Lowen Tynanes showcases in ONE Main Event (Photo : Screengrab from Youtube)
To say mixed martial arts runs deep in the blood of undefeated 25-year old lightweight Lowen Tynanes is a massive understatement. Both his father and brother fight competitively, which in turn sparked Tynanes' interest in the sport at an early age.
Tynanes credits his father as his inspiration and the reason he started fighting. The young Ewa Beach, Hawaii native first came to Asia in 2011, then 20-years of age, and made his professional MMA debut at an event in Nagoya, Japan. On the same card, his father Myles was headlining the event, and both father and son emerged with victories by the night's end.
Despite having lived his entire life in Hawaii, Tynanes has never competed professionally in his home state. Instead, the majority of his blossoming career was spent competing in Asia having won bouts in Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia. Now, Tynanes looks to extend his undefeated streak when he returns at ONE: KINGDOM OF KHMER.
Following his victory in Japan, he then entered hostile territory when he took on The Philippines' golden boy Eduard Folayang at a URCC event.
Tynanes stunned the partisan Filipino crowd, ending the bout with his hand raised after displaying superior wrestling that Folayang simply had no answer to. Following the fight, he admitted he was nervous as it was the first time he competed without his father in his corner.
Tynanes' next bout came at ONE: RETURN OF WARRIORS.
In front of the largest crowd he had ever seen, Tynanes relied on his wrestling in a back-and-forth war against world kickboxing champion Vuyisile Colossa that concluded when Tynanes secured a rear-naked choke in the third round.
The clash won him "Fight of the Night" honors and earned him the loudest ovation of the evening. Tynanes then followed that up with an impressive submission win over Felipe Enomoto in May of 2013.
Then, earlier this May at ONE: WARRIOR'S QUEST, Tynanes proved that his solid takedown defense and cage control made a huge difference against Kazakhstan's Kuat Khamitov, leading to a unanimous decision win.
Despite being highly-touted and a potential title challenger, the Tynanes still maintains a humble lifestyle in his hometown, and continues to hold a day job as a surf instructor in Honolulu.
He has already amassed an impressive 7-0 record, defeating some of the very best in his division and his upcoming battle in Cambodia will be another tough scrap against Russia's Rasul Yakhyaev.
"I know he is from a place that has bred really tough fighters, so i know he is going to be game. My mind is already set for battle so it is going to be a tough fight!," said Tynanes about his upcoming opponent.
"I always think (worry) about letting people down - my supporters and people who back me up. Another thing is making my family proud," Tynanes added on what motivates him to perform in the cage.
"Flying out to Phnom Penh is such a treat for me. Getting to experience the rich culture and history of Cambodia is something truly magical. Headlining a fight card for Asia's largest MMA promotion and having my fight broadcast live on local TV station, CTN is an added bonus," said Tynanes, when asked about fighting in Cambodia.
"It is an absolute honor."
Should he put away his opponent convincingly at ONE: KINGDOM OF KHMER, Tynanes could be the next challenger in line to meet Shinya Aoki for the ONE Lightweight World Championship.
"Honestly I am not stressed out about it. It has crossed my my mind but if it happens, it's great, if not it is okay. I enjoy fighting in general and i really would fight anybody," said Tynanes.
"But I've thought about how it would be like fighting Aoki and a lot of people around me has said it. I think it would be exciting and fun. The guy is a legend and it would be a huge and awesome experience for myself so it is definitely on my bucket list."
Aoki is of course, ONE Championship's lightweight king, and a highly-skilled and very dangerous MMA veteran to boot. But Tynanes possesses the skills and tenacity required to defeat Aoki, should a fight of that magnitude ever come to fruition.
"In MMA anything can happen at any moment. It's whoever is the better guy that night, that's who's gonna take it," said Tynanes.
