. Kinda feel bad for making puns with his name. Can't wait to see more of Sexton, would love to see him go up against Eddie Ng or Arnaud Lepont next.

In the other two ONE FC bouts, home boy Saiful "The Vampire" Merican defeated Aditya Deshpande for his first ever MMA and ONE FC win while Eric Kelly's brother, Edward "The Ferocious" Kelly, beaten Tanaphong "The Lanna Warrior" Khunhankaew in his pro debut. Both wins were by unanimous judges' decision.

Saiful dominated in his bout for all 3 rounds with his Muay Thai striking, landed plenty of powerful outside leg kicks but somehow Deshpande managed to hold on to the final bell. With this first MMA and ONE FC win, Saiful has shown significant improvement from his previous fight, especially with his BJJ and take down defense. Kelly on the hand did not show as much confidence, explosiveness and intelligence (he tried standing himself up from the ground without the referee's call!) as his elder brother but strategically, he was spot on, keeping the fight on the ground most of the time instead of exchanging blows with his Thai opponent (even the announcer-cum-commentator Matt Pelino had trouble calling him by his name), who apparently has over 150 Muay Thai fights under his belt.

Saiful Merican kicking Aditya at MIMMA Grand Finals ONE FC Superfight bout

The Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) Grand Finals wasn't all about the ONE FC Superfights. Seven finalists in the amateur tournament were crowned the first ever MIMMA Champions of their respective weightclasses. I could see some of them have very high potential and could very well at pro level. Once again, like in the Semi-Finals, I was most impressed by Keanu Subba and Prabu "Superman"Somanaidu.


Fight of the Night: Ooi Aik Tong vs. Chew Chee Chan.
Never thought an amateur fight would entertain me more than a professional one. These two technical fighters went at each other at a pretty high pace and aggression through out the bout. Ooi was doing better standing up before the fight was taken to the ground where Chew was more dominant and in control. Ooi was successful in some Judo trips, one of them got him mounting Chew but Chew escaped skillfully. In the third round, the exhausted Chew got out of balance (I think) and was pushed to the ground, where Ooi took advantage with some ground and pound. One of punches had Chew's ear splashing out massive blood. Pity that this fight had to be stopped by the doctor due to the injury. Apparently there were "too much blood". Who knows what the results would've been if the fight continued.

Knockout of the Night: Keanu Subba via punches.
The 18-year-old took only 29 seconds to knock out the Muay Thai-cum-fitness trainer, Muhd Ikram. He actually dropped him thrice in my count before the referee finally decided that it's over. The runner-up KO of the night was definitely Jim "The Believer" Chong's TKO by hammerfists on his nicely set up crucifix against his opponent Hafiz Chandran.

Submission of the Night: Allen Solomon Chong aka "Orang Utan".
A real win snatcher. Shammah Chandran was landing some heavy pounding in top position on the ground with Chong pressed up against the fence and just when everyone thought the referee was going to stop the fight, Chong somehow managed to transition a belly-down armbar out of nowhere which forced Chandran to tap out. If he had done that a few seconds earlier, he probably wouldn't have had his face messed up as badly.

Snapshot of the Night: Ariel "Tarzan" Sexton's post-fight pose.

Ariel Tarzan Sexton MIMMA Grand Finals celebration

To view all my photos from this event, log on to this blog's Facebook Page or click here. All credits to my photographer girlfriend.

Ring Girl of the Night: Merveen Tan.
Simply 'cause she's cute. However, she didn't seem to possess the skill of live camera-flirting.

MIMMA Ring Girl Merveen Tan

MIMMA Grand Finals Results 


ONE FC Superfights
Lightweight: Ariel Sexton def. Peter Davis via TKO (ground pound elbows) - R1 4:50
Catchweight (59kg): Saiful Merican def. Aditya Deshpande via Unanimous Decision
Featherweight: Edward Kelly def. Tanaphong Khunhankaew via Unanimous Decision

MIMMA Championship Bouts
Flyweight: Kenny Yap def. Ngeoh Jian Chong via Unanimous Decision
Bantamweight: Prabu Somanaidu def. Muhd Aiman via Unanimous Decision
Featherweight: Keanu Subba def. Muhd Ikram via KO (punches) - R1 0:29
Lightweight: Allen Solomon Chong def. Shammah Chandran via Submission (armbar) - R3 ?:?? (TBC)
Welterweight: Ooi Aik Tong def. Chew Chee Chan via Doctor Stoppage (major bleeding) - R3 1:08
Middleweight: Jim Chong Jing Yi def. Hafiz Chandran via TKO (hammerfists) - R3 1:40
Heavyweight: Adrian Tham def. Christopher Leow (82.6 kg) via TKO (ground & pound) - R3 2:46


To view all my photos from this event, log on to this blog's Facebook Page or click here. All credits to my photographer girlfriend. Follow me on Twitter here.

MIMMA Finals Weigh-In Results: Sex., Pistol, all ready to rock Stadium Negara

  
Peter Davis vs Ariel Sexton MIMMA Grand Finals ONE FC superfight weigh-in

Fighters successfully made weights for their respective bouts, ring girls with their boobs forcefully pressed up, domestic political rally postponed, venue ready... the first ever MIMMA Grand Finals is all set to entertain the Malaysian crowd at Stadium Negara KL tomorrow!

To view photos from the weigh-ins, click here.

And no, it ain't just for the guys anymore as the main event will feature good-looking fighters Peter "The Pistol" Davis and Ariel "Tarzan" Sexton, a fight with tons of sex appeal for the ladies to enjoy (pun intended). For MMA fans, it's gonna be an interesting fight, a classic striker versus grappler match. The locals (myself included) will be biting our nails hard hoping for Peter to stay unbeaten for the pride of our country.

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.

Allen Solomon Chong vs Shammah Chandran MIMMA Grand Finals weigh-ins
Allen Solomon Chong the "Orang Utan" shooting blanks with bananas at Shammah Chandran.

MIMMA Grand Finals Official Weigh-in Results 


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)


The Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) first ever Grand Finals will happen tomorrow at Stadium Negara Kuala Lumpur. Tickets are still available for sale on http://www.airasiaredtix.com/Events/mimma2013/. For more information, visit www.malaysianinvasion.com. 

To stay tune to the recap & results of the action tomorrow, please follow this blog on Facebook and Twitter!

Lisha Ho and Merveen Tan - MIMMA Grand Finals weigh-ins Ring Girls

UFC on Fuel TV 10: Werdum beats Nogueira, Santos wins TUF: Brazil 2 | Recap & results

  
Werdum's armbar submission on Nogueira in UFC on Fuel TV 10 2013

Fabricio Werdum defeats fellow countryman Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira in the 2nd round on the main event with a beautiful from back to armbar transition. Nogueira was slightly better on standup but Werdum shown a better ground game. Two and a half minute or so into the 2nd round, Werdum attempted to take his opponent's back and while Nogueira was busy using his right hand to prevent Werdum from getting the second leg in, Werdum locks Nogueira's left arm and set up the belly-down armbar. I didn't see the tap but apparently it was a verbal one.

Werdum deserves to contend for the belt against Cain Velasquez but Dana White had already said that Junior Dos Santos is next line for the title shot. I think they should let Cain Velasquez enjoy his success for a while longer by having a title contender bout between Werdum and Dos Santos. It's only fair, right? 'Cause Dos Santos has just lost the belt against the current champ before his last fight against Mark Hunt.

UFC on Fuel TV #10 broke the record for the number of submissions in a single UFC event with a total of 8 freakin' submissions! High-level BJJ stuff. All of the submissions, to me, were pretty impressive, particularly Erick Silva's masterful triangle armbar win versus Jason High, which was named Submission of the Night. The only knockout on the card was Thiago Silva's uppercard that downed Rafael Cavalcante. The bout also won the Fight of the Night honour, which was strange 'cause the fight only lasted 4.29 minutes, although there was indeed great striking action while it lasted.

What else... oh right, 31-year-old Leonardo Santos, a BJJ specialist, defeated 21-year-old William Patolino in The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2 finale bout to win the lucrative UFC contract that all the participants were after in the tournament-cum-TV reality show. The cocky-looking younger Brazilian was dominating the fight until he got a bit tired. Leo Santos took him down in the last one and a half of the 2nd round and did what he does best, winning via arm triangle choke.

UFC on Fuel TV 10 official results


Fight of the Night: Thiago Silva vs. Rafael Cavalcante
Knockout of the Night: Thiago Silva
Submission of the Night: Erick Silva

MAIN CARD
Heavyweight: Fabricio Werdum def. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira via Submission (armbar) - R2 2:41
Welterweight: Leonardo Santos def. William Patotino via Submission (arm triangle choke) - R2 4:43
Light Heavyweight: Thiago Silva def. Rafael Cavalcante via KO (punches) - R1 4:29
Welterweight: Erick Silva def. Jason High via Submission (triangle armbar) - R1 1:11
Middleweight: Daniel Sarafian def. Eddie Mendez via Submission (arm triangle choke) - R1 2:20
Featherweight: Rony Jason def. Mike Wilkinson via Technical Submission (triangle choke) - R1 1:24

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Bantamweight: Raphael Assunção def. Vaughan Lee via Submission (armbar) - R2 1:51
Featherweight: Felipe Arantes def. Godofredo Pepey via TKO (elbows & punches) - R1 3:32
Welterweight: Ildemar Alcantara def. Leandro Silva via Unanimous Decision
Featherweight: Rodrigo Damm def. Mizuto Hirota via Split Decision
Middleweight: Caio Magalhaes def. Karlos Vemola via Submission (rear-naked choke) - R2 2:49
Middleweight: Antonio Braga Neto def. Anthony Smith via Submission (kneebar) - R1 1:52

Peter Davis & Eric Kelly's brother on MIMMA Grand Finals Fight Card

  

What a surprisingly exciting fight card MIMMA has for its upcoming Grand Finals on June 15th! Three additional Superfights featuring ONE FC fighters were announced by the Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) today. Oh me oh my, I can't wait for this one.

Besides the first ever MIMMA Championship Bouts, all eyes in Stadium Negara will definitely be on Peter Davis as the Malaysian will be carrying the pride of the home crowd once again, facing a fighter who's not from the South East Asia region for the first time since leaving the UK. His Costa Rican opponent, Ariel Sexton, is newly signed by the ONE FC, holds a 7-2-1 record (source: Sherdog.com), appeared on The Ultimate Fighter (season 12), is a BJJ black belt under 3 Gracie's (source: TheFightNation.com) and has 6 wins via submission. This will be seen as a striker versus grappler match.

Peter Davis vs Ariel Sexton MIMMA Grand Finals

This will definitely be Peter's toughest challenge yet and if he manages to win again and stays unbeaten in the ONE FC (3-0 now), I believe Victor Cui would have to seriously consider to hand him a title shot. Both men are aged 31 but Peter may have a reach advantage as he's 3 inches taller. It's the male model "Pistol" versus "Tarzan" Sexton, and don't worry, there won't be no gay porn music playing in the background.

One of other two superfight bouts features another Malaysian, Saiful "The Vampire" Merican, who'll be looking to get his first MMA win when he faces his opponent from India, Aditya Deshpande, who's 3-0 in FCC (source: Sherdog.com) with 2 of them won via submission. This will be another striker versus grappler match.

Eric Kelly's "Ferocious" younger brother, Edward Kelly, is featured the last superfight bout, up against Tanaphong "The Lanna Warrior" Khunhankaew from Thailand. Edward holds a 1-0 record while Tanaphong holds a 2-2 record. I've seen neither one of their fights but judging by their record and background, I'm expecting an explosive standup exchange.

Tickets to the MIMMA Grand Finals are still available on RedTix.AirAsia.com. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates from the MMA scene in Kuala Lumpur.

Oishi KO's Banario in ONE FC 9: Rise To Power | Results, recap & review

  
Koji Oishi new ONE FC Featherweight Champion with belt
Koji Oishi was crowned the new ONE FC Featherweight World Champion after knocking out the now-former title holder, Honorio "The Rock" Banario, in the second round. In in the first round, it actually looked like Banario was going to win after landing some good shots which got his Japanese opponent to the knees but just couldn't finish him off. Oishi threw a wild right hook in the second round which dropped Banario and subsequently knocking him out with some followup punches.

It needed all 5 rounds in the co-main event to crown Bibiano Fernandes as the ONE FC Interim Bantamweight World Champion. Fernandes dominated his opponent Koetsu Okazaki in every round with his significantly superior grappling. In the ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix Final, it was a fight-of-the-night from the very beginning till the end. Masakatsu Ueda was crowned the first ever ONE FC Bantamweight Grand Prix Champion after defeating Kevin Belingon.

Weird nights it must have been in Manila Philippines. First, there were fighters who failed to make weight. Then on fight night, things went totally unpredictable. Phil Baroni dislocated or broken his right ankle by just falling onto the ground (it seems that his opponent Nobutatsu Suzuki was stepping on his feet when he fell). Rey Docyogen impressed but lost by split decision. Fights with many rear naked choke attempts but none succeeded. And the biggest surprise of all was that all 5 Filipinos on the card lost their bouts.

Quite frankly, I was only truly entertained by 3 of the main card fights. Probably 'cause no fighter was representing or fighting out my country. Can't imagine how the home crowd are feeling with none of their local fighters winning on the night although some of them did impress.


Fight of the Night: Masakatsu Ueda vs. Kevin Belingon.
An action-packed bout between a striker and a grappler. Belingon showed his aggressiveness and explosiveness even when he's on the ground, and Ueda who was fearless to go for leg takedowns despite his opponent's powerful leg-swing counters. Really an end-to-end stuff in all three rounds with plenty of strikes and submission attempts.

KO of the Night: Koji Oishi.

Koji Oishi KO punch vs Honorio Banario ONE FC 9 Rise to Power

Calling it "a massive bomb that dropped The Rock" would still be an understatement. The Japanese himself almost got knocked out in the first round. He had to survive that and wait patiently for the right time to catch his opponent by surprise successfully and accurately. It's a brilliant right hook to the face. This was actually one of the only two KO's, the other one being Suzuki's which might have been helped by Baroni's broken ankle so it wasn't really difficult to choose between the two. Besides, Oishi's won him a title.

Submission of the Night: Yusup Saadulaev.
There was no other to compare with. Yusup's Anaconda Choke was the only submission of the night. Didn't get to see it yet due to the apparent technical difficulties with the live streaming of the Undercard fights.

Questionable judges' decision? Yasuhiro Urushitani def. Rey Docyogen by split decision.
Although Rey's nose got broken, I thought he landed more significant strikes than Urushitani. He definitely was more entertaining with his Bruce Lee style and all. But the problem was that he started running away from Urushitani late in the second round instead of facing Urushitani's close downs. Then he did again in the third round and he wasn't even hit. 2 of the 3 judges probably felt that a fighter should win, not a runner. It may be a controversial decision but it'll set an example with a no-fighters-can-pull-an-Anderson-Silva-BS-here warning to the fighters.

Ring Girl of the Night: Christine Hallauer.
Simply 'cause she flirted better with the camera and looked naturally hotter (if you know what I mean).

ONE FC 9: Rise to Power results


MAIN EVENT
Featherweight Title: Koji Oishi def. Honorio Banario (C) by KO (punches) at 1:45 mins of round 2

CO-MAIN EVENT
Bantamweight Title: Bibiano Fernandes def. Koetsu Okazaki by unanimous decision

MAIN CARD
Bantamweight Grand Prix: Masakatsu Ueda def. Kevin Belingon by unanimous decision
Flyweight: Yasuhiro Urushitani def. Rey Docyogen by split decision
Welterweight: Nobutatsu Suzuki def. Phil Baroni by KO (knee & punches) at 4:17 mins of round 1
Lightweight: Kamal Shalorus def. Eduard Folayang by unanimous decision
Flyweight: Andrew Leone def. Geje Eustaquio by unanimous decision

UNDERCARD
Bantamweight: Yusup Saadulaev def. Ryan Diaz by Anaconda Choke submission at 2:57 mins of round 2
Lightweight: Lowen Tynanes def. Felipe Enomoto by TKO (ground & pound) at 2:41 mins of round 1
Heavyweight: Tony Johnson def. Tim Slyvia by doctor stoppage (?) at 3:25 mins of round 2


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