ONE FC has brought MMA to Asia!

Wow!  This was one exciting weekend in Singapore with the premiere of Asia’s #1 MMA event, ONE Fighting Championship, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium!

I flew into Singapore on Friday, checked into the new Park Regis Hotel situated close to Clarke Quay, and couldn’t wait to be a part of the biggest fight night in all of Asia!  Once Saturday evening rolled around, it was time to switch out of my civilian clothes…

…and get ready to rock the ONE FC Red Carpet for all the VIP guests arriving from around the region.

Now, MMA is already HUGE in North America so I think many of us were wondering how Asia would take to this relatively new sport.  I arrived early to welcome the VIP guests…

…and some of the earlier arrivals included some of the top Japanese MMA fighters.

Do these guys look like they’re ready to kick some major butt or what?  Of course, we also had our fair share of celebrities in attendance including my good friend Jaymee Ong from “The Contender Asia” and “E-Buzz”…

…and then there was Paula Malai from ESPN and Riaz, producer for AXN’s newest reality show “The Challenger.”

Most of the crowd early for the night’s festivities and you could definitely the excitement in the air.  Even while I was outside working the ONE FC Red Carpet, I could hear the roar of the crowd.  I finally made my win into the stadium after all the VIP guests arrived and was blown away with seeing a totally packed house…

The crowd had definitely arrived to watch ONE FC, but did the ten fights with an incredible sixteen world champions competing deliver the goods?  One fighter after one fighter made his way into the cage focused and intent on emerging the winner…

The fans were treated to an action-packed fight fest of epic proportions with each and every single fight.  Singapore’s very first professional MMA fighter Radeem Rahman made his highly-anticipated debut and rocked the house with his victory…

Whether the fighters were striking or grappling, the audience were focused on every single second because anything can happen in the blink of an eye.

Thank goodness we had some great Instant Reply on the Jumbotron screen for all the fans to relive the action, and all the fighters really laid it all out on the line tonight…

In the main event of the evening, Eduard Folayang and A Sol Kwon blew away the crowd with a major slugfest.  During the bout, Eduard was holding onto his nose…

It was until after his victory speech did everyone realize how A Sol Kwon had given Eduard an instant nosejob by snapping it!  Ouch!

But I’m sure that was the last thing on his mind after his big win.

Ten adrenaline-pumping fights later, ONE FC resoundingly announced to Asia that MMA has arrived!  If the event wasn’t enough, the event will be broadcast in over 24 countries to over 500 million viewers on ESPN and Star Sports.  Additionally, every single television set will be able to watch ONE FC on Mediacorp’s Channel 5, and this is the first time a public television broadcaster in Southeast Asia will be showcasing an MMA event so that speaks volumes regarding the buzz and rising popularity of the sport.  With a many more ONE Fighting Championship events lined up all across Asia in the next year, you can be sure to hear more soon.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the owner and CEO of ONE FC, Victor Cui, so a major shout out and congratulations to bringing MMA to Asia with ONE FC!

For all of you who attended event, I hope you had as an amazing time as I did, and I’m pumped to rip off this suit and go learn some MMA moves in the gym!  Awesome!  

So are you feeling it too…or am I on this Asian MMA craze alone?!!#$%