E.T. in Borneo
Ev Ting, the raising star of ONE Championship and belt contender for featherweight drop by in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in March for a seminar at two of Sabah’s top martial arts gym; Alpha MMA & Team Karabaw.
Ev was in Sabah at the invitation of Sabah’s fighter Adrian Tham, Rayner Kinsiong and Allen Solomon Chong, as both Alpha MMA & Team Karabaw collaborate to organize Ev’s seminar.
It was certainly great to have a young successful fighter of Ev’s calibre to share his techniques and knowledge among Borneo’s fighter; giving them inspiration and motivation to excel. Having a heart of gold too, as the seminar fee’s was not fixed and participants pay on what they feel is worth. And all the proceeds will be channel to local charity.
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| Eve received a memento from the Sabah’s warrior – ‘tanjak’ a local Sabahan natives headgear. |
Ev ‘ET’ Ting holds an MMA record of 11-3-0, Ev currently has 5 wins in ONE Championship.
He’s on a two fight winning streak after dominating wins of submitting two well known fighters from Philippines with guillotine choke in his last two fights. His only defeat was at the hand of Marat Gufarov, the current ONE Championship featherweight champion, which was back in May last year.
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| Fight record from tapology.com |
Ev was born in Malaysia 26 years ago. Both his parents are Sarawakian and after graduated studies in England started a family in Kuala Lumpur. Eventually Ev’s dad sold off his share in a timber company and grab on a opportunity to migrate to New Zealand. In this new land of the Kiwis, Ev’s involvement in sports started with football. Actively playing throughout his teenage years, Ev won various award such as MVP ( most valuable player ) and Most Improved Player; but personally to him his great highlights was being captain in his final year of the first XI and placing second in the season ever in the schools history.
After completing high school, his family moved to different suburb in Auckland. Being distant from friends and familiar team, Ev’s stopped football but he wanted to stay active fulfill his urge to compete. At this juncture an individual sport like martial arts really made sense to him. So it all fell into place and he enrolled in martial arts classes at Auckland MMA.
“Once I joined, I never looked back. I’ve always had a interest in martial arts but never got to fulfill it until I started competing which fired my interest for MMA even more.”
Warriors of Borneo managed to got hold of Ev during his time in Sabah for an interview.
Any fond memories of your early years in Malaysia?
My best memories in Malaysia was playing on the streets with over 10 of my neighbour’s kids, racing around on our bikes. One fond memory was when a monkey broke into my house and broke alot of things, but later befriended with me for a day before animal control came and collected him.
My personality through my up-bringing and experiences allows me to be very direct and have a straight-forward and positive attitude.
You started your MMA in Auckland MMA, is MMA well develop in NZ? How is it compare to the Malaysian scene?
MMA in NZ has been around for over 10 years. It never had the spotlight Malaysia has now on it with it only going big in the last 3 years.
There are similarities between the two scenes, all fighters can be very hearty and almost stubborn at times. The differences would be in NZ we could care less about logos or looking good, we just want to fight. However, I can blabber for hours on the positive benefits of martial arts contributing to our community wherever we are in the world 🙂 The Malaysian scene is coming up quick with stars like Gianni, Keanu, Aiman and Agilan coming up real quick.
You also have been training in Vietnam & Bali right? What about Malaysia? Tell us about this?
Currently I am a coach at Saigon Sports Club in Ho Chi Minh City, we have a good gig going there and the gym speaks for itself if you go look it up.
Bali MMA is full of monsters under 155lbs, this was where I spent my last training camp, I have a good network with the team there and I believed in their suitability and skills to help me peak for my camp for my last fight.
You spend short years in Malaysia the rest in NZ…what makes you wanna represent Malaysia as a fighter?
It is always an honor to represent my birth town, especially when ONE Championship came aboard they wanted to promote asian fighters, at that time i was working at Klinch MMA so everything made sense. Ultimately I represent myself and the universe, I do not believe in divide and conquer / nations vsing nations.
Do you speak Chinese? What about Malay? What is your chinese name?
My Chinese/Mandarin is only at 50-60% capacity, my Malay is only the greetings. I wish to find a tutor one day when I can sustain a living in Malaysia.
My Chinese name is Chan Sing Ting which is also the exact translation of my english name.
How did the Kota Kinabalu seminar came about? Is this your first time in Sabah? How do you find the quality of fighters here? What positive aspect does Sabah fighter posses and what do we lack of and need to improve on?
It was my first time in KK, day before I left I spoke to Adrian at the MIMMA Trials in KL, from there he informed the big dawgs Allen and Rayner to set up some training and seminar for me. I always believe in giving back to the sport and I thought this would a great idea and at the same time I get to train with the best in Sabah.
Sabah fighters are by far the heartiest I have seen in Malaysia, however there are still some small details they need to master before going professional, it will all come with mat-time and experience.
Which are the places that you have visited in Sabah? Which is the most memorable? What do you think of Sabahan?
Most memorable would be Sapi Island where i had a wonderful time snorkeling with fishes, ziplining between islands and also losing my Iphone 6s to a splash of Borneo sea water!!
What’s your favourite Malaysian food, why? What type of food have you tasted here in Sabah? Anything you find peculiar or interesting?
Favourite Malaysia food would be the typical Nasi Lemak, however I am very particular with the sambal sauce that comes with it. I find that every restaurant or chef that cooks it will have their own style. Seafood in KK is by far my favorite in South East Asia.
When is your next fight? Will you be pushing Victor Cui for a rematch with Marat? Looking back at ONE FC27…what did learn from the loss, and what you think will make a difference if you meet Marat again?
Marat displayed a world class grappling in our last fight, from that fight I understood what it takes in this game to become successful. Therefore next time we step in that cage, no respect will be given, with inner peace I will perform everything I am capable of. I will beat Marat.
One Championship needs to feed my hunger, I’m starving !
ONE’s mix rules, allowing soccer kicks, knee to down opponent, elbow 12 to 6, etc; present a more dangerous situation in the cage vs UFC’s unified rules….what do you think of this? Does it make ONE’s fighter more formidable?
I believe these rules set my style of fighting better and I am 100% for these rules. If you really think about it, it is not too bad, gladiators back in the day didn’t even know who they were fighting and they didn’t get paid for it.. haha
You are supporting ONE’s new weight cutting rules, are you always walking around in featherweight? ( 65.9 – 70.3kg ) Do you think weight cut is dangerous to fighter?
With new policy of fighting at walk around weight I am now officially a Lightweight on their new standards. Weight Cutting is dangerous and jeopardizes athlete’s performances and should not be practiced.
Tell us a bit on your early years ( 4 -5 years ago ) when you just started fighting Pro. What drives you then?, and what motivates you now?
Back then I had a hunger to fight, and i still do. I am motivated everyday to become better in my career, because this is the most honest career I can think of. Reward is always the extra motivation but I do this because I prefer it over any other job.
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| Early days of Ev’s pro MMA career at legend FC |
You have plenty of finishes in your fight record with strikes, but recently your last 3 wins are by choke, do you like to start out striking or bring the fight to the ground? What is your favourite move?
Favorite move is always to knock my opponent out with one strike. However, my first ever win in MMA was also with the same choke. I am all about being efficient in putting my opponent away.
How do you unwind after a hard training? Your favourite cheat meal?
After hard training would be hydration, good recovery food.
Favourite cheat meal(s)…… lol anything with peanut butter and ice cream.
Any personal mottos you live by? Anyone you look up to or motivates you?
I used to look up to the greats like Tyson, Fedor, but now my motto is to become the ‘best version of my self’. Working on small things at a time.
Bonus questions? If you are the director of Superman vs Batman, who will win and why?
In the final scene, Ev Ting would descent between the two and challenge Ben Affleck & Henry Cavill to a real fight.
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