Combat Sports Coverage

Mixed Martial Arts

From ONE Championship fight nights at Axiata Arena to the grassroots gyms shaping the next generation of Malaysian fighters — deep, credible combat sports journalism from someone who's been cageside for over a decade.

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MMA Coverage

MMA fighter entering the cage at a ONE Championship event, crowd in background MMA

The Alligator's Last Dance: Agilan Thani and What His ONE Career Meant for Malaysian MMA

Agilan 'The Alligator' Thani never won a world title. But in a decade of competing for ONE Championship, the Malaysian welterweight did something arguably more durable — he made people believe that a Malaysian could belong at the very top of the card.

ONE Championship arena setup with cage and lighting at Axiata Arena Kuala Lumpur MMA

The Cage Returns: ONE Championship's First Malaysia Event in Two Years

After COVID shut down live sport for the better part of two years, ONE Championship brought its cage back to Malaysia in late 2022. Harris Danial Zaki was in the arena to report on what had changed — and what the return meant for Malaysian MMA.

Empty gym equipment in a controlled training environment, fluorescent lighting, isolated indoor setting MMA

Six Months in a Bubble: How Malaysian Fighters Survived ONE's COVID Camp in Singapore

When ONE Championship sealed its fighters inside a Singapore sports complex in late 2020, Malaysian MMA athletes faced a choice that had no precedent: stay isolated for months to keep competing, or go home to uncertainty. Harris Danial Zaki pieces together what those months cost — and what they built.

Empty martial arts gym with locked doors and padded floor, natural light through window MMA

When the Gyms Closed: Malaysian MMA's Longest and Most Unexpected Training Break

On 18 March 2020, Malaysia's Movement Control Order shut the gyms. For fighters in the middle of fight camps, recovery programmes, and careers built on daily mat time, the enforced pause was unlike anything the sport had experienced. Harris Danial Zaki reports on what the MCO took — and what it accidentally revealed.

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