CV Stardom

Huang Shi Hao, 25, of Singapore is set to make his ONE Championship debut at “ONE: Unstoppable Dreams,” which also marks his professional mixed martial arts debut. He had to give up his promising profession to fully realize his dream of becoming a professional athlete in the constantly-growing world of MMA.

“It has always been my dream to turn pro,” Huang said. “Even before, it felt like that this was my real path in life.”

The Singaporean prospect is a decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, winning various grappling tournaments across the Asian region such as Grapple Asia, Pan Asian Jiu-Jitsu International, and the prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club. After falling in love with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 15, he impressively progressed in the discipline known as The Gentle Art, eventually earning the rank of a brown belt.

“When I started training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at 15 years old, it instilled discipline as a teen,” Huang stated. “Moreover, it kept me fit and active. Since then, I fell in love with martial arts. As I admired the sense of community at my gym, it gave me the confidence that I needed for my daily life.”

Huang credits his martial arts training as an immense leverage when he landed a job at the Singapore Police Force. He said, “I became stronger not only physically, but mentally.”

“I felt calmer and better at controlling my emotions,” Huang. “The values and lessons of martial arts did help me when I trained as a policeman in Singapore.”

However, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was not enough to satiate his growing hunger to learn. Simply put, he wanted something more.

The Singaporean martial artist went on to hone his skills as a complete martial artist by incorporating different combat disciplines and eventually transitioning to the multi-faceted field of mixed martial arts. Fascinated by the sport’s competitive nature, he dabbled into various striking arts such as Muay Thai and boxing.

“I wanted to learn more,” Huang explained. “There was something missing. As a martial artist, I needed that essential elements in order to grow.”

Huang will face Xie Bin, 20, of China at “ONE: Unstoppable Dreams” on May 18, 2018 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. It will be headlined by Huang’s fellow Singaporean, reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela “Unstoppable” Lee, 21, and  Mei “V. V.” Yamaguchi, 35, of Japan.