This weekend saw the much anticipated BOA Super 8: 4th Edition roll around on Saturday night (23/06/2018) at Springers Leisure Centre. The team has been looking forward to this event, with many of our competition team putting in hard rounds in the weeks before to prepare. It;s exciting to see such a high level professional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu event coming to Melbourne!
First up was Tine Scheldeman, a new addition to the team who lost via ref decision in an exciting fight. Good on you for getting in there and we’re glad to have you on board! Looking forward to seeing you in future competitions.
Second from the team was Jeremy Paul Skinner who won via a beautifully executed inside heelhook earning the praise of commentators, coaches and crowd alike. We are sure we’ll be seeing more of this talented young man on the competition scene in the future.
Third was Coach Livia Gluchowska finishing her fight via heelhook after building up a healthy points lead. Livia showed amazing control and pressure from the top along with a killer finishing instinct in a beautiful mix of old school pressure and new school leg attacks.
Fourth and next up was Coach Mikael Yahaya going up against jiu-jitsu superstars Thalison Soares. Mikael put forward a valiant effort, however, he eventually succumbed to the strong berimbolo game of Soares and was finished from the back,
Thiago Stefanutti was part of a super exciting battle against Pasha Stoylar, eventually losing by 2 points. Thiago evaded numerous early attacks with heart and skill and mounted his own offence to make it an action packed and memorable match.
Finishing up the night was the 88kg tournament with two of our black belts in the mix, Craig Jones and Ben Hodgkinson. Both did us proud, with Ben winning on points against James Brasco after coming close to multiple kimura attempts. Ben went through to the second round to go up against Craig in an Absolute MMA clash that did not go Ben’s way, despite making a statement and coming out with serious intent in the highly popular “F**K Craig Jones” rash guard from Craig’s recent seminar.
Craig won a hard fought match in his first round against an always game Bob Frias coming close to finishing submissions, but ultimately taking the victory via points. Craig then went on to finish Ben via heelhook in the semifinal. In the final against DJ Jackson Craig made a tactical decision to pull guard, which ultimately cost him the match via penalty point.
Congratulations to all of the athletes for representing Absolute MMA so well, and to all our members and team mates who showed their support by attending or streaming the event. We’re proud to be part of such an active competition team and have you all on board!
Sunday afternoon rolled around and our Boxing team along with Coach Pradeep Singh headed to The 2018 Frank Quill Cup at the MVC Boxing Gym to support Absolute MMA Fighter of the Year (2017) Antonia Kay in her elite world championship trial (female).
Antonia put up a good fight in her bout against Kristy Harris (four time Australian Champion), however eventually sustained a loss via decision. We’d like to commend Antonia on her excellent attitude and focus on her goals- she has so much potential and we can’t wait to see her in the ring again for the next trial in Perth. Well done Antonia!
Photos: Pradeep Singh and William Luu Fight Photography