(Standing from left) Pellino, Shawn Wong and Choo Chung Siang of Gym Box, international fighter Peter Davis, Malaysian Mixed Martial Art Alliance (MASMMA) deputy president Alex Wong, Ramliee and Fara.
KUCHING: Excitement gripped the crowd that gathered to catch local martial arts fighters during the tryouts for the third season of the Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) organised by Tune Talk at Plaza Merdeka yesterday. The two-day event ends today.
This being the second year that the MIMMA tryouts are held in Kuching, Tune Talk head of communication Fara Hassan expected participants to double to about 150 fighters compared to last year.
Head coach Matt Pellino said those who signed up will be weighed and checked to ensure they are medically clear and fit for the tryouts.
The fighters would then undergo a sparring session where they would be technically judged on their grappling and striking skills before proceeding.
“As soon as they spar, the judges will judge them on their ability to spar a full mixed martial art fight. You can’t just be good in striking or jujitsu, you have to be able to compete in every realm of mixed martial arts. So, that is what the sparring session is for,” he explained.
After the tryouts, the fighters will be shortlisted to 16 hopefuls from the seven weight classes. The MIMMA Grand Finals will be held in Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur.
Besides Sarawak, MIMMA Season 3 tryouts have been held in Johor and will be moving on to Penang, Sabah and Selangor after the Sarawak leg.
This year’s MIMMA also introduces two new categories, the female catchweight division (48-56.7kg) and the foreign catchweight division (61.2-70.3kg).
“Personally, I think that the people in Kuching and Sarawak in general are mentally and physically tougher, they have more heart and it is easy to build them from the ground up. There are those from Kuching who can easily compete for a championship,” Pellino added.
Also present during the tryouts was Sarawak State Sports Council official Ramliee Ahmad.