MMA: Ev Ting bringing a familiar strategy to KL

The last time Ev 'E. T.' Ting competed in front of his Malaysian fans, he pulled off one of the biggest upsets of his career.

He shocked the martial arts world with a first-round finish of former ONE Welterweight World Champion Nobutatsu Suzuki, an athlete known for his knockout power.

Ting’s game plan worked to perfection on that very night in August 2017, and he is planning on bringing a much-improved version of that exact strategy to Kuala Lumpur's Axiata Arena when he faces Japan’s Daichi Abe at ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY on Friday, 12 July.

“We’re fully focused on improving the numbers and all the records we did during my last training camp here in Auckland MMA,” the 29-year-old stated.

“My coaches here have kept a record of all my training time, my heart rates, and other aspects of my game, so my performance should be identical to the one I had against Suzuki, only better.”

This will be Ting’s first full training camp at Auckland MMA since that highlight-reel knockout at Stadium Negara nearly two years ago.

Then motivated by his ONE Lightweight World Title loss to Eduard Folayang, 'E.T.' captivated the Malaysian crowd when he rocked the Japanese veteran with a barrage of strikes on the ground to earn a first-round victory.

He plans to take a similar approach when he steps into the ring with the former Pancrase Welterweight World Champion.

“Suzuki’s game has always been striking. He’s taken out several wrestlers around the world. Put simply, he was the real deal," he explained.

"But I worked with my taekwondo coach, and he told me it was all about attacking offbeat and slicing through his defense from a certain angle. It was all about blasting him from an angle and upping the pace of the match. So right now, I’m sharpening and mastering this aspect.

“Abe is very strong when he moves forward, so I’m just going to keep him guessing and on the back foot. I want to perfect my plan.”

Ting’s performances in Malaysia’s capital city has always gone to plan. After all, he is 9-0 in Kuala Lumpur, and by defeating Abe in the Axiata Arena, it’ll push him to a perfect 10.