Ev and Agilan looking to get back on the winning trail
PETALING JAYA: Former Malaysian mixed martial arts (MMA) title contenders Ev Ting and Agilan Thani will be looking for a quick rebound at the ONE: Quest For Greatness at Stadium Negara tonight.
Ev, who lost via unanimous decision to lightweight defending champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang in the ONE Championship: King of Destiny in Manila on April 21, will take on Nobutatsu Suzuki while Agilan, who lost the title fight against reigning ONE welterweight world champion Ben Askren on May 26, will meet Egyptian Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed.
Ev and Agilan are unbeaten on home ground and both believe that they are wiser following their title defeats.
The New Zealand-based Ev intends to “seek and destroy Nobutatsu in the first round”.
“My preparation has been to fight ‘smart’. I focused on sharpening up specific techniques rather than everything. I realised that I’ve been overtraining in previous camps,” said Ev, who holds a 13-4 record while Nobutatsu has a 11-2 stat.
“Nobutatsu is a former champion with a credible record. I simply have to be smarter, more explosive and technically better than him. He has good striking skills but I can still beat him.”
The 21-year-old Agilan, meanwhile, is looking to improve on his 7-1 record. He expects huge support from the home crowd when he takes on Sherif, who holds an 8-3 record.
“I was very surprised with the support from Malaysians after my loss to Askren. Everyone wants to know more about the sport, so it’s all good despite that loss,” said the Sentul local.
“I didn’t listen to my coaches for the Askren fight but now I know what needs to be done. I’m 100% ready for the fight.”
The other Malaysians in action tonight are Ann Osman (strawweight bout against Singapore’s May Ooi); Gianni Subba (flyweight bout against Japan’s Riku Shibuya); and Keanu Subba (featherweight bout against Singapore’s Christian Lee).
The main event of the night will be the featherweight clash between world champion Marat Gafurov against Martin Nguyen.