Advertisement

At 41, Former Olympian “Mighty” May Ooi still has an entire career ahead of her

“Mighty” May Ooi represented Singapore in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games, and now, 25 years removed from the prestigious two-week event, she will represent her nation again in another global event – her ONE Championship debut.

The former Olympic swimmer is scheduled to face Ann “Athena” Osman at ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS on Friday, 18 August. The show broadcasts from the Stadium Negara on her opponent’s home turf of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

For those who would underestimate the 41-year-old athlete, she would like to remind them that she has been training and competing at a high level of performance her entire life.

“I think people just do not understand the level that I am operating at, because I have been doing this since I was 9 years old. I have looked after my body like a machine,” Ooi explains. “I have always taken care of my body, so when I want it to function at the level I expect it to, then it does.”

The desire to function at her peak led the Olympian to study medicine and become a doctor. But it was not the Hippocratic Oath that drove her to study medicine, but rather gaining the knowledge of anatomy, and how the human body functions. That knowledge was acquired so Ooi could continue to be an elite athlete.

Like many of her professional contemporaries, Ooi’s interest in martial arts began as a child. While in primary school, she became enamoured with self-defence after a class demonstration. However, her desire to train took a backseat when she met family resistance.

“I was really little. I was in school, and there was a group that came through and did a demonstration. I cannot remember if it was karate or taekwondo, and I really, really wanted to join the class,” says the Singaporean. “but my parents said, ‘No, girls do not fight!’ I was like, ‘Okay’, so I became a star swimmer.”

Ironically, she would be reunited with martial arts through the sport she came to excel in.

“I went on a scholarship to the U.S. at the University of Nevada. My swim coach was a karate black belt, and he made this passing comment, ‘You know what? You would make a really good martial artist.’ I was like, ‘What?’ It came from the left field, but he just left it at that. He said it a couple of times, but he never pushed it or anything, because it was all about swimming at that time.”

In 2007, Ooi the reunion became official, and came courtesy of Brazilian capoeira. Her coach at the time also happened to be a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, paving a road for her entry into the combat sports world.

Capoeira and BJJ eventually led to Muay Thai and boxing. Ooi excelled at those, and was afforded an opportunity to open a school in Singapore. With a life of medicine firmly behind her, Ooi believed she would live out her remaining days teaching the next generation of martial artists.

“Competing in martial arts was never a goal. Then came Royler Gracie,” she says with a chuckle. “I was training with him for a while, and he said, ‘You need to do this, at least one bout.’ I was like ‘Oh no, not you.’ When it comes from royalty like that, it holds a different weight.”

That one amateur fight in 2013 led to Ooi turning professional less than a year later. Today, she holds a professional record of 2-2, with both victories coming by TKO.

While she faces a stiff test in Osman at ONE: QUEST FOR GREATNESS, “Mighty” May does not expect to be one-and-done in the strawweight division. She plans to hang around ONE Championship and the Asian martial arts scene for as long as she desires.

“Others have this timeline for me, but I told myself as long as I am passionate about competing, as long as I want to, I will keep doing it. When I feel like I do not want to, I will stop. It is that simple. No complications.”