Monday, July 21, 2014

Early Days - Ultimate Fight Night - Ultimate Beatdown 6

Saturday January 14th 2012 at Ultimate MMA Academy in Johor Bahru Ultimate Beatdown 6

We had attending fighters from: Impact MMA (Singapore) – Borneo Combat – Malacca MMA – And of Course Ultimate MMA Academy.

Also in attendance was Antonio Graceffo who very kindly acted as MC for the night and the Referee was Ikshan. Judges were: Daniel Mashamaite, Jim Keong and Chian Yik.

This is a small venue, actually it is the Ultimate MMA Academy, which is probably the longest established MMA Gym in Malaysia, which is run by a man who is probably the hardest working man in Malaysian MMA. Chian Yik, works seven days a week, not for money but for the pleasure he gains from helping people learn Mixed Martial Arts. The fact that people are willing to fly in from Borneo, Drive down from Kuala Lumpur and Malacca and cross over from Singapore for an amateur event in Johor speaks volumes for the respect others have for this man.

The crowd is small because quite simply there is no room, maybe 80 people were squeezed tightly around the cage.

So, let’s go through the event.

Fight 1:

Mohd Fourzein Mohd Fozi (0-2) from Malacca MMA Vs Speedy Meng Yan (0-1) from Ultimate MMA Academy

Speedy comes straight across the ring and is quickly taken down by Fozi and Fozi is in side control, He very quickly moves into full guard starts pounding on Speedy, Speedy grabs him and pulls him in tight, and Speedy seems unable to get him off. Fozi is laying some solid body punches, Speedy in his attempts to get away offers up his back and a more experienced fighter for sure would have taken it, Fozi missed it, but has remained in control, He is not panicking and is working carefully, laying some solid body punches into Speedy, who can offer nothing in reply. Speedy desperately is trying to shake him off but he does not seem to know what to do to get him off and eventually he gives up his back and Fozi becomes the first Member of Malacca MMA Club to ever win a fight, and, as you can imagine he is rightfully very excited.

Time of Finish: 2:49 Round 1:

Fight 2:

Toh Jing Poh (2-1) from Ultimate MMA Academy Vs Juan Wenjie from Impact MMA

The fight starts slowly Wenjie places a good inside leg kick, and a bit later an outside leg kick, these guys are in no hurry and exchange some leg kicks and jabs. At around the 1:30 mark Wenjie hits Poh with a good punch, Poh grabs him and is pushed up against the cage. Poh has under hooks, but Wenjie is trying to take him down, then he knees Poh and they go to the ground and from there it’s all Wenjie who is taking pot shots at Poh at will and Poh is unable to really defend himself, he almost gives up his back and Wenjie goes for a rear naked choke but Poh rolls away from it and so Wenjie who moves up to a high full mount continues to pound on him until the ref steps in and stops it. A good stoppage, Wenjie a dominent winner.

Time of Finish: 3:40 Round 1

Fight 3:

Tom ‘Pocket Dynamite’ Chan (2-0) from Ultimate MMA Academy Vs Ronald ‘Bad Boy’ Tee from Borneo Combat

PD is straight across the ring and as he offers his hand up to Ronald to touch gloves, he punches with the other a move I dislike, but he has BB backed up against the cage, BB has underhooks and PD takes him to the ground in guard, BB is having none of it and walks away.

They resume standing up BB is straight in on the attack and tries to take PD down by lifting his legs and PD goes down. BB is on top and is pounding on him, he grabs for the leg and PD moves also to take a leg BB sprawls, and BB is on his back and he is pulling PD down, PG tries posturing up but BB is using his legs well to keep PD at bay. PD then tries for a single leg lock but BB ignores it, it seems that PD does not have the technique right at all, as BB is really not worried and it seems to be pointless, BB also grabs PD’s leg but he also seems not to quite know what he is meant to do with it. So a stalemate of sorts, the ref does not stand them up, PD is sticking with the leg lock and really seems to be exerting lots of energy. BB get’s his leg free and is on top of PD and starts pounding into his body and PD quickly turtles up and is unable to defend himself.

The ref stops the fight.

That display from PD was very surprising as in his last fight at the Ultimate Fight Night 5 he looked a lot fitter and more determined. I am sure he will rise again. However Ronald ‘Bad Boy’ Tee deserves all the praise for a very impressive performance.

Time of Finish: 2:49 Round 1

Fight 4:

Kwuang from Ultimate MMA Academy Vs Sunny ‘The Silencer’ Sabonido from Borneo Combat

Kwuang starts with a kick, both fighters are taking their time, Kwuang has a kick boxers stance and throws some light jabs and kicks and then Sunny unloads with a succession of punches and Kwuang is down, Sunny is all over him and beating Kwuang senseless the ref steps in to prevent further punishment, Sunny stands up obviously pleased and screams in exultation.

Sunny who is both deaf and dumb shows that a little handicap is not about to hold him back, one of the great things about the crew from Borneo is that Sunny has taught them how to sign, which shows the sort of brotherhood they have got over there.

Time of Finish: 58 Seconds Round 1

Fight 5:

Sabastion ‘The Conqueror’ Cole fromUltimate MMA Academy

Mohd Faizul Mohd Fozi ‘E-Joy’ (0-3) from Malacca MMA

Sabastion starts with a head kick which just skims over e-joys head and he tries another which catches the top of e-joys head, e-joy felt that and indicates with a thumbs up. E-joy tries to kick to Sabastions body and Sabastion grabs the leg and pushes forward taking tripping e-joys standing leg and takes him to the ground, Sabastion has him stacked against the fence and proceeds to punch him, he is taking his time with punches to the body and face and then he starts to really blast to the body, e-joy responds and rolls over taking top position but before he has had a chance to settle, he is rolled straight onto his back leaving Sabastion with top mount he starts to punch e-joy who immediately offers up his back and Sabastion sinks in a rear naked choke, he pulls e-joy over on top of him and holds him in place while he moves his leg eventually getting a body triangle on and then he sets the rear naked choke and it’s all over.

Time of Finish: 1:13 Round 1

Fight 6:

Alvin ‘Poisedon’ Chong from Borneo Combat Vs Brendon from Impact MMA

Brendan moves straight across the ring and takes Alvin immediately to ground, Alvin has his neck and Brendan is on top, he is just using his weight and moving around into a north south position and and back to side mount and then back again and eventually through this movement Alvin loses the neck, giving Brendan the freedom to work how he wishes. He is pushing down on Alvins body and into side mount Alvin is trying to control him from his back as Brendan starts to punch his face, he then goes for an arm bar, lets it go, takes full mount and then takes Alvins back, he tries for a rear naked choke, Alvin is defending, Brendan keeps working it and eventually get's it fully in, causing Alvin to tap.

Time of Finish: 1:14 Round 1

Fight 7: Main Event

Kent ‘Killer Croc’ Ken Yong from Ultimate MMA Academy Vs Cain Ng from Impact MMA

The fighters move to the middle of the ring, Cain tries to kick Kent, they hold each other and soon go to the ground, Kent is on top but Cain is struggling to stand, Kent is managing to stop him, nevertheless Cain is doing a good job of keeping Kent at bay, finally Kent get's mount but immediately Cain is out and has reversed Kent, Cain is in side control and he is controlling Kent and soon enough sinks in a rear naked choke, Kent tries to fight it, but it's solid and he has no choice but to tap.

Time of Finish: 1:40 Round 1

So that was it seven fights and not one of them got past the first round.

Some people might think that's a good thing some might think it's a bad. Personally I would have been happier with some longer and closer fights, but with MMA there are so many opportunities to defeat someone, punches, kicks, wrestling chokes, leg or arm locks that even the best fighters occasionally get caught off guard.

Also of course a couple of these fighters took their fights at late notice, you also have fighters with massively different opportunities fighting. The boys from Singapore pay a lot of money to train at a very good facility with quality coaches who work at the gym full time, the boys at Ultimate MMA and Borneo Combat are real enthusiasts and both run by coaches who have to work full time jobs before going to their gyms daily and training people. The boys from Malacca don't even have a proper MMA gym to train at and therefore they are trying to train each other where ever they can, with them it's about the desire to fight and heart.

But, and here is the point, none of the fighters care, all they want to do is fight and they will train when they can, where they can and when they have the opportunity, sometimes circumstances dictate that they cannot even train when they would like.

At this level MMA offers no big paydays, just the glory of fighting a fellow warrior.

And matchmaking at this level is nearly impossible, you are totally dependent on what the people tell you about the fighters skill levels, and how fit or experienced fighters claim to be and of course at the last minute people pull out.

That being said I love these events, but I do hope that they can find a slightly bigger venue and then Ultimate Beatdown can truly show it's passion for the sport to more people.

Official Results HERE:

Early Days - Ultimate Fight Night 5 - MMA Unleashed

So there had been 4 events by the time I even heard of Ultimate Beatdown all held at the Ultimate MMA Academy. If I come across any I will post results, videos and or pictures from those shows. But for now let's go with what we have.

Ultimate Beatdown 5 MMA Unleasehed - November 26th 2011

Here's a report taken from an Asian MMA News Website of that event:

Before ONE FC for many years their have also been many smaller organisations that have been putting on events and even some gyms.

That is the case with Ultimate MMA Academy in Johor Bahru – This was the fifth event, all held at the Academy itself and all watched over by mainly friends and family of the fighters.

This is probably one of the longest established MMA Gyms in Malaysia, and yet most people even in Johor do not know it exists, it’s hidden away and the owner Chian Yik, is a quiet, unassuming passionate man more interested in training people and helping boys become men and men become warriors, than marketing.

That’s changing now as Ultimate MMA Academy continues to send it’s fighters out to compete in events like Muayfit, ONE FC, and elsewhere.

This gym is not some glamourous room full of air conditioning and rows of gleaming training machines, THIS is a fighters gym, if you want to learn the way that fighters train and really create a ripped body and gain confidence this is the place for you. If you want to look pretty for the ladies in the gym while jogging on row after row of running machines then you will feel out of place.

This gym has what it needs, a cage, row up on row of gloves and pads, the necessary training machines for real work to be done, and a variety of punch bags, heavy balls, tyres (?) yes tyres believe me real MMA people use tyres and skipping ropes and weights.

But believe me it works these boys get fit!

But tonight was all about the FIGHTS:

Four fights with fighters from Kuala Lumpur and local boys.

Fight One:

The first fight was changed at the last minute due to a late withdrawal, this led to Zech ‘The Boxing Computer’ being a last minute stand in to fight young Z.U.E.S. Just sixteen years old. (two UMMA guys and friends fighting each other).

In his last outing at Fight Night 4 Zech had fought a brutal draw with a Melaka based Iranian nicknamed ‘The Vampyre’ it was a very interesting fight.

Z.U.E.S. was concerned as Zech was his friend, his trainer and his team mate and he did not want to fight him.

Well, once the fight started all those thoughts disappeared as this two guys put on quite a display of powerful kicks, punches and ground work. 15 minutes over three rounds and both were bloodied and bruised. Once the scores were handed in the referee announced a draw to the appreciative crowd. Usually a draw is an unsatisfactory end, but nobody could doubt that these guys had fought themselves to a standstill and they deserved equal honours.

Fight Two:

Was a Muay Thai event:

With:- Yus “Razor” VS Halstein “The Hellsing”

This was three, three minute rounds and it started off fairly evenly, Yuz came into the ring with an ankle injury from playing football earlier in the day, initially he had pulled out of the fight but then he decided take part.

Yuz is the perfect Muay Thai model, he is sleek and ripped, but against Hallstein who appeared bigger but less toned he was unable to make much headway.

Yuz started well and they both traded kicks and punches but midway through the first round it was plain to see that Yuz was not as mobile as he would need to be to keep away from the power that Hallstein had brought to the fight.

Over the first round Hallstein proved the more powerful, his punching had much more effect and eventually he floored Yuz with a barrage of punches to the head and body, Yuz was up quickly.

In round two Hallstein continued to advance and again his power told and Yuz was floored, this time he was given a standing eight count.

In round three Hallstein had to weather an early barrage as Yuz let loose with some truly powerful kicks, but, once Hallstein landed a few powerful barrages of punches the fight turned again, during that round he floored Yuz twice more for two more standing eight counts.

The judges gave a unanimous decision to Hallstein.

Fight 3:

From Kuala Lumpur we had FS. Cheng fighting a local boy in his first fight Speedy Meng Yan.

FS Cheng is a small wiry guy with a reputation that is way beyond his physical size and Speedy was in for a real test.

This fight started in a blur as FS Cheng came out swinging and soon he had speedy down and in an Arm in Guillotine, there was much discussion as to weather or not Speedy tapped but regardless eventually he broke free and for a few precious seconds he was in top position and raining down blows but FS Cheng is a talented fighter and soon had reversed the position and almost unseen sunk in a strangle hold and this time Speedy did tap and it was all over.

F.S. Cheng had brought it and is one to watch for the future.

This brought us to:-

THE MAIN EVENT

Sam (the ‘real deal’) Chan Vs JJ (the ‘White plague”) Meyer

Both these boys were from Kuala Lumpur and we are thankful that they made the almost four hour journey down to visit us.

This was a three, five minute round fight.

The first round started off well with plenty of to and fro, there was much skill shown and lots of powerful punching and kicking, plus lots of work against the cage, about half way through the round it went to the ground and Sam ended up on top and no matter what he did JJ could not shake him off and of course Sam used the position to lay punches into JJ’s face.

Round Two followed the pattern of the first but this time JJ had the top position and he controlled Sam, taking his turn to give back some ground and pound. There were a few arm bar attempts and at the end of the round both were trying ankle locks but the bell stopped the round.

Round Three again followed the same pattern as the first except Sam took JJ down earlier and had more opportunity to ground and pound JJ. The remainder of the round was spent on the floor, Sam’s body controlling JJ’s with relative ease as both fighters tired.

When the bell rang both fighters stood up and embraced, they were classy guys from beginning to end. Going in to round three it was even and therefore it was clear that Sam had won round three and therefore the fight.

Official Results HERE:

The Beginning

Melvin Yeoh is the usual type of super hero, in normal life a mild mannered teacher, but when he puts on his super hero uniform he becomes a man capable of great things. Who is he, I hear you ask and what does he do?

Well, Melvin Yeoh is the Godfather of Malaysian MMA. he opened the first MMA gym in Malaysia Johor's Ultimate MMA Academy, started the first MMA organisation (Ultimate Beatdown) and was one of the first Malaysians to fight in Asia's biggest MMA organisation ONE FC.

All this whilst at the same time he keeps a full time job as a School teacher.

This website is all about Ultimate Beatdown an event that started out in the gym cage in front of just a few people. And this year 2014 it will hold it's 14th event in a 1500 Seater International Stadium an amazing journey and we believe it still has a lot more ahead.