Muhammad Aisamuddin (second left) and Ho John Cris pose with event organiser Tsan Nieng Khai (left) and Will Chope.
KUCHING (May 28): Muhammad Aisamuddin Mohamad has won a ticket to compete in the Thailand Fighting Championships (TFC) to be held in Bangkok at the end of the year.
The 29-year-old assistant trainer at KNOX13 Boxing Club in Metro City Kuching, who represented the club, defeated Andre “Ghost” Audrey Warmonger by a unanimous points decision after the three-round men’s lightweight (70.3kg-77.1kg) bout.
It was the 13th of 23 fights at the Road to TFC 1.0 Mixed Martial Arts Fighting Championships staged at Sarawak Mixed Martial Arts Sports Hub (SMASH), Boulevard Shopping Mall on Saturday.
“I am truly delighted to win in my first major international tournament which is also being held in Kuching, Sarawak for the first time. In fact, l wasn’t confident in winning today but l was focusing on just trying to do my best. Thanks God, l won.
“I have fought and won in local and national tournaments before but for me, this is an amazing experience and l find it very challenging and exciting,” said the 2014 Sukma boxing men’s 56kg gold medalist who hails from Kampung Sungai Mata, Samarahan.
“I am very thankful to Sarawak Mixed Martial Arts Association (SAMMA) president Tsan Nieng Khai and TFC co-owner Will Chope for bringing this event to Kuching and giving me the golden opportunity to compete on the bigger stage in Thailand,” he said and vowed to train even harder for the Bangkok outing.
He will be joined at the grand TFC in Bangkok this December by John Cris Ho of FIGHTX who overpowered Loh Tuan Guan of Rebel Boxing Club in the welterweight (77.1kg to 83.9kg).
Road to TFC 1.0 is the first of the qualifying events for the grand final which will be held at World Siam Stadium in Bangkok.
TFC 2.0 and TFC 3.0 will be staged in Sri Lanka next month and August before TFC 4.0 which will return to Kuching again in October to give two more slots to selected fighters.
Koji celebrates after a choke on Walters in the main pro fight.
Meanwhile, the main professional MMA lightweight fight between Koji Takeuchi of Japan and Billy Walters of the US lasted less than three minutes when the Japanese executed a Guillotine Choke on his opponent in Round 1 to force the American into submission.
The co-main fight, which was an Amateur MMA Catchweight bout, was won by Mehrubon Maradanov of Tajikistan who delivered a TKO on Andrew Bucks from New Zealand in Round 2.
Prizes were jointly presented by Will Chope, ISKA Borneo president Alvin Chong and event organiser Tsan Nieng Khai.
“I would like to specially thank ISKA Borneo for sanctioning all boxing and kickboxing bouts and Malaysia Mixed Martial Arts Association for sanctioning all MMA bouts along with SAMMA,” said Tsan.
“I wish to also thank TFC for choosing Kuching to be the venue for two TFC qualifying events and all those who have who worked tirelessly to ensure this championship is a great success,” he added.