China, India, the US, Indonesia, Brazil – there’s your list of the world’s most populous nations in descending order. Number three and five numerically do have the sport cornered with most of the top-rated competitors, though, and the number of elite fighters seems to multiply exponentially; as it seems to in Canada, which has more than its fair share of great talent despite its population count. So perhaps having a national hero, like a Georges Saint-Pierre, makes the difference by garnering public interest, investment, and more practitioners.

Now number four, Indonesia, may be getting set to cross the MMA threshold. And the diehards who make up the country’s fan base have their hopes firmly pinned on one man’s shoulders.

Tirta nearly ends his fight with Chengjie Wu at the first-round bell. Photo: Legends FC.

Boasting ten wins and one draw in an eleven-fight career that dates back to 2003, Fransino Tirta is the top Indonesian mixed martial artist on the scene right now. By winning his next commitment, when he enters the final at the Legends FC featherweight GP this October, Fransino would be the first Indonesian ever to hold an international MMA title. Should that happen, the way will be clear for Fransino, his coaches, and his nation’s fight fans to aim for the stars.

While Tirta’s early martial arts experience came in Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, it was the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu he learned from Niko Han that gave him the polish and wherewithal to rattle off his first seven MMA wins, which he achieved in less than two years at Indonesia’s now defunct TPI Fighting Championship, a promotion that was broadcast live across Indonesia twice a month but didn’t have the talent pool to keep it up. Han, a Jiu-Jitsu black belt whose Synergy Jiu-Jitsu network of academies spans the nation, is determined to get his purple belt past the next hump to do his people proud. The Indonesian-hope’s mentor explains what he has in mind to get that ball rolling with a title, when they lock horns with Mark Stiegle in the grand GP finale.

Tirta (left) and Han prepare spiritually at a Balinese temple. Photo: Desiree Djorghi

“He will continue with the same boxing coach, I just need to find him more pro boxers to spar with, because we don’t have any his weight or heavier. He has a family now, so he can’t travel to far-off places to train with the best of the best, like go to Kalimantan where the best Indonesian wrestlers are. But that’s okay, we’ll find him the best training partners in Jakarta, get him ready there as much as possible before he comes to Bali five weeks before the fight for the final training camp, where we put everything together: strategy, mindset, spiritual aspects, conditioning, strength, and fine-tune everything,” says Han, who since the mid nineteen-nineties trained with such top fighters as Rickson Gracie, Jean-Jacques Machado, Chuck Liddell, to name just a few; before returning to his country of birth, where he lives and runs his own academy on the island of Bali.

Although he has been guiding Fransino’s development from the start and coached him to a level of proficiency whereby the purple belt makes his living teaching the gentle art at the Synergy branch in Jakarta, the intense MMA-focused training akin to what elite professionals are doing around the world these days is a recent addition to Tirta’s routine – to keep up with the ongoing evolution of the sport.

Watch the video of the Legends FC GP semifinal here (keyword: fransino wu).

“He’s still teaching BJJ all the time,” says Niko, “But for this fight he dropped some of his classes and privates in order to focus more on himself – training with an ex-national boxing coach and doing plenty strength and conditioning.”

“To be honest, before this fight he never really trained much to up his MMA skills during off season, he’d only start training two to three weeks before a fight. And since the level of MMA is evolving every single day, he can’t get away with doing that anymore.”

While Han’s dedication to his prodigy is unwavering, Tirta is equally dedicated to his master and his master’s cause, which he makes clear in a quote on the Synergy academy blog where he speaks of the aftermath of his Legends FC win last July:

“A martial arts expert said, ‘Don’t undervalue Wu Cheng Jie [addressing China Top Team staff]. Although he lost, he only lost by decision against the best fighter in that event. You should not be disappointed,’ and China Top Team’s coach replied, ‘So what? Our team is the best team in the world.’

Tirta (left) and Han / Personal archive photo

“Hearing that, I was very envious of the mentality they have. They have the mentality that they are the best team in the world. I don’t have that kind of mentality, I didn’t feel like my team is the best in the world. Hearing that, I promised myself that I would make our team the best team in the world. In order to accomplish this, I have to win the title on October 29, 2011. I have to prove to the world that our team is the best team in the world, the winning team.”

It’ll be three months before the world will see whether Fransino Tirta and Niko Han will provide the watershed for the world’s vastest archipelago, but if the pair’s determination and hard work bear fruit, we may end up seeing MMA’s following bolstered by a population 240-million strong.

“He’s going to work much harder than ever before. He’s going to be ten times better, faster, stronger, and smarter. He’s going to be a beast!”

If what Han is promising is true, it may happen sooner than later.

Madrid shares a non-competitive moment with his rival of the day, Benson Henderson. Photo: Deb Blyth

This medium heavyweight brown belt from Grace Fighting Systems started his day with two matches in his weight class. Because there were only three guys in his weight class, he had another fight after his first loss. “I ended up taking third place,” he says, “In my first match, I lost to Ben Henderson who beat me with a cross choke and ezequiel (forearm choke), and then in my second match, Phillip Aguilar beat me on points.”

The three met up again in the absolute, and the results were completely opposite. “I beat the two guys who beat me in my division,” he says, “In my first match, I beat Phillip Aguilar with a guillotine choke, and in my second match, I beat Ben Henderson by points, 6-4.”

“My final was a good match,” he says, “It was a really steady pace. We were guessing about what each of us was doing. Ben was doing a lot of ankle picks, so I had to square up my defense. It caused me to be slower.”

Madrid says Henderson had him in his guard at the end, but Madrid was able to roll and mount him to get to a score of 6-2. “I had a cross choke on him but couldn’t finish because of his wonderful locks of hair,” he laughs, “I didn’t want to pull it.”

From there, Henderson swept Madrid and got two points, closing the gap between them. “We got up to our feet,” he says, “He tried to push me back down. It was a scramble. He tried to get knee on belly to get the 3 points, but I was able to hold him off for the remaining five seconds.”

Madrid, who only received his brown belt a couple of months ago from his professor, Israel Juarez, says he competes a lot, and that this is not the first time he’s fought Henderson. “I lost to him in the open before,” he says, “Ben is an awesome fighter. One of the best people I’ve ever competed against. He’s in your face all the time. If you’re unprepared for him, just stay home.”

Like Henderson, Madrid also fights MMA as a professional and his record currently stands at 9-2. “My MMA career is my first priority,” he says, “I’m trying to make it my career. I’m trying to make my way to the UFC. I did ‘Art of War’ in China and fought Daijiro Matsui. I finished him with an inverted reverse triangle choke.”

Daniel and Friends / Photo: John Cooper

Madrid trains in both gi and no gi. “I believe if you train gi, it makes your no gi game so much better,” he says, “I want to become a Jiu-Jitsu black belt.” Although MMA is his priority, Madrid says he loves Jiu-Jitsu and that it’s changed his life. “It kept me from a path I didn’t want to go down,” he says, “It’s kept positivity in my life.”

Along with training and competing in Jiu-Jitsu, Madrid also instructs on the mats. “Jiu-Jitsu has allowed me to understand how to teach the gentle art as well as continue to better my own technique as well. I like to teach. It’s challenging and rewarding at the same time.”

As for the 6th Arizona International Open, Madrid says the tournament is a really great way for him to get some high-level competition experience. “This tournament is really good,” he says, “The structure gets better and better each year. I’m proud and honored to say I can be a part of this. Thank you to Gustavo Dantas for putting it on and letting us compete at the highest level.”

You can follow Madrid on Facebook and twitter to keep up with his MMA fights and Jiu-Jitsu tournaments.

Zhang Tie Quan. Photo: publicity

Jiu-Jitsu black belt Ruy Menezes is bolstering the gentle art scene in Asia, where he leads China Top Team. The coach  also heads MMA training at the team, which already counts a number of winners.

China is an emerging market in several sectors, and with MMA it’s no different.

“Here there’s the The Legend event, which is a really good MMA event in Asia,” says Ruy, before speaking of his most promising athlete.

“This past June 24 the second installment of The Legend was held in Hong Kong. I took my fighter Zhang Tie Quan, who is undefeated in 10 fights. He beat New Zealand’s Daniel Digby by guillotine from the guard in 30 seconds,” said the proud teacher of his student, who should soon make an appearance in the Art of War event.

Proof Tie Quan’s grappling savvy is the number of submission wins the fighter has come up with. In all his tally comes to seven. Check out his win via triangle in the video below:

Brodinho, ao receber um grau na faixa do professor Gordinho.

Leandro Issa, o Brodinho (5v, 2d), está morando em Cingapura, onde dá aulas na academia Evolve/Gordo JJ. O professor de Jiu-Jitsu escreveu ao GRACIEMAG.com para contar da bonita vitória em Pequim, na China, no Art of War 15, no último dia 28 de novembro.

“Lutei contra o coreano Choi Yeong Gwang, comecei a luta derrubando rápido, mas ele escapou e voltou de pé. Investi uma segunda vez, no single-leg, e derrubei, e aí já fui para a montada. Soltei alguns golpes da montada e fui para o triângulo da montada. Finalizei a luta com 1min27s do primeiro round”, vibrou o faixa-preta de 66kg.

Leandro agradeceu ao seu córner e à participação especial nos seus treinos do companheiro Rafael dos Anjos, do UFC.

“Eu estou treinando muay thai com a equipe Sityodtong e o Rafael dos Anjos veio para Cingapura e me ajudou bastante. E claro, contei com a ajuda do [Roberto] Gordo e [Rafael] Gordinho, que cuidam da parte do meu Jiu-Jitsu e ficaram no meu córner”, concluiu.

A luta principal do show foi entre o invicto astro local Hai Ling Ao (agora com 6v, 0d) e o japonês Ryuki Ueyama.

Art of War 15 –Ueyama vs Hai Ling Ao
Estádio Olímpico Nacional, Pequim, China
28 de novembro de 2009

Xian Ji finalizou Zhang Zhou Hong na guilhotina aos 2min18s do 1R

Guo Bin Xue finalizou Zhou Wen Jiang no braço a 1min55s do 1R

Jing Liang Li finalizou Yun Tao Gong na guilhotina aos 5min29s do 1R

Seung Chul Yoon venceu Yao Qiang por nocaute técnico aos 2min37s do 1R

She Ri Gu Leng Bao venceu Khomsan Hanchana por nocaute técnico aos 2min51s do 1R

Leandro Issa da Silva finalizou Yeong Gwang Choi no triângulo a 1min27s do 1R

Jun Lei Li venceu Dang Legacygym por decisão unânime dos jurados

Hoon Kim finalizou Lubomir Guedjev no triângulo aos 8min58s do 1R

Vaughn Anderson venceu Ivan Ivanov por nocaute técnico aos 3min39s do 1R

Hao Tian Wu finalizou Arthit Hanchana na kimura aos 7min25s do 1R

Hai Ling Ao venceu Ryuki Ueyama por decisão unânime

Brodinho receives stripe on belt from professor Gordinho

Leandro “Brodinho” Issa (5w, 2l) now lives in Singapore, where he teaches at Evolve/Gordo JJ Academy. The Jiu-Jitsu teacher wrote to GRACIEMAG.com from China, where he was at the November-28 Art of War 15 event.

“I fought a Korean named Choi Yeong Gwang, I started the fight with a quick takedown, but he escaped to his feet. I went for it again with a single-leg, took him down, mounted him and went for a triangle from the mount. I finished the fight in 1:27 min of the first round,” said the featherweight black belt.

Leandro thanked his corner and the special participation of his teammate Rafael dos Anjos, of the UFC.

“I’m training muay thai with Sitydtong Team and Rafael dos Anjos came to Singapore and helped me a lot. And of course I had the help of Roberto Gordo for my Jiu-Jitsu and as my cornerman,” he concluded.

The evening’s main event was between undefeated local star Hai Ling Ao (now 6w and no losses) and Japan’s Ryuki Ueyama.

Art of War 15 –Ueyama vs Hai Ling Ao

National Olympic Stadium, Beijing, China

November 28, 2009

Xian Ji submitted Zhang Zhou Hong via guillotine at 2:18 min of R1

Guo Bin Xue submitted Zhou Wen Jiang via armbar at 1:55min of R1

Jing Liang Li submitted Yun Tao Gong via guillotine at 5:29min of R1

Seung Chul Yoon defeated Yao Qiang via TKO at 2:37min of R1

She Ri Gu Leng Bao defeated Khomsan Hanchana via TKO at 2min51s do 1R

Leandro Issa da Silva submitted Yeong Gwang Choi via triangle at 1:27 min of R1

Jun Lei Li defeated Dang Legacygym by unanimous judges’ decision

Hoon Kim submitted Lubomir Guedjev via triangle at 8:58min of R1

Vaughn Anderson defeated Ivan Ivanov via TKO at 3:39min of R1

Hao Tian Wu submitted Arthit Hanchana via  kimura at 7:25min of R1