KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Mixed Martial Arts Association (MASMMAA) will "by hook or by crook" send Asian Open gold medallist Colleen Augustin to the World Championships in Bahrain in November.
MASMMAA president Rashid Salleh said Colleen, 21, deserved to go following her impressive victory at the Asian meet in Bangkok last week where she defeated Kazakhstan's Nurzhamal Sadykova in the women's strawweight final.
"Kazakhstan's MMA programme is state-funded and all their exponents have to go through a tough qualifier before they are selected for tournaments," said Rashid.
"Only the best of the best can compete for them in competitions such as the Asian Open and for Colleen to be able to beat them is an incredible achievement for us.
"Colleen trains six days a week and is also a spartan pro athlete so she is incredibly fit. She is also still very young and has a bright future ahead.
"As she won the gold at the Asian Open, which is the highest level (amateur) competition in Asia, I will definitely find the money to send her to represent us at the World Championships.
"By hook or by crook we have to find the money to send her."
Rashid disclosed that funding has often been an issue for the national body. While MMA has been around for some time internationally, the sport is still relatively new to Malaysians.
"To be honest, we were struggling to send exponents to the Asian Open due to a lack of funding," added Rashid.
"We managed to send four exponents there thanks to private sponsorship and funds, that in itself was already a huge victory for us.
"To be able to win two medals was a big bonus."
In addition to Colleen's gold, Brandon Tang had clinched bronze in the men's strawweight class in Bangkok.