The Marina Bay Sands is an icon of the Singapore skyline, standing majestically over the Singapore River. It is the playground of Asia’s rich and famous and it is a must-visit destination for every tourist. But over the weekend, a secret gatherin…
The Marina Bay Sands is an icon of the Singapore skyline, standing majestically over the Singapore River. It is the playground of Asia’s rich and famous and it is a must-visit destination for every tourist. But over the weekend, a secret gathering was taking place. The name of the gathering was known as the ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) MMA Summit 2012, and the agenda, Asian MMA.
The ONE FC network is the most ambitious MMA project ever created.
Top promotions like Dream, Dare, Cage Fighting Championship and Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) have agreed to come together to share fighters and co-promote under the ONE FC name to further the growth of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) in the region.
It is the dream of Victor Cui, who believes there is huge growth potential in the most populous continent. He cites the mainstream sponsors who are willing to use ONE FC to endorse their brand, as well as a historic 10-year deal with ESPN STAR Sports that is the largest media deal in Asian broadcast history as examples of companies who believe that ONE FC can one day grow to rival the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
How to grow MMA in Asia was one of the main agendas of the gathering, with Chatri Sityodtong, founder of Evolve MMA, Jessica Aguilar, co-founder of URCC and Luke Pezzutti, promoter of Cage Fighting Championship on hand to discuss the topic.
Jessica Aguilar was proud to point out URCC became the longest running Asian MMA organization, overtaking Pride which had the shelf life of nine-plus years. With ONE FC, URCC champions like Kevin Belingon and Eduard Folayang have been able to showcase their skills on a larger platform, with varying levels of success. With the continued growth of MMA in Asia, she believes that a Filipino MMA superstar can be created without having to fight in one of the major promotions in America.
Luke Pezzutti, who has seen UFC fighters James Te Huna, Hector Lombard, Kyle Noke and Brian Ebersole emerge from his promotion, believes that for MMA to be truly accepted by the mainstream, there needs to be a “grass roots” amateur association that will help regulate and monitor the sports growth.
Moon Hong Jung, with his limited grasp of English, is thankful for the ONE FC network to give him an opportunity to showcase Korean fighters, which is the purpose the ex-fighter created Road FC for.
Chatri Sityodtong, has made Evolve one of the top MMA gyms in a short period of time, and he believes that Asian MMA as a whole can do the same. He made a spirited presentation, using a childhood story of how a frog that always lived in a coconut shell finally realizing there was so much more to see and do when the coconut shell was lifted as an analogy of how much Asian MMA can still grow.
However, he also said that for the growth to happen, everybody in the community has to conduct itself professionally, and with ethics. He concluded by confidently declaring, “Like Apple in the west and Samsung in the east, like General Motors in the west and Toyota in the east, one day I believe we can have two MMA superpowers with UFC in the west and ONE FC in the east.”
The first female Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bout under the ONE FC fight promotion was held this past Saturday in Singapore’s Indoor Stadium. Singaporean Nicole Chua managed to defeat Jeet Toshi from India in her professional and promotion…
The first female Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bout under the ONE FC fight promotion was held this past Saturday in Singapore’s Indoor Stadium. Singaporean Nicole Chua managed to defeat Jeet Toshi from India in her professional and promotional debut. Cheered on by a vocal crowd, she managed to submit her opponent in the first round.
Despite her victory, there are tons of holes in her fight arsenal and therein lies the problem with women MMA.
Leading up to the fight, Chau was marketed extensively to mainstream media and received numerous interviews and even a sat in the press conference that is usually reserved for the top four or six fighters of the evening. An accountant by day and a mixed martial artist by night, she was the most talked about fighter despite never being in a professional fight.
However, most MMA analysts and pundits saw this as a lopsided fight, and the most common prediction was victory by Knockout in the first round for Toshi, the seven-time India Kickboxing Champion.
On the night, Chua received the loudest cheers from the hometown crowd, casual and mainstream fans alike. A picture of calm, she got to work as soon as the bell rang. With Toshi having a clear advantage in the striking department, or at least on paper, Nicole smartly took the fight to the ground. A few pitter patter punches later, she slid her left arm under Toshi’s chin and locked in the Rear Naked Choke submission to end the bout as the crowd went wild.
Evidently, there is a demand for Women MMA. Nicole Chua received the loudest ovation from the crowd and she became an overnight sensation in the Singapore MMA circle. The next time ONE FC holds an event in Singapore, it is a near guarantee that she will find yet another spot on the card waiting for her.
The actual proceedings of the fight left more to be desired. With a kickboxing background, Toshi would have preferred to keep the fight on its fight. However, she was easily brought down by a telegraphed takedown attempt and despite most of Nicole Chua’s punches not finding its target, Toshi committed one of the most cardinal sins of MMA: giving up the mount position and leaving her chin exposed and not realising it fast enough.
Nicole Chua had no power in her punches. Jeet Toshi showed a lack of takedown defense and submission defense and general MMA knowledge. Yet they were able to find a spot on the card of what is arguably the largest MMA promotion in Asia. It is safe to say that if Jeet Toshi and Nicole Chua were not women, they would have been at the back of a long line of fighters clamouring for the opportunity.
Even Ronda Rousey, the Strikeforce Women Bantamweight Champion, won her title on only her fifth professional fight. Other than a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon like Jon Jones, it would take a miracle for any male fighter to win a major title in that amount of fights. Clearly, the quality of Women MMA has to improve if it persevere in the harsh MMA circuit.
ONE Fighting Championship’s third event was billed as War of the Lions, and it certainly lived up to its moniker with exciting bouts, quick knockouts and brilliant submissions. In the wake of the success of the event, we grade the fighters involv…
ONE Fighting Championship’s third event was billed as War of the Lions, and it certainly lived up to its moniker with exciting bouts, quick knockouts and brilliant submissions. In the wake of the success of the event, we grade the fighters involved and look forward to what their next fight in ONE FC could be.
Zorobel Moreira (B+) defeats Felipe Enomoto(C) (Armbar, 1:04 of round 3)
Moreira, the head Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) instructor at Evolve MMA, demonstrated his striking skills in the first two rounds with an array of vicious leg kicks. Enomoto seemed to be wary of trading with Moreira, and the damage to his leg was evident when he crumbled after yet another leg kick but was able to hang on. When Moreira chose to take the fight to the ground, he displayed his BJJ prowess with a beautiful transition from the mount position to an arm-bar and Enomoto has no choice but to tap.
Tatsuya Kawajiri (A-) defeats Donald Sanchez (D) (triangle choke, 3:32 of round 1)
Donald Sanchez was billed as a wrestling, but it was Kawajiri who had the edge there as he took Sanchez down and worked the top position until he locked in a triangle choke and left the match more or less unscathed.
What’s Next: Tatsuya Kawajiri VS Zorobel Moreira.
Kawajiri is currently a featherweight, but there is nobody else for Zorobel Moreira to fight in the promotion, and Kawajiri has to fancy his chances. Moving up in weight could create a size and strength disadvantage, but the Moreira is not the kind of fighter to seize that advantage and the stock Kawajiri might even be able to muscle him around. This should be to crown the first ONE FC lightweight champion.
Ole Laursen (B-) defeats Eduard Folayang (B) (split decision)
This is a back-and-forth affair with Ole starting off strong and being able to take Eduard to the canvas several times. They traded dominant positions several times and had many good exchanges over the three rounds. All three rounds were extremely tight. We went to the Judges scorecard and Laursen, who looked worse than Folayang, prevented an upset by split decision.
What’s Next: Ole Laursen vs Eduard Folayang
This fight was an exciting extravaganza, and it was close the entire way. Clearly there were sections of the crowd who thought Folayang won and voiced their displeasure after the result. In the post-fight interview, Laursen was open to a rematch and the amount of action the first bout provided, seems like a easy call.
For the majority of the three rounds, Monteiro used his superior strength and clinch work to grind Shirai against the cage, with a few punches and knees thrown in to stop the referee from quickly separating them. Shirai demonstrated cleaner boxing techniques but kept getting into clinch range with Monteiro who was more than happy to clinch.
What’s Next: Fabricio Monteiro VS Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Yoshiyuki Yoshida brings vast experience to the cage and was victorious the previous time he was in ONE FC, defeating Phil Baroni. He provides a stiff test for the Brazilian and is another big name for him to potentially add to his list.
Melvin Manhoef and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi ruled a no-contest
They trade shots for awhile with none of them finding its target, thankfully for Nakanishi as Manhoef is famous for his powerful punches. Midway through the first round, the referee stops the fight as both the fighters had cuts on their legs. Manhoef’s cut is incredibly nasty as it goes from the knee to just above the foot and is at least a few centimeters thick. The referee makes the unpopular decision of calling off the fight after the doctor’s advice.
What’s Next: Melvin Manhoef VS Yoshiyuki Nakanishi
Clearly there is unfinished business, and it is very likely that their next fights will be against each other, though that fight might occur in a different promotion, possibly in Japan.
In this past Saturday’s ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) event held in Singapore, DREAM standouts Tatsuya Kawajiri and Masakau Imanari fought in Southeast Asia for the first time in both their careers. Both made quick work of their oppone…
In this past Saturday’s ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) event held in Singapore, DREAM standouts Tatsuya Kawajiri and Masakau Imanari fought in Southeast Asia for the first time in both their careers. Both made quick work of their opponent, with both victories coming by first round submission, Kawajiri by Triangle Choke and Imanari by his signature leglock.
Despite being veterans of major promotions like Dream and Strikeforce, both Japanese veterans received surprisingly muted responses as they entered the cage. This is a strange roundabout from the vocal crowd who nearly tore the roof down when local fighters Nicole Chua and Quek Kim Hock won their respective fights. Even lesser known names like Zorobel Moreira and Eddie Ng received louder cheers.
I don’t get it. Here we have two of the best fighters not under the Zuffa umbrella fighting courtesy of a deal with Dream, and yet the crowd doesn’t seem overly excited. It is especially disappointing for Tatusya Kawajiri, who has fought in front of crowds triple the size of the Singapore audience in Pride and Strikeforce and headlined title fights in Dream.
It is expected for local fighters to get louder cheers, and Eddie Ng, Zorobel Moreira and several others train out of Singapore so are considered local favourites as well. It could also be that Tatsuya Kawajiri’s grinding ground and pound style is not the most exciting and crowd pleasing. But their countrymen like Yuya Shirai and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi got louder cheers despite being less popular in Japan, and even Richie Whitson whose most notable for appearing on a reality television show got a louder pop.
Full credit goes to both of them, as that did not seem to deter them in their bouts.
Chuck O’Neil went from alternate on this season’s of The Ultimate Fighter to a semifinalist, while impressing many, including UFC President Dana White, with his toughness and never-say-die attitude. Now that filming has concluded, Chuck opens up on his…
Chuck O’Neil went from alternate on this season’s of The Ultimate Fighter to a semifinalist, while impressing many, including UFC President Dana White, with his toughness and never-say-die attitude. Now that filming has concluded, Chuck opens up on his experience and his future plans.
Q: For six weeks, you had to live in a house with strangers who were all fighting for the same prize, with cameras pointing in your faces all the time. Describe the experience.
A: It was an awesome experience. Outside of the fact I was living my dream, I got to escape society for six weeks and really clear my mind. It was awesome to be away from my phone, Internet and TV. I hardly ever watch TV anymore, so it’s refreshing.
Q: How important was it to have Charlie Rader being on the show together with you? (Charlie and Chuck were teammates before the show began.)
A: At first I knew Charlie made the show and I was an alternate, and we were both let down. Once I got there and saw we were both on the same team, as well as having beds and dressers next to each other, we were both pumped. Made the time so much more enjoyable to go through it with such a close friend. Clay [Harvison] and I were good friends at that point as well.
Q: Were there any incidents that were not shown on television that were particularly noteworthy?
A: There were a ton! This season was kind of rushed, which sucks, but it is what it is. Like one point we all moved Chris’ [Cope] bed out onto the lawn along with his nightstand. Charlie and I egged Len [Bentley] out in the yard. I’d constantly pull pranks on a lot of the guys and or get them to work against each other. I got Mick [Bowman] to put tuna in Javier’s [Torres] bed and then follow that up with throwing it in the pool. Best unseen thing was Ramsey [Nijem] getting into the bathtub naked with Mick as Mick was taking a bath and they fed each other nonfat yogurt (ha ha).
Q: What was it like working with Brock Lesnar and his group of coaches?
A: Brock was very interesting at first. I don’t think he had ever coached a group of fighters before, so it was definitely a different environment for him. Around the time of my wild card fight Brock really turned things around and became a much better coach, overall becoming a lot more involved with day-to-day practice and game plans. It was fun messing with him. I’d call him Unky Brock, and he started getting a kick out of it.
Marty [Morgan] was a good addition to the team as well as Eric Paulson. Eric always had crazy awesome stories for us to keep us entertained. My favorite coach he brought in was Comprido Rodrigo Medeiros. He’s an amazing BJJ black belt, and we worked together a lot!
Q: Now that filming has concluded, which of the guys on the show do you still keep in touch with?
A: In April I went to visit Charlie down in New Orleans along with Clay. We spent a few days down there enjoying everything and training. Then mid May Zach Davis came to train with me for a couple days as well as Charlie. I became real good friends with Ryan [McGillivray] and stay in touch with him a lot!
Chris and I were heavily in contact with each other until we found out about the fight, which made things weird, but he’s a good guy. My fellow alternate Justin [Edwards] and I became great friends and stay in touch a lot as well. Only guys I never hear from are Mick and Len really. Made a lot of lifelong friends.
Q: You lost a unanimous decision to Chris Cope on The Ultimate Fighter Finale. How does it feel to fight a teammate, and what went right and wrong for you in that fight?
A: Fighting Chris was weird for both of us. Chris had a hard time with it as well as he viewed me as a good friend. He definitely had gotten a lot better since the show and went out took care of business and earned the decision win over me.
As for what went wrong, the answer to that was everything besides the weight cut and re-hydration process. I froze up and had some kind of neurological problem out there. I couldn’t get a rhythm and looked super flat. I was completely embarrassed by my performance and need to make up for it as soon as possible! As I said the only thing that went right was my weight cut and re-hydration process. I have a great sponsor with smartpowders.com, and they were out there taking care of everything for me.
Q: You have several tattoos. Discuss the origins of your tattoos and what they mean to you.
A: I have two tattoos. First I have the Irish flag with a shamrock in the middle on my back. I got that when I was 16. I had the vision of it in my head from a very young age, and my mom decided to sign a waiver to let me get it. The other is a Celtic cross on my arm. I’m not super religious; however, I do want to believe there is a higher power or a god figure. So I view that tattoo as my connection to that higher power as I’m not practicing any religion.
I want to get one more tattoo, but it’s a pretty big job (kinda). It’s a half sleeve into a chest plate with an Armageddon scene battle of heaven vs. hell, signifying the internal struggle I have to do the right or wrong thing on a daily basis.
Q: Judging has been a contentious issue recently. What do you think about the general judging standard in MMA?
A: I think they need to give more points to a fighter working hard off his back. Take the [Clay] Guida vs. [Anthony] Pettis fight for example. Guida was just holding Pettis down all fight and doing nothing for damage. Pettis looked fresh after the fight. But Pettis was going for subs and landing strikes from the bottom. He should’ve been awarded more of the judges’ decision for being more active and more so trying to finish the fight.
I’m hoping changes get made soon. Wrestling control is over taking MMA, and there are less and less finishes because fighters take the safe route.
Q: What is your current contract status with the UFC, and what are the future plans for Chuck “Cold Steel” O’Neil?
A: At the end of the show all the fighters signed a four-fight deal with the UFC. I still haven’t heard one way or another what is next from them after my fight with Chris. I’m praying I get one more chance to prove I belong and how I can really fight. But I will say one way or another I will be back to the UFC!
As for future plans for me…I’m planning on making a move to north of Boston to train more specifically with one of my main training partners Jimmy Quinlan and changing up my camps a little bit. Need to focus in on a few points and need to hammer them home. Also with the help of Smartpowders.com I’m looking to add a little bit on muscle onto my frame and gain some explosiveness. So regardless of where my next fight will be, I will be a much-improved Chuck O’Neil!
The Marina Bay Sands is an icon of the Singapore skyline, standing majestically over the Singapore River. It is the playground of Asia’s rich and famous and it is a must-visit destination for every tourist. But over the weekend, a secret gathering was taking place. The name of the gathering was known as the ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) MMA Summit 2012, and the agenda, Asian MMA.