Malaysian MMA champ AJ
Mansor gives (to the victims of Typhoon Yolanda) and doesn’t count the cost
by rick olivares
It was a little past noon last Friday, November 22, when the chartered Air Asia
descended into Tacloban airport. From his airplane window, AJ Mansor spied the
destruction below.
He was in Manila when Typhoon Yolanda made landfall.
Although the Philippine capital was spared the super typhoon’s wrath, Mansor
had seen the disturbing and harrowing images emanating from the Visayas. The
images haunted him even as he flew back to his native Malaysia for One FC 12: Warrior
Spirit.
AJ “Pyro” Mansor was staring at retirement. At age
39, he certainly wasn’t getting any younger in a demanding sport like Mixed
Martial Arts. Furthermore, he had lost three consecutive fights to drop to 1-3.
So much for setting the MMA world on fire.
Then he went up against Melvin Yeoh, another
Malaysian although seven years his junior. Yeoh sported a 6-1 record (including
a five match win streak) and was a heavy favorite against Mansor heading into
their November 15 match in Kuala Lumpur. Yeoh talked a lot of pre-fight smack
at Mansor but when the bell rang to open their fight, he had the crap beaten
out of him as he lost via unanimous decision. Mansor was the Malaysia National
Featherweight champion.
It was a highly emotional Mansor who was interviewed
by One FC anchor Jason Chambers moments after referee Yuji Shimada declared him
the winner. The victory he so craved had happened. In the ensuing interview, Mansor
publicly begged One FC CEO Victor Cui to give him some one other than a fellow
Malaysian to fight. Just as Chambers was about to end the interview, Mansor
declared, “I was in the Philippines last week. I was in the storm and typhoon.
I will donate my win money to all the Philippines typhoon (victims). My prize
money I donate to the Philippines.”
And thus One FC and ABS-CBN arranged for his trip to
Tacloban where he could help out in the relief effort. He not only gave his
prize earnings from the fight but he further added an undisclosed amount.
As soon as he disembarked from the plane, Mansor saw
the devastated airport. He began to shake uncontrollably from sadness and
seemingly hopeless situation. “And this was just the airport,” he recalled
later.
He was with a group of doctors and nurses that was
headed for Tanauan, one of the worst hit areas in Leyte. He was the only one
with no background in medicine but that didn’t stop Mansor from helping out. “I
have never seen anything like this in all my life,” related the Malaysian. “I
have seen other typhoons or even the effects of the tsunami in Japan. That was
terrible too. But this is my first time to go to ground zero.”
Ground zero left an indelible impression on the MMA
fighter more than any of the blows he’s received in his entire career. He flew in
with a broken bone in his hand and his ankle hurting bad from his fight with
Yeoh. But that wasn’t going to stop him from helping.
After all, Mansor had known a lifetime of hardship.
He grew up in Sabah and was later raised in the Kota
Kinabalu area of Malaysia. He was the youngest of nine children and his mother,
Nuriah Awang, worked three, four, sometimes even five jobs to feed her large
brood (their father had passed away). How they got by he doesn’t know to this
day. “It was difficult,” he winced at the memory. “It’s a miracle how we all
survived.”
When Mansor was 10 years old, he accompanied his
mother to market to buy vegetables, fish, and fruit. He was hungry and couldn’t
wait to savor the rewards of a long day’s work. To his surprise, his mother
gave some of their money to a poor and homeless person. “Ma,” he protested.
“Why are you giving him our money? What about us?”
Replied his mother, “No matter how poor we are we can
always help other people.”
Mansor admitted that he didn’t quite understand it
but it stuck in his mind. But years later, he finally did understand.
His donations to the victims of Yolanda aren’t the
first. He’s always given some of his earnings to the poor and the needy. When
pressed about why he does so considering his MMA career hasn’t exactly brought
him riches and fame, Mansor answered, “I have only what I need.”
And so in Tanauan, he helped the needy. Mansor
pitched in the distribution of food pack. He also joined a teacher in reading
for some children and helping them draw while their parents lined up for relief
goods. Despite his injuries, he carried his share of heavy equipment.
His group was quartered in a home that was partially
destroyed; one of the few left standing. Only there wasn’t much of a roof to protect
them from the elements. During his first night, a light rain fell as he lay on
a sleeping bag. Mansor shivered in the rain and remembered his younger days in Sabah
where he experienced the same. “It’s funny how some times you feel like you’ve
come full circle.”
“Every where we went there was devastation. There was
no running water or electricity. People feel helpless. But we arrived not only
with food, water, and medicine but also hope. That’s a powerful weapon,”
related Mansor who finds a parallelism with his career that seemed to be on a
downward spiral. “Hope gives you the ability to get up.”
People were surprised to find out that not only was
he Malaysian and a MMA fighter but he had largely come on his own. “I
remembered what my mother said about helping other people. You do what you
can,” he said a day after his return to Manila yet still highly emotional.
Mansor was on ground for three days and two nights.
But they will be some of his most memorable of days. “Even when I close my
eyes, I cannot forget what I saw? I can never forget the smell of the dead.”
Mansor is on his way back to Malaysia to recover from
his injuries and see to his ill mother (she is now 83 years old). When he
returns to his three-month old MMA gym where he has a few students, he will
communicate what he has seen and learned. Not only from his Philippine
experience but also from his mother.
He’ll be defending his championship some time next
year but he knows his career is winding down. “Hope after all,” he said as we
parted with a manly embrace, “is a powerful weapon.”
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