mma

Colleen and Brandon shine at Asian Championships

The national MMA fighters did the nation proud by winning one gold and one bronze at the IMMAF-WMMAA Asian Open Championships which ended in Bangkok yesterday.

Colleen Augustin was undoubtedly the standout Malaysian as she won the women’s strawweight crown while Brandon Tang clinched the men’s strawweight class bronze.

Colleen downed the formidable Nurzhamal Sadykova of Kazakhstan via TKO, two minutes and 26 seconds into the second round of the final.

It is a commendable achievement considering Colleen, 21, had only taken up mixed martial arts two years ago.

Colleen, who grew up in Kuala Lumpur, however, was not surprised with the win on her major MMA competition debut.

“This tournament was my first experience in MMA on the big stage,” said the 21-year-old yesterday.

“My coaches and I had a goal from the beginning which was to bring the gold home.

“We don’t settle for anything less.”

Colleen is also a spartan pro athlete and her superior fitness played a key role in her win.

“I believe it (background as a spartan athlete) helped a lot in terms of training,” added Colleen.

The Malaysian Mixed Martial Arts Association (MASMMAA) will likely send her for the World Championships in Bahrain in November. Fadhli Ishak

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