🇲🇾 Malaysia’s Woman Warrior | 101 East

Ann Osman is counting down the minutes.

She has not eaten in five days – her head is spinning and a wall of photographers are blinding her with flashes as she punches and kicks the air with expert force.

And this is before she has even stepped foot in the cage.

101 East follows Malaysia’s first professional female mixed martial arts fighter as she prepares to face Egyptian kickboxing champion Walaa Abbas.

Notorious for its brutality, this fierce sport is male dominated and often ends with blood splatters on the mat and knock-out blows.

But for Osman, a 28-year-old from Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysia’s Sabah state, it is a “beautiful art”.

“Once you’re in that cage, it actually reveals your true self,” she says. “Are you a fight or flight kind of person? For me, I’m a fighter.”

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