Muay Thai local exponent bags RM469k global contract

Compiled by BENJAMIN LEE AND C.ARUNO

UP-AND-COMING martial arts athlete Nor Iman Aliff Rakib has been offered a contract worth US$100,000 (RM469,250) by international martial arts organisation ONE Championship to continue his career, reported Kosmo!.

The contract comes after the 19-year-old Kelantan native extended his undefeated record to four wins at the organisation’s global event, ONE Friday Fights, recently.

Nor Iman had taken down his opponent from Iran, Peyman Zolfaghari, in a dominant fashion during their 120-pound catchweight match on Nov 10.

With this, the young athlete is the second-ever Malaysian Muay Thai star to get a contract with ONE Championship after Muhammad Johan Ghazali Zulfikar, better known as Jojo.

Jojo, who hails from Kuching, previously received a contract worth around US$100,000 (RM473,507) after defeating his Russian opponent, Temirlan Bekmurzaev, in ONE Friday Fights.

> Former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin has revealed he may return to the spotlight soon, but as an actor rather than a politician, reported Berita Harian.

The Hot FM presenter told the daily that he is in talks with several film producers and will make an announcement later.

Asked about the genre he would be involved in, Khairy remained tight-lipped.

> Despite suffering from cancer, veteran singer Ibnor Reza is determined to make a return to singing in order to cover the costs of his medical treatment, reported Utusan Malaysia.

The 62-year-old told the daily that he would rather use his own talents to support himself than rely on handouts from others, despite still recovering from lymphoma.

“I’m actually afraid to ask for help and I won’t allow any party I’m not familiar with to ask for donations on my behalf due to the large number of scamming cases these days,” he said.

Ibnor has returned to his vocal practice routine and is looking for event organisers willing to let him sing.

“While my body is still a bit weak due to the chemotherapy, I have no problem singing and, in fact, my voice has recovered by around 80%,” he said.

The singer, best known for the hit Mimpi Yang Tak Sudah, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma in March and was given only six months to live by doctors.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.