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MMA: Unsatisfied after donating prize money, ONE FC’s AJ Lias Mansor volunteers to help in Tacloban


Immediately after AJ Lias Mansor won against Melvin Yeoh at ONE FC: Warrior Spirit, the kind-hearted warrior surprised everyone by donating his earnings to the victims of super typhoon Yolanda.
The newly-crowned Malaysia National Featherweight Champion, fresh from his unanimous decision victory, opened his post-fight interview by saying that he didn’t want to fight his countrymen anymore. He asked ONE FC Chief Executive Officer Victor Cui to give him opponents from other countries, to the cheers of the Malaysian crowd.
 
The interview seemed to be coming to an end before Lias Mansor poured his heart out for the Philippines.
 
“I was in the Philippines last week. I was in the storm, typhoon,” he said. “I’m going to donate my win money to the Philippines.”
 
“My heart goes out to the Philippines because I was there during the storm,” Lias Manso continued. “I love you Philippines!”
 
The gesture was appreciated by the country’s mixed martial arts fans, but it was not enough for the fighter. Lias Mansor then raised the bar by flying out to Tacloban to personally help the typhoon victims.
 
Mansor, who flew into the country, will join a 29-man team that will conduct a medical mission starting Thursday up to Sunday in Tacloban City.
 
In an interview upon his arrival in Manila, the Malaysian Muay Thai expert said that one week before the fight, he read and heard the news about the enormous devastation caused by typhoon Yolanda and the big number of fatalities and affected families.
 
“I really felt the grief of those affected by the typhoon since I have many friends and what I already called as family in the Philippines. That’s why I said to myself at that time that if I win the championship, I would donate my earnings to the typhoon victims,” Mansor said.
 
He said that this promise to himself motivated him to train harder and made him determined to win the championship, his first as a mixed martial arts fighter. Prior to joining the ONE FC fold, Mansor used to be the national Silat champion of Malaysia and a Muay Thai fighter for seven years.
 
“I do not want to only donate my earnings but also to be in the affected areas and to help out in whatever way I can,” Mansor said.
 
Unknown to many, Mansor, who is also a gym owner and a teacher, has regularly trained in the Philippines in the past, particularly in some gyms in Metro Manila and at the Team Lakay facility in Baguio City. These regular forays into the country for training made him develop close friendships with many Filipinos, some of whom he already considers as family.
 
“The Philippines is like my second home. The residents here are kind and treat me nicely,” said Mansor, who was born in Kota Kinabalu with Badjao lineage. - RAF, GMA News
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