ONE FC's impending MMA Summit will bring together a major representation of industry professionals from across Asia. One of the topics of discussion will be "Developing a Professional Fight Team". Two of the three of the panelists announced for this topic are Heath Sims of Evolve MMA and Boyd Clarke of Phuket Top Team. The third is Mark Sangiao of Team Lakay.
Team Lakay is one of the most recognized, decorated, consistent, and humble MMA teams in all of Asia. Coach Mark has actively developed his stable of fighters since 2006. The Lakay trademark red satin shorts his fighters wear are now equally recognized and respected. Mark's love of and dedication to the development of combat sports have made a huge contribution to the sport of MMA in Asia. These contributions - bother personally and through his stable of 15 pro and 50 amateur fighters - makes Coach Mark an ideal candidate to speak on the topic of developing a professional fight team.
The following article was written by Ofelia Empian and published in the Baguio Chronicle, issue October 30-November 5, 2011 and online here.
APEX SPORTS AGENCY CEO JASON CHAMBERS TO HOST HISTORIC ASIAN MMA SUMMIT
ONE FC to hold massive invitation-only event this weekend
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (USA): It was recently announced that Apex Sports Agency (ASA) CEO Jason Chambers is slated to host ONE Asia Summit 2012, which is scheduled for this weekend, June 1, 2012 through June 3, 2012, at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Created and promoted by ONE FC, the largest MMA promotion in Asia, the Summit is garnering a significant amount of buzz in the world of mixed martial arts.
Chambers will serve as the Master of Ceremonies, and will participate in the sessions as a panel moderator. In addition, he will be in charge of facilitating the Q&A sessions. Asia’s top MMA promotions, gyms, sponsors, and media outlets will be represented at the Summit, which is designed to be a clearinghouse that will help promote networking and expansion opportunities for all those involved. With ONE FC at the helm, the event has drawn the interest and attention of MMA pundits across the world.
In the lead up to the coming weekend's ONE FC Summit, we will be posting various articles on the topics that will be discussed at the summit. Here is an extremely in-depth article on MMA sponsorships: how the sponsors think, how the deals operate, and what a fighter can expect. This piece, by Ben Fowlkes, was published on MMAFighting here.
The Truth About Fighters and Sponsors
To the fan, it's just logos. It's background scenery, hardly worth noticing.
It's a shirt some fighter wears to the cage and then struggles to pull back on to his sweaty torso in time for the post-fight interview. It's a banner his cornermen unfurl behind him during the pre-fight introductions. It's a website on the seat of his shorts.
You see it, even if you never think about it. But because you see it, because you're watching, fighters are getting paid. They might make anywhere from a couple grand that's barely worth mentioning after their manager takes a 20 percent cut, to hundreds of thousands of dollars on an endorsement deal that will change their lives forever.
For many fighters, sponsor money means everything. It's the difference between prospering and just getting by. It's something they talk about among themselves, but rarely in public. It's the hidden undercurrent of the MMA economy.
The coming weekend of June 1st, 2012 heralds what could be the most influential event for MMA in Asia... ever. Under the organization and sponsorship of ONE Fighting Championship, a Summit will be held at Marina Bay Resort in Singapore to bring together a broad spectrum of professionals in the industry to explore, discuss, and promote the growth of MMA. Panels consisting of leading professionals will provide insights and education across many facets of the MMA sports industry.
Some of the sessions will feature prominent long-time figures on the MMA scene such as Bubbles Aguilar of the URCC, Chatri Sityodtong of Evolve MMA, Anthony Lim of Fairtex Group, and Matt Hume, world-renowned MMA fighter, coach, promoter, and official. They will speak about what they see to be the future of MMA in Asia, developing the safety of the sport alongside its remarkable growth, and maintaining a finger on the pulse of what drives it: the fans.
There will be further educational panels on sponsorships, media, developing a fight team, and opportunities for gyms. These will target the needs of gyms, coaches, and fighters and provide much needed background information on and support for achieving future success. It will be a lot of information to cram into a very short timeframe, so auditors are encouraged to be eager and learn as much of the information presented as possible. Sharpen your pencils, guys. And remember, this weekend is all about absorbing the stuff that is flying at you - not deflecting it!
The Lead Ups
Each day this week, MMA-in-ASIA.com will post an article pertaining to one of the topics on the Summit agenda. This will provide readers with background on issues that will be covered, and prepare auditors to receive the information flying at them.
An Announcement and a Personal Thank You
It is my pleasure to announce that the ONE FC Summit will provide a breakout session to explore the development of an international amateur MMA league. ONE FC's founder Victor Cui deserves commendation for seeing the need for amateur athletics, providing a platform at the Summit to discuss it, and for supporting its development. Additionally, I am humbled to have been chosen as a co-facilitator for this break out session, and I am eager to speak face to face with all of you whom have expressed a deep desire to get amateur MMA developed throughout Asia. Together, we are going to accomplish something AMAZING! - Lee Li
When I first saw the name "Kim Hock" announced as a match on the ONE FC 3 card as a rookie, I thought "Who the heck is this guy?" Apparently I said it out loud, because my friend Vaughn Anderson answered. "Oh, I trained with him some at Juggernaut Fight Club in Singapore. He's a boxer. That kid is tough - he is strong." Aside from the fact that Blud knows practically everyone in MMA from Beijing to Tasmania, he possesses an excellent eye for talent and ability. So I decided to keep my own eyes on this "Kim Hock" kid.
I found out that he does indeed have some sharp boxing skills, attested to by the fact that he took gold at the Singapore National Boxing Championships in 2010 and again in '11, plus the gold in the Invitational Boxing Championship the same year, after dropping a weight class.
Check out this video of one of Quek's amateur fights that showcases this self-proclaimed "ex-fat kid's" mean left hook, laser-site focus, and inability to concede to "backing up". A 21-year old with this much punching power is an exciting prospect to look out for in the future.
In the same busy year of winning two boxing golds, Kim Hock made his foray into MMA at the Naksu amateur MMA competitions in Thailand in 2011, winning a Grand Prix by TKO. The videos of his fights in Naksu show his limited grappling knowledge yet sharp self-preservation instincts, and a devastating grasp of ground and pound. After watching the Naksu video below, then learning that he started MMA competitions after only six weeks of MMA training, I completely forgave him for getting mounted. The Thai crowd goes absolutely mad for his striking. It's such a shame that shortsighted bureaucracy has banned MMA in that combat-loving country.
CITY OF DREAMS EXCLUSIVELY PRESENTS LEGEND 9 ON JUNE 16
WITH KOJI ANDO AND ROB HILL VYING FOR TITLE SHOT
Top Chinese welterweight Li Jingliang to face Australian Dan Pauling in co-main event
Macau, May 17, 2012 (Thursday) — Top-ranked Japanese fighter Koji Ando will face Australian brawler Rob Hill at City of Dreams exclusively presents Legend Fighting Championship 9 on Saturday, June 16, 2012, at City of Dreams, Cotai, Macau. This is a critical match-up for both men as the winner will fight reigning champion Jadamba Narantungalag for the Legend Lightweight Title.
Koji(1-1 Legend, 6-3-2 overall) has won four of his last five fights including a dramatic “Submission of the Night” victory over Damien Brown at Legend 7. Always entertaining fan favorite and Australian knockout artist Rob Hill (2-2 Legend, 11-5-1 overall) will aim to derail Ando’s title hopes. Hill is coming off his own “Submission of the Night” performance against Yusuke Kasuya at Legend 8 and will be looking for another statement victory en route to a title shot.
Our newest sponsor, iJudgeFights.com, is a Shanghai start up introducing a brand new concept in the world of MMA: an application that lets fans score fights live. The platform will also be used in Big John McCarthy's COMMAND officials course. As one of hopefully many press releases to come regarding the launch of this exciting new app, here is the most recent information concerning their selection of FightMetric:
iJudgeFights (www.ijudgefights.com) is pleased to announce that we have selected FightMetric as our fight data provider of choice.
Shanghai,China- (May 15th, 2012)
iJudgeFights .com allows fans to score fights live, round by round, anywhere in the world and compare their scores with other fans and the real judges. One of the goals of iJudgeFights.com is to improve judging in MMA through education and analysis.
“When fans boo a decision it’s either because they see that the judges got it wrong, or the judges got it right and the fans don’t understand why. Our job is to close the gap in understanding by seeing how and why fans AND judges score fights differently. It’s also a lot of fun!” said Jordan Morley, Co-Founder and CEO of iJudgeFights.com.
The month of MMAy is all about BJJ this year. Although the MMA scene is sparse this month, it started off with a bang via two of the craziest promotions in Asia. Super Fight League - the promotion gaining more and more notoriety for its Bollywood production and Baroni's color commentating - saw its sophomore outing in India. And today was another RINGS Outsiders event in Japan, a promotion started by Akira Maeda to give society's "outsiders" a ring to duke it out in, rather than the streets. More than the listed bouts can occur between opposing camps all tattooed and smoking ringside.
Aside from the pro events, the amateur MMA scene is starting to kick off across Asia in a big way. MMA Academy in will hold their second amateur competition on May 19th in San Perdro, Philippines. Taiwan's Shen Wu will hold their second as well at the end of the month on the 26th. Impakt Singapore will also hold an in-house competition on the same day. Then it's back to the Philippines as One Mindanao announces amateur tryouts for the Fury Fight League on May 27th.
The lull in professional events means that more of Asia's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu-based MMA fighters can be seen participating in the very active BJJ competition month of May. Starting off the calendar was the Copa de Hong Kong at the very beginning of the month. Today saw the second day of competition at the Pan Asian tournament in the Philippines. Finally, the next installment of the China Open will take place in Shanghai on May 19th. BJJ is definitely growing around Asia! And of course, there was the live streamed
COPA DE HONG KONG
The Copa de Hong Kong took place on the first day of May. About 150 competitors entered from all across Asia - China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, the Philippines. Vincent Sit of POSS Performance Apparel (check out Vaughn Anderson's last fight for a look at their compression spats) took some great pictures of the action and posted in a Facebook album here. Our own album can be found on Facebook as well. Adrian Wong of JADED MMA traded his own MMA shorts for his first competition in the kimono.
And Big Dean Thompson dons one of his own STORM kimonos to battle it out in the purple division.
Rodrigo Caporal ran the black belt divisions (again) in preparation for the Pan Asians, and probably as a warm up for his next MMA fight in RUFF. For the full results, see this link on BJJ Asia.
2012 PAN ASIANS
Jerry Legaspi, URCC and PXC veteran, sported three gold medals for his time on the mats.
Black belt Leandro Issa has a fight camp to consider for his battle against fellow black belt Masakazu Imanari in Next month's ONE FC, but he still took time out to coach and support his Evolve MMA team.
When his opponent pulled out, Ray Elbe saw his first match against Caporal. As Ray stated on his blog following the match:
"Winning the first round bye I was “awarded” a silver medal as a contestant prize. Would have been nice to have had a few matches before Caporal, however the real reward here is the experienced gained from competing and the training I put towards preparing for the event…I’m better tomorrow because of today."
As the results get posted, check back here for updates.
WORLD JIU JITSU OPEN
One of the Superfights was between to guys who had just run the rounds giving seminars throughout Asia, so it was a treat to see them meet each other in this match. Jeff Glover versus Caio Terra!
And everybody already knows Nick Diaz was a no-show against Braulio Estima. Here's what Braulio had to say on his Twitter account here:
"Unfortunately the so expected super fight Estima vs Diaz didn't happened. I'm very sad as I did everything possible for it to happen. I weighed in at 180lbs this morning at 10 am as agreed and asked to see nicks weighing too but I was informed by Cesar his Coach that he was 180lbs in the previous night and that he ate and is over 180lbs even though I just let it go an still showed up to fight. What pisses me off the most is that he was telling he was going to give his purse to charity for the childrens hospital and than don't show up. What kind of person is that. Shame. Ps. I'm sorry for all the ones who stayed up to watch this fight but I'm sure the prelims fights was amazing. Thank u all for the support aways."
Six weeks out, ONE FC is beginning to announce matches that will make up their freshman debut in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on June 23rd. Originally scheduled for late April, then May, the date was pushed back to June due to elections and logistics.
ONE FC is beginning to flesh out the light heavyweight division with some remarkable talent. Following a highly anticipated clash between Melvin Manhoef and Yoshiyuki Nakanishi that ended up a no-contest due to mutually received leg cuts, here come two more apt entries.
On Sunday evening May 6th, Super Fight League held its third installment of what has become the most cultish MMA event on the planet. Even twenty hours before the fight, viewers were logging onto their Youtube page expecting to see the pageantry and coming up shorthanded due to not understanding the time difference. And as the stadium finally opened to all the free ticket holders, the mayhem ensued.
Donovan Craig, founder of FIGHT! magazine, was most recently handling some consulting and PR work for Pacific Xtreme Combat (PXC) out of Guam, which also runs events in the Philippines. He's returned to the world of publishing with Stripes MMA magazine, aimed at United States servicemen and women serving at home and abroad who have an interest in MMA. Asian MMA promotions can look forward to getting a little more press sent around the world as they gain a voice through the US military serving overseas who are MMA aficionados.
The US has deployed a force of approximately 70,000 in the Asia-Pacific region, most notably in South Korea and Japan. There is a plethora of MMA organizations in Japan followed, frequented, and even fought in by US military personnel. South Korea's ROAD FC has its own section in the audience for them. Of course the Pacific Rim's Guam has to be included as it is a US military base with an MMA promotion - PXC - that features fighters from South Korea to the Philippines to servicemen themselves.
ONE FC's impending MMA Summit will bring together a major representation of industry professionals from across Asia. One of the topics of discussion will be "Developing a Professional Fight Team". Two of the three of the panelists announced for this topic are Heath Sims of Evolve MMA and Boyd Clarke of Phuket Top Team. The third is Mark Sangiao of Team Lakay.
Team Lakay is one of the most recognized, decorated, consistent, and humble MMA teams in all of Asia. Coach Mark has actively developed his stable of fighters since 2006. The Lakay trademark red satin shorts his fighters wear are now equally recognized and respected. Mark's love of and dedication to the development of combat sports have made a huge contribution to the sport of MMA in Asia. These contributions - bother personally and through his stable of 15 pro and 50 amateur fighters - makes Coach Mark an ideal candidate to speak on the topic of developing a professional fight team. 
