Kiwi-Malaysian lightweight Ev Ting may have over 10 years of professional combat under his belt, but he’s preparing to be faced with something he’s not yet experienced inside the cage when he squares off with Daichi Abe at ONE: Masters of Destiny on July 12.
And that has nothing to do with the Japanese martial artist’s exceptional judo skills and power striking, but rather his physical size. Abe carries a relatively large frame and will be the first opponent Ting has faced who measures over six feet in height.
Predictably, the hard-nosed “E.T” is unconcerned, confident he has the strength and tenacity required to negotiate his opponent’s size advantage.
“I’m not worried about that,” said Ting. “I’m training with heavyweights every day and I can pick them up.
“It’s not about the size it’s about showing up on the day with the right gameplan and putting him away as efficiently as possible.”
Ting is deep into training camp with his long-time team at Auckland MMA – spearheaded by head coach Hamish Robertson – where he’s getting back to the fundamental strengths that took him to the top of arguably ONE Championship‘s strongest division.
“The goal is to mix it up – to strike, wrestle, jiu-jitsu, to mix it all together to find a flaw or a chink in his armor and then from there I’m just going to explode and execute. I’m just trying to make my tools sharper everyday,” says Ting.
Despite two recent losses, the 29-year-old has complete faith that he still has the capability to be a title contender. Ting has wins over some of the lightweight division’s premier talents, including Ariel Sexton, Nobutatsu Suzuki, and Koji Ando.
“He’s very dangerous, but it’s a good name to beat to climb my way back up there. I’m pretty excited to test my skills and show everyone what’s up.
“We’re both pretty well-rounded. We’re both on a redemption run. It’s pretty much who’s put in more work and who’s hungrier, who’s making more sacrifices right now. I feel like I’m ahead there and I’m going to showcase that by being better than him in every aspect of the game,” says Ting.
Either way, the bout promises to be a highlight among a slew of mouthwatering matchups in Malaysia, including the main event rematch between three-time Muay Thai World Champion Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy and five-time kickboxing World Champion Giorgio Petrosyan in the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Quarter-final, while Angela Lee returns against Michelle Nicolini.
