#875: Winning S’pore First MMA Gold & Do S’pore’s Athletes Still Fall Through The Cracks? ft. Tiffany Teo

Terence (0:00)

Our guest today, alongside Sprint Queen Shanti Perera, were the two Singapore athletes who won gold and got our flag raised at the recent Asian Games in Japan. Her victory was also unprecedented, as it was the first time mixed martial arts was part of the Games. But professional MMA fighter Tiffany Teo is not your conventional athlete who started training in her youth. In fact, she majored in psychology and choir was her CCA when she was in school.

Tiffany Teo (0:25)

I was in choir. Why not? Not because I'm a good singer because it's a chill CCA.

Terence (0:30)

She's since had a long storied career as a fighter, but it was never an easy journey.

Tiffany Teo (0:35)

Even for fights that I knew that there's no way I'm losing to this person, they'll be like, oh, the chances of Tiffany winning is like 10%. So I guess throughout my entire career, I've always had this chip on my shoulder that I'm the underdog.

Terence (0:46)

And when there was finally an opportunity to compete for her country, she grabbed it.

Tiffany Teo (0:50)

Honestly, I'm really surprised that it's even in the C Games and Asian Games, you know, I never thought that in my lifetime, there will be a chance for me to be representing Singapore.

Terence (0:59)

So how does a psychology grad end up being the best fighter in Asia? Let's find out.

Haresh (1:04)

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What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Yah Lah. Your Thrice Weekly Podcast, where we talk about the hottest news with a touch of Huat Terence.

Terence (1:56)

Good old humor.

Haresh (1:57)

Good old humor.

Today is a very special episode. I mean, we talk about sports quite often. We talk about what it means to Singapore. But today we have someone who made history in recent times.

Terence (2:09)

Yeah, and the first gold medal that Singapore won at this Asian Games.

Haresh (2:14)

Yeah, the first and first for the sport, first for Singapore. And that is Tiffany Teo, who is the gold medal-winning MMA fighter from the Asian Games and co-owner of Homeground MMA.

Welcome to the show.

Tiffany Teo (2:27)

Thank you for having me.

Terence (2:28)

Welcome and congratulations on this historic winner. How's it feeling in your head now? What's going through your mind these days?

Tiffany Teo (2:36)

I guess kind of settled down. But when it first happened, I was really overwhelmed because it was my first time representing Singapore, such a big stage. And the very first time MMA is in Asian Games too. So to be able to walk away with that win, I think it was my first time crying after a fight.

I fought for a good 10 years, but I came close to crying, but I never broke out in tears right after a fight, in front of the camera and the audience.

Haresh (3:07)

And that was surprising to you or you could see it coming?

Tiffany Teo (3:10)

I just couldn't control it, actually. I just started like, oh my God, I can't believe this is happening. Yeah.

Terence (3:15)

But why do you think specifically this is such a big moment for you that you cry?

Tiffany Teo (3:20)

I feel like the pressure for sure. I feel like coming into this Asian Games, I felt a lot more pressure.

And I guess when I got the gold, it was like happy for sure. And also like a very huge relief that, this is the years of hard work, like leading up to this, it's finally paid off.

Haresh (3:41)

The pressure was from what? Was it your own, your coach?

Tiffany Teo (3:45)

I feel like it's how I interpret the pressure, if it makes sense. So it's just like seeing how much attention was on the Asian Games.

And just many people talking about it and my self expectations. And also me knowing that many people are supporting me and my husband has sacrificed a lot to be there with me for the whole training camp. And I feel like, in a sense, I feel like I'm pressuring myself that there's so much going on that I have to perform during the Asian Games.