Indonesian Wushu Champ Ready to Fight for MMA Dream
Ami Afriatni | February 10, 2012
Youne ‘Indra’ Victorio Senduk, left, will meet Raymond Tiew in tonight’s mixed martial arts competition in Jakarta. (Antara Photo/M. Agung Rajasa) Youne ‘Indra’ Victorio Senduk, left, will meet Raymond Tiew in tonight’s mixed martial arts competition in Jakarta. (Antara Photo/M. Agung Rajasa)
Youne Victorio Senduk has been waiting seven years for another shot to become a professional mixed martial arts fighter, and he has vowed not to waste it when the ONE Fighting Championship hits Jakarta today.
Youne, who fights under the name Indra, won a silver medal in wushu, a type of martial art, at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, but he says his real passion is to become an MMA fighter.
“I fell in love with MMA when I fought in the TPI Fighting Championship in 2005. But then the tournament was scrapped with no replacement until now,” Indra said on Friday.
“Now it’s like the door has been opened again for me to be a pro MMA fighter.”
MMA in Indonesia had enjoyed something of a cult following until the sport’s top local tournament, TPI FC, was scrapped in 2005.
The Indonesian MMA Organization (OMI) and the Indonesian Martial Arts Federation (FOBI) failed to harness the sport’s popularity at the time and it gradually dissipated.
Indra said he’s been training hard since the ONE FC organizers said in December that he would be given a wild-card entry for the showdown at the Sports Mall at Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.
“The SEA Games medal has given me a morale boost for this championship, though I have had to hone my skills for close combat like this,” he said.
Indra will face Malaysian Raymond Tiew in 65.8-kilogram bout. Tiew, whose basic skill is also wushu, should be a tough opponent as he has more experienced in MMA, with a record of five wins and a loss in 2011.
“I don’t know anything about him or how good he is. But I was told that he’s also a wushu athlete, so I pretty much know what to expect,” Indra said.
“Anyway, my mission is to beat him because a win will open the MMA door wide for me.”
This is just the second ONE FC event, after the series debuted in Singapore on Sept. 3.
Twenty fighters from the region will vie for supremacy in seven weight classes.
There are three other local fighters, who won the Indonesian Martial Arts Federation qualifiers in Jakarta last December.
Former national team wrestler Ngabdi Mulyadi, who is also a TPI FC champion, will fight in the 70.3-kg division against Peter Davis, who is better known in his native Malaysia for his acting and modeling but is looking to make a name as a fighter.
“It’s been a while since I’ve competed in MMA, but I’m ready,” said Ngabdi, a Semarang native. “If I win this I’ll have better chance to pursue a career in the MMA.”
Veteran local fighters Agus Nanang and Zuli Silawanto are scheduled to meet each other in the 77.1-kg division.
ONE FC will hold a second event in Jakarta later this year.
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