KUALA LUMPUR: SARAWAK’S Stephen Onn Jiengging’s inspiring journey in the sport continues after he secured a well deserved place in the Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) grand finals next month at the MIMMA contender fights recently.
Stephen scored a well deserved win over fellow Sarawakian Nicholas Jeffrey via referee stoppage 45 seconds into the second round to earn himself a shot at the middleweight title against current holder Jim Chong of Johor.
The Sibu-born fighter said he did not expect to get this far in the competition.
“Nicholas is a really tough opponent so I am very happy to get the win,” said Stephen.
“He is a jiujitsu guy and my plan was to keep the fight standing. My goal was to knock him out but he can really take punches well so it was not easy.”
Stephen, who works as a muay thai trainer, added that he will be out for more than just personal pride or glory when he takes to the cage against Chong at Stadium Negara on Oct 25.
“To be honest, I have never seen Chong fight before as I did not watch MIMMA last season. All I know is that he is also a muay thai guy like me.
“I am shocked I got this far as I was really fat before I started muay thai in 2012.
“I weighed 120kg then but after muay thai training, my weight dropped to 98kg, then around the 70kg mark.
“I started competing in muay thai competitions and earlier this year started with MMA.
“I am not here to prove that I am the best in the sport or that I am better than anybody else or that you are worse than me.
“I just want to inspire people to believe that they can achieve whatever they want as long as they believe and never give up.
“I am definitely going to train as hard as I can in this one month till the fight”.
Stephen will be sent by MIMMA for a training camp at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket to prepare him for the grand finals.
Contender fight results — Middleweight: Stephen Onn Jiengging bt Nicholas Jeffrey (Sarawak) — ref stoppage, 0:45s Round 2.
Bantamweight: Jenarten Radhakrishnan (Selangor) bt Ben Lee (Selangor) — retirement, end of 1st Round.
Featherweight: Joshua Khiew (Penang) bt Khoo Teik Guan (Penang) — split decision.
Flyweight: Muhammad Aiman (Negri Sembilan) bt Seah Zhang Yu (Penang) — ref stoppage, 2:44 Round 2.
Welterweight: T. Agilan (Kuala Lumpur) bt Mohd Fakhrul Izzat (Johor) — submission (rear naked choke), 1:36 Round 2.
Grand finals fightcard — Flyweight: Muhammad Aiman (Negri Sembilan) v Kenny Yap (Terengganu).
Bantamweight: Jenarten Radhakrishnan (Selangor) v Prabu Somanaidu (Kuala Lumpur).
Featherweight: Joshua Khiew (Penang) v Keanu Subba (KL).
Lightweight: Mohd Rizal Ismail Celestial (Sabah) v Mohd Hasrul (Selangor).
Welterweight: T. Agilan (Kuala Lumpur) v Ooi Aik Tong (Penang).
Middleweight: Stephen Onn Jiengging (Sarawak) v Jim Chong (Johor)
Heavyweight: Mohd Zulhanizam (Selangor) v Darren Solomon Low (Sabah).