Painful lesson motivates Ev Ting to achieve World Grand Prix success

WHEN the bell rings at ONE: CALL TO GREATNESS for Malaysia’s Ev “E.T.” Ting, there will be three things in his mind – an eye for victory, his coaches’ advice, and a painful lesson from 2018.

These three elements will be pivotal in his match-up with Turkey’s Saygid “Dagi” Guseyn Arslanaliev, whom he meets in a ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix quarter-final bout at the show this Friday, 22 February.

“One thing I learned from last year is no matter how good you’re doing, anything can happen in the cage.

“You can come off two victories against top prospects, but the next time you can get choked in under a minute against another athlete,” he said, referring to his 57-second submission defeat to Japanese grappling legend Shinya Aoki last October.

Ting was on a three-bout winning streak prior to that loss, having beaten Nobutatsu Suzuki, Ariel Sexton, and Koji Ando.

He said the defeat did not bother him too much because it motivated him to further improve his martial arts skills.

“Obviously, my advantage is my experience, so I’m going to put the pressure on Saygid,” the 29-year-old said. “I’m willing to take the fight anywhere and take him into the deep waters.”

Ting, who has been training out of Bali MMA for this match, is set to utilize a better game plan at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“Grinding out here [in Bali MMA] has allowed me [to have] better conditioning. It is getting to that level where I’m confident I can beat anyone,” the 29-year-old athlete explained.

Ting has had five training camps at the Canggu-based gym, and the pairing seems to be a recipe for success.

In fact, the only loss he has suffered while preparing at the Indonesian gym came against reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard "Landslide" Folayang in April 2017.

“The wrestling and grappling here are top class,” he said.

“We’ve got the Leone brothers, Don Carlo-Clauss, and other black belts every single day. It’s high level here, and I’m feeling great going into this fight.”

“E.T.,” however, admitted that diet was the biggest struggle during this training camp.

With his ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix quarter-final bout taking place slightly over two-weeks after Chinese New Year, the Malaysian was forced to miss the good festive food.

“The biggest obstacle is diet,” he explained. “Sacrificing the good food throughout the New Year and Chinese New Year is definitely the hardest obstacle faced.”