By VIVIENNE WONG
alltherage@thestar.com.my

THIRTY seconds into his first mixed martial arts fight, Gianni Subba, a scrawny 18-year-old at the time, knocked out experienced fighter Bruce Loh from Singapore. It’s the stuff of legends, and that’s how he became one of the brightest stars on the MMA scene.

His professional career, on the other hand, took a little longer to build. Subba decided to become a full-time professional fighter when he was 18, quitting his first year in University of Hawaii.

It might seem like a crazy decision for a young man to make, but Subba traded education for the fight ring and has been reaping the rewards ever since.

With MMA proving to be such a huge hit in gyms across the country now, we decided to ask Subba what it takes to be a professional MMA fighter. Here’s how it went down:

How much time do you have to spend in training?
We train all year round and we don’t usually take breaks. Training sessions will usually be three to four hours a day, regardless of whether I have a fight or not. It’s just that when I do have a fight, our training becomes more specific.

So, we’ll train one and a half to two hours from Monday till Friday with one session in the morning and another at night and sometimes, one session on Saturday as well. So, that’s basically my life – sleep, eat, train and fight.

How do you make a living out of MMA?
A professional MMA fighter doesn’t earn much but I have the help of sponsors and the gym I train at, Klinch MMA. They allow me to train there for free, but when I fight, I represent the gym. They are also paying me around RM1,000 to RM2,000 because I give classes, maybe two to three times a week. And when I fight, I earn about US$1,500 (RM4,900) to US$3,000 (RM9,800). As for the prize money, the amount is stated in the fighter’s contract.

What are the main costs of being a professional fighter?
I train with the Phuket Top Team, so I get free training with them. But I have to pay for my own lodging and expenses that come up to about RM2,000 a month. So, that’s pretty expensive.

Let’s say we want to be professional MMA fighters. Where would we go to get our first fight?
Malaysian Invasion Mixed Martial Arts (MIMMA) is definitely a good platform for amateur fighters like those who are coming up and want to compete. It’s good for those who want to get into MMA because it toughens them up and gives them experience and confidence in the cage. To fight in MIMMA, all you need is a basic set of skills that can be obtained by joining any MMA gyms with qualified instructors. But you don’t have to be in MIMMA in order to fight in One Fighting Championships (ONE FC). It’s good exposure, but sometimes, people from ONE FC scout for fighters by asking around gyms. Then, they will send their people to check them out. So, that’s another way, too.