Kiwi-Malaysian ONE Championship lightweight Ev Ting will enter unfamiliar territory when he squares off with Daichi Abe at ONE: Masters of Destiny in Malaysia next month.
Ting is coming off consecutive losses for the first time in his professional career, and he admits that as confident as he is, he was forced to ask himself some deep questions in the immediate aftermath of those two first-round defeats.
“It makes you question everything,” Ting said. “Your team, your training, you question everything.”
However, a martial artist as experienced and as capable as “E.T” realizes those sorts of knee-jerk responses are only natural – all part of the often unforgiving life of a martial arts athlete.
“But that’s a short term emotional reaction. In the long term, this is just part of the journey and it’s about the climb back up,” says Ting.
That’s precisely what he’ll be looking to do in his birthplace of Kuala Lumpur on July 12 when he steps on to the stage to take on gritty Japanese opponent Abe.
The 27-year-old welterweight has a strong foundation of judo to pair with some handy striking skills on the feet, and a win over an opponent of his caliber would be the ideal start to Ting’s quest to return to the lightweight title picture.
“He’s very dangerous, but it’s a good name to beat to climb my way back up there. I’m pretty excited to test my skills and show everyone what’s up,” says Ting.
The Auckland MMA proponent only needs to look back a year for affirmation of his all-around quality, with wins over some of the division’s toughest competitors including Nobutatsu Suzuki, Ariel Sexton, and Koji Ando, not to mention a razor-close decision loss in a title challenge to Eduard Folayang.
“I’m going to come back stronger than ever. Daichi is a tough guy but I know I’ve been putting in more work and I’m hungrier,” says Ting.
Ting and Abe are just one mouthwatering bout on the ONE: Masters of Destiny card, which also includes a Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Quarter-final between Giorgio Petrosyan and Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy, and the return of “Unstoppable” Angela Lee against Michelle Nicolini.
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