Legend Fighting Championship, the Asia-Pacific championship of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), held its Malaysian debut with Legend 11 at Chin Woo Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday night.
The intimate venue allowed Malaysian MMA fans the unique opportunity to get closer than ever before to the legends of Asia-Pacific MMA, providing a remarkable contrast to the event’s broadcast reach of one billion viewers in 152 countries around the world. The main event of the evening, the Legend Lightweight Title fight between Jadamba Narantungalag of Mongolia and Japan’s Koji “The Commander” Ando, was as tactical as it was physical. The obvious mutual respect between the combatants led to each stalking the other throughout the battle, with the bout tied at 19-19 on all three judges’ scorecards going into the third round.
It was perhaps inevitable that it would take the extraordinary to decide between the two, with an injury to Jadamba in Round 3 giving Ando the title of Legend Lightweight Champion.
For the strong partisan crowd, Malaysian fighters Muhammad Hanif bin Zainal and Sam Chan led the local interest. The opening bout saw Rocky Lee of Taiwan submit Malaysia’s Hanif with an armbar in the first round to the dismay of the local fans. However, Sam “Swag” Chan restored local pride with a submission victory of his own, forcing Gugun Gusman of Indonesia to tap out in Round 2.
An unprecedented three title fights were on the card for Legend 11, the first being for the Legend Bantamweight Title. “The Executioner” Ji Xian of China shocked Agustin “Tamasak” Delarmino Jr., by coming out swinging despite his well-known proclivity for submissions.
A brutal first two minutes by Ji Xian was enough to soften Delarmino up and Ji stayed true to his roots with an armbar submission at four minutes thirty-one seconds of the first round.
The Legend Welterweight Title was contested between New Zealand’s Luke “The Juggernaut” Jumeau and Li “The Leech” Jingliang of China. The fight was defined by the phenomenal feats of strength by Li, picking up Jumeau time and time again before testing the New Zealander’s resolve with heavy slams to the canvas.
Two minutes thirty-five seconds into the third round, Li got the breakthrough he was looking for, catching Jumeau with a guillotine submission, to become the new Legend Welterweight Champion.
For more information, visit the Legend Fighting Championship website.