Actor, wushu exponent Vincent Ng wants to develop MMA champions for S’pore

SINGAPORE – In his heyday in the 1990s, Vincent Ng was a household name in Singapore for his exploits on and off the competition mat – the wushu exponent was a world and SEA Games champion before making his foray into acting.

Now 50, the

former Mediacorp actor

may no longer be in the spotlight, but he continues to make an impact.

The owner of wushu school Wufang Singapore, Ng in 2023 became the founding president of the Mixed Martial Arts Association of Singapore (MMAAS).

And fresh off the 2025 Thailand SEA Games, where MMA made its debut as a demonstration sport, Ng is aiming to unearth more talent in a push for a medal – if the sport is featured at the 2029 Games on home soil.

“Personally, to me, this is a way of giving back to sport and also I take it as a huge honour to have this opportunity to contribute and serve the martial arts community in Singapore,” said Ng, who won two wushu golds at the 1997 SEA Games and was Singapore’s first wushu world champion after winning the daoshu event in 1995.

“I benefited from sport. I want to share the benefits of sport to the wider community and I hope to be a person who can contribute to the development of athletes in Singapore. MMA is a very interesting sport that requires one to be versatile... it’s a combination of skills that is present in wrestling, boxing, ju-jitsu, karate, sanda and muay thai.”

Ng, who is also the vice-president of the continent’s governing body, the Asian Mixed Martial Arts Association (AMMA), was tasked by the organisation to start a national sports association three years ago.

The early years were spent building a team of technical officials and referees, so that the MMAAS can eventually organise its first national championships.

The next phase is to focus on athlete development, said Ng.

He added: “For 2026, our plan and focus is to host our first national championships in the later part of the year and to officially form our national team. Eventually, we need to be an association that can be a regular platform for athletes here to compete and develop.”

With MMA promotions like the Ultimate Fighting Championship and One Championship enjoying popularity worldwide and in Singapore, there is a growing number of people interested in the sport here.

To tap on that interest, Ng and his colleagues will reach out to gyms to collaborate and unearth more athletes and coaches.

He noted there are currently 15 gyms or fight clubs which have signed up as full members of the association.

MMA’s development in Singapore has also been driven by positive growth in the region.

The AMMA was established in September 2022 with property tycoon and Singapore permanent resident Gordon Tang serving as its president.

The sport was included in the 2025 Asian Youth Games in Bahrain and it will feature as a medal event at the Sept 19-Oct 4 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan.

Last December, AMMA announced the founding of a global governing body – Federation of International Mixed Martial Arts (FIMMA) – for amateur MMA, as the sport seeks inclusion in the Olympic Games.

“MMA has hundreds of millions of fans around the world. But despite this global popularity, MMA remains a sport that lacks unified international governance,” said AMMA president Tang then, who also confirmed that the organisation has spoken to the International Olympic Committee and aims to try to achieve Olympic recognition.

The developments have also trickled through to South-east Asia.

At the Thailand SEA Games, Singapore’s MMA exponents were Bernardette Paulyn, Muhamad Fathris, Muhamad Furquan and Jude Kang.

It was also in Bangkok that the South-east Asia Mixed Martial Arts Association (SEAMMAA) was established, with Singapore one of its founding members, alongside Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The body is working towards ensuring MMA is a medal sport at future SEA Games, starting from the 2027 edition in Malaysia.

While Ng is unsure if the sport will be on the 2029 Games roster, he said the goal is to ensure that the national sports association can develop medal-winning athletes.

He added: “To do well in a sport, it’s a collective effort, not only from athletes but coaches and officials. For future success, everybody has to be committed, everybody has to make their certain level of sacrifices in order to excel and we want to create that environment for people.

“I can’t promise any targets now because the sport is very new, but for 2029, I hope we can have athletes who can win medals.”