Ev Ting Explains Why Now Is The Perfect Time To Face Amir Khan

For Ev Ting, his return to action cannot come soon enough.

On Friday, 22 November, the Malaysian-bred Kiwi will meet Singapore’s own Amir Khan in the co-main event of ONE: EDGE OF GREATNESS, and he is oozing with excitement.

The 30-year-old has wanted to test his skills against the young lion for years, even going as far as accepting a prior challenge from his international rival on social media.

Now, in just a few days’ times, “E.T.” will step inside the ring and finally stand face-to-face with ONE Championship’s reigning knockout king.

Before Ting enters the Singapore Indoor Stadium for this pivotal lightweight mixed martial arts battle, he explains why now is the perfect time to square off against Khan.

ONE Championship: How excited are you to make your ONE Championship return, especially off the heels of your comeback win in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia back in July?

Ev Ting: I’m always excited to compete. That particular performance against Daichi Abe in Kuala Lumpur summarized my mixed martial arts career in 10 minutes. A special shout-out to everyone that helped me dig deep for that one. I can’t wait to see Daichi come back stronger, too.

ONE: Now that you’ve had some time to reflect on that performance, what are your thoughts about it?

ET: In my head, I lost that fight to Daichi. I came close to defeat in the first round, but somehow, I hung on. This is why I think this [match against Khan] will be a really interesting match. I just want to see how much stronger I can come back.

ONE: It seems like you and Khan were bound to meet inside the Circle at some point. When did you know you were going to face him?

ET: It goes back quite a while, actually. Kiwis have a habit of calling people out, and there was this one time when ONE Championship made an Instagram post titled something like, ‘Who’s next for Amir Khan?” I replied to that post, and [I also] granted his call-out wish, too, from a couple of years ago.

ONE: What do you believe are Khan’s biggest strengths?

ET: I’d say his striking is very respected, but it is one which I do not fear. I’ve seen him training super hard. He does well with his ground game, but I haven’t seen him attack on the ground. However, his defense in that department is good. I’ve been training equally hard too, and I’m keen to test him in the stand-up, wrestling, or on the ground.

ONE: How different is this training camp compared to the one you underwent for Abe?

ET: It’s been a similar camp here in Auckland MMA. The only difference this time around is that we’ve focused a lot on drilling sequences and all the boring tedious workouts the fans don’t see.

ONE: In your opinion, why is this a must-watch affair for the fans?

ET: I believe there couldn’t have been a better time for this bout to take place. We are both trying to come back from a couple of losses, and we are trying to rebuild ourselves. It’s a great time for us to match up against one another for a couple of other reasons, too — the number one being the chance to see who’s ahead and how far we’ve come since our last outings.

ONE: Again, speaking of your last outing, what are the most important things you learned about yourself and how will you put it to good use this time around?

ET: I learned quite a fair bit, but most importantly, I learned to always tighten and sharpen up my overall game. I need to minimize damage and maximize offense.

ONE: When do you see this bout ending?

ET: Typically, I like to push the fight in the first two rounds, so let’s all see where it goes.

ONE: Lastly, how do you plan to defeat Khan?

ET: That’s for you and all your readers to find out come 22 November.

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