Tag Archives: Agilan Thani

The largest global sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), recently held the official ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS Media Party last Thursday, 22 November at Ours Eatery at Damansara City Mall. The event was held in anticipation of the blockbuster event, ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS, which takes place at the Axiata Arena on Friday, 7 December. Photos of the event can be downloaded here.

Some of the ONE Championship athletes attending the ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS Media Party were Agilan “Alligator” Thani, Keanu Subba, Gianni Subba, Peter Davis, Ann “Athena” Osman, Jihin “Shadow Cat” Radzuan, Saiful “The Vampire” Merican, and Mohammed Bin Mahmoud.

Ticket information for ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS is available at www.onefc.com.

Former ONE Welterweight World Title challenger Agilan Thani is one of the most remarkable athletes Malaysia has ever produced. Ever since making his debut, the man they call “Alligator” has torn through the competition. Unbeaten as an amateur, Thani captured a Malaysian national championship before turning professional, winning six bouts in a row on the global stage of ONE Championship to earn a shot at the title. The top contender trains daily at Monarchy MMA in Kuala Lumpur but also regularly travels to the United States to sharpen his skills at the world-famous Team Quest. His next opponent is Kiamrian Abbasov.

Gianni Subba has forged a reputation as one of the most exciting talents to watch in the ONE cage. He spent his childhood growing up in both Hawaii and his mother’s hometown of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, but he left at the age of 16 to finish his education in Salt Lake City, Utah. While in the United States, he learned to wrestle. In 2010, he decided to move back to Malaysia in order to pursue his dreams as a professional mixed martial artist. Since then, he has defeated several former world title challengers to cement his place at the top of a stacked flyweight division. He takes on Ma Hao Bin in his next assignment.

Former Wushu World Champion and MIMMA Women’s Champion Jihin “Shadowcat” Radzuan is one of the finest female martial artists to emerge from Malaysia. Her first exposure to martial arts was a brief stint training in silat when she was six years old. She soon discovered Ultimate MMA Academy, and after just three months of training, she competed in Muay Thai for the first time. Driven by a hunger to compete, she followed that up with bouts in wushu, BJJ, kickboxing, and boxing, capturing a wushu world championship along the way. She joined ONE Championship in March 2018, and has since put together two impressive victories. Radzuan resumes her ascent through the ranks by facing Jenny Huang.

Mohammed “Jordan Boy” Mahmoud is a professional martial artist from Malaysia set to make his ONE Super Series debut. The 22-year-old went undefeated as an amateur, before turning professional, amassing a 50-7 record. Along the way, Mahmoud has won multiple titles, including the PLG Tournament Championship and MuayFight Championship, among others. He now finds his way to the bright lights of ONE Championship and looks to make a name for himself amongst the world’s best strikers. In his first outing for the promotion, Mahmoud takes on Stergos Mikkios.

Agilan Thani, ONE Athlete, stated: 

“I think my opponent (Kiamrian Abbasov) is pretty tough. He went three rounds with Luis Santos. He has pretty awkward footwork and I think he’s a tough dude. I’m looking forward to fighting him. I’ve been preparing as usual, like how I always do. So expect a lot of the same action and explosiveness from me. I always come to fight and I never back down from any challenge. I’m looking forward to the match.”

Gianni Subba, ONE Athlete, stated:

“I think Ma Hao Bin is a young and strong opponent. He has great cardio and is very aggressive. My preparation for the fight has been good. I have split my time between Kuala Lumpur and Bali, working on everything. My opponent is very tough, so I’ve worked on all areas of my game, wrestling, and BJJ. I worked a lot on my cardio as well. I want to push the pace in this fight and look for a finish.”

Jihin Radzuan, ONE Athlete, stated: 

“Facing a former World Title challenger, I think it’s a good test for me. She (Jenny Huang) has good grappling skills, so it will be interesting to see how we match up together on the ground. I am proud to represent Malaysia on the biggest global stage of competition. Doing what I love to do, I am very lucky. I am working very hard at improving my skills so I can make my fans and my country proud.”

Mohammed Bin Mahmoud, ONE Athlete, stated: 

“I’ve seen a couple of his (Stergos Mikkios) fights and he is a great athlete. His boxing and low kicks are very good but I’m confident I can handle what he has in store for me. I’m a more technical athlete, and whenever I start a fight I always attack very patiently. For my first battle, I want to bring the knockout home. This is the biggest ever match in my career and better still in my hometown, Kuala Lumpur. I want the best knockout of the night and make my country proud.”

ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS is set for the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Friday, 7 December. The card features a series of top Malaysian athletes, as well as the absolute best in international martial arts talent. In the main event, Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex of Thailand takes on Luis Regis of Australia in a ONE Super Series Muay Thai contest.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

ONE: PURSUIT OF POWER at Kuala Lumpur’s Axiata Arena on 13 July sees one of Malaysia’s favorite sons, Agilan “Alligator” Thani, continue along his road to redemption.Ben Askren was simply a huge task for Thani when they competed for the ONE Welterweight World Championship in May 2017.

Now that the American has decided to call it a career after a successful title defense against Shinya Aoki last November, the road to the world title has seen its most costly toll removed.

Despite the wide-open path to the promotion’s welterweight throne, Thani undergoes another detour as he is booked to face fellow world title contender Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam in the co-main event of ONE: PURSUIT OF POWER.Although he has proven his worth to be next in line for the vacant welterweight championship by acing his next two assignments since yielding to Askren via first-round submission, Thani does not mind taking the long route to another title shot.

“I want to beat the best guys. I just want to win and move forward,” he said. “I just want to keep competing [against] the best so that I can win every match, and eventually get my way back to the title.”

According to Thani, his climb to the apex of ONE Championship’s welterweight division draws striking similarities with his humble beginnings.Before establishing himself as one of the world’s best welterweight mixed martial artists, Thani suffered from obesity and was constant victim of childhood bullying.Not only did he endure physical confrontations, but Thani frequently experienced psychological torment as well.

“People looked at you differently if you were from the higher or lower class, if you were a rich or a poor boy, if you have dark or light skin, and all of that stuff. Where I come from, it is a lower-class area, so I got bullied a lot,” he explained.

Growing up, Thani’s mother abandoned the family when he was still an infant, leaving him in the care of his father who provided for his son as a restaurant manager.When Thani was eight years old, his father relocated the family to a one-bedroom apartment in Sentul, a crime-ridden area of Kuala Lumpur.Studying at a local academic institution in Sentul, the bullying started because the soft-spoken Thani was an easy target.

“If you are a good boy, you get bullied a lot too, and I was a good boy. I was a lazy kid in school, but I never bothered anybody, so people started bothering me. I was a good kid in a rough neighborhood,” he recalled.

Over the years, his classmates started to make fun of his appearance as he packed on an enormous amount of weight and bloated up to 139 kilograms during his teenage years.

“Since I was fat, it’s like I had a woman’s chest,” he shared, chuckling in disbelief. “I did not have a man’s chest, so people made fun of that. They said you can get strawberry milk on the left, and chocolate milk on the right.”

“Those things are the main ways they verbally abused me in school, and if I said something back, they pinched my chest and ran away,” Thani added.

Thani admitted that bullying and abuse tore the emotional teen apart as the psychological torment and the constant embarrassment were something that he had immense difficulty dealing with.

“That type of bullying happened 90 percent of the time,” he bared. “I used to cry sometimes. Like, ‘Why would people say these things to me?’ because this happened for a long time. People always just made fun of me.”Realizing that enough is enough, Thani started to stand up for himself, and when the bullies no longer saw an easy target, they began to leave him alone.

Soon after, Thani’s newfound confidence borne through martial arts began to shine through.Thani transformed into a welterweight martial arts phenom, who worked at the gym full-time and was far from the chubby child who used to get made fun of.

“As a martial artist, I want to use the platform that I am standing on to inspire people. Life isn’t just about what you achieve, it’s also what you inspire others to achieve,” he mentioned.

Thani has persevered through life’s most heartbreaking circumstances and relates his life experiences to his current situation as a welterweight contender in ONE Championship.

“It’s all hard work and dedication. My life and career are eventually the same,” he affirmed. “To succeed, you need to work harder each and everyday. Most importantly, appreciate everyone and everything around you.”

Against a tough opposition such as Kadestam, Thani is training harder than ever to show that he deserves another chance at the welterweight crown.

“I am training all aspects of the game to achieve my goal — to win against my opponent and be one step closer to getting back to a world title shot,” he concluded.

In the co-main event of the evening, former world title challenger Ev “E.T.” Ting of Malaysia placed his name back in the winner’s column by overwhelming Japanese veteran and former ONE Welterweight World Champion Nobutatsu Suzuki to win by devastating technical knockout. From the opening bell, Ting paced himself well, keeping Suzuki at range with his accurate striking before executing the end sequence. After staggering Suzuki with a combination, Ting swarmed his opponent to score the referee stoppage.

22-year-old Agilan “The Alligator” Thani of Malaysia authored one of the most dominant performances of the night, placing himself back on the winning track with a unanimous decision victory over Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed of Egypt. Showing off new skills and techniques that he learned from training with the world-famous Team Quest, Thani swamped Mohamed with his wrestling while stifling his opponent with submission attempts. The former world title challenger finished the three-round welterweight contest on a strong note, delivering crisp ground strikes to the delight of his roaring countrymen.

Filipino knockout artist Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon completed yet another scintillating finish, his second in a row, by defeating Australian submission specialist Reece “Lightning” McLaren by knockout. Belingon finished the job in just 62 seconds, dropping his Australian opponent with a hard right straight before punctuating with follow-up strikes on the ground to compel referee Olivier Coste to step in and halt the contest. The revered Team Lakay veteran recorded his seventh knockout win as a professional with the impressive triumph over McLaren.

In a clash of high-caliber flyweights, Malaysia’s Gianni Subba captured a hard-earned victory in front of a jubilant hometown crowd by routing Japan’s Riku “The Outsider” Shibuya. Subba showcased his pinpoint accurate striking early on, peppering Shibuya with stinging right hands and spinning back-kicks in the first round. Although Shibuya easily converted his takedown attempts in the succeeding rounds to avoid striking exchanges, Subba kept himself active on the canvas, fishing for submissions while landing the more telling blows. In the end, Subba’s efforts were rewarded with a unanimous decision.

“Mighty” May Ooi of Singapore scored a major victory in her ONE Championship debut by submitting Malaysian female martial arts superstar Ann “Athena” Osman in the first round. After surviving a huge right hand from Osman, Ooi took matters to the canvas, where she maneuvered her cage counterpart with ease courtesy of her impeccable ground game. The 41-year-old Singaporean executed a flawless transition into a rear-naked choke that left Osman no choice but to tap out.

Former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke of Thailand brushed off a lackluster start to topple Robin “The Ilonggo” Catalan of the Philippines via second-round technical knockout. Showcasing tremendous power with every strike and drawing cheers from the crowd after each landed blow, Dejdamrong’s thunderous knees proved too much for Catalan as the Filipino lost his footing, forcing the referee to wave it off and award the victory to the celebrated Thai kickboxer.

Christian “The Warrior” Lee of Singapore exhibited stellar form, proving himself a top featherweight contender in ONE Championship by scoring an impressive submission over Malaysia’s Keanu Subba. Both highly-touted prospects started out aggressively, but it was Lee who showed a more capable set of grappling skills. Lee spun a web of crafty grappling to overwhelm Subba as the 19-year-old Singaporean standout was able to get the submission finish in the third round, making Subba tap from a wrenching armbar.

Emilio “The Honey Badger” Urrutia of the United States made a triumphant promotional debut in ONE Championship by edging out Team Lakay stalwart Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly of the Philippines in their three-round featherweight encounter. Urrutia relied on his solid ground game to pacify his Filipino opponent’s firepower in the stand-up trade, wearing down Kelly and steering him to a decisive victory by way of unanimous decision.

Kicking off ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS was a strawweight encounter between wushu practitioner Rene Catalan of the Philippines and Chinese grappling prodigy Bu Huo You Ga. After dropping his opponent with a clean left straight in first round, Catalan secured top control and went to work. With a dominant top game, Catalan notched his third straight victory, defeating Bu Huo as all three judges saw the bout in favor of Catalan to win by unanimous decision.

Official results for ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS

• ONE Featherweight World Championship bout: Martin Nguyen defeats Marat Gafurov by Knockout at 1:27 minutes of round 2
• Lightweight bout: Ev Ting defeats Nobutatsu Suzuki by TKO (Strikes) at 3:29 minutes of round 1
• Welterweight bout: Agilan Thani defeats Sherif Mohamed by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Bantamweight bout: Kevin Belingon defeats Reece McLaren by Knockout at 1:02 minutes of round 1
• Flyweight bout: Gianni Subba defeats Riku Shibuya by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Women’s strawweight bout: May Ooi defeats Ann Osman by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:27 minutes of round 1
• Strawweight bout: Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke defeats Robin Catalan by TKO (Strikes) at 0:46 minutes of round 2
• Featherweight bout: Christian Lee defeats Keanu Subba by Submission (Armbar) at 1:11 minutes of round 3
• Featherweight bout: Emilio Urrutia defeats Edward Kelly by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
• Strawweight bout: Rene Catalan defeats Bu Huo You Ga by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds

In case you missed the action log on to www.onefc.com/livestream for the full replay of the fights at only US $9.99.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.