The Absolute MMA team is closing up July with a bang, with members of our team flying everywhere to fight and compete over the last week. We’ve had team members go interstate to Perth, and others going overseas to Tokyo- it’s been Absolute MMA versus the World!
Antonia Kay from our Melbourne CBD boxing team got us started by flying to Perth for the World Championship selection event tournament at the beginning of the week. This follows a mammoth fundraiser by head Boxing Coach Pradeep Singh to raise over $1200 in two weeks to fund her trip- the outpouring of support from the community has been amazing! Thank you to everyone who contributed by booking in a session with Pradeep.
It was a long tournament for Antonia, who battled her way through 3 fights in a row, stepping into the ring on a daily basis over the three days she was in Perth. After winning two of her bouts she qualified for the finals and came home with a silver medal!
We’re proud to announce that Antonia will now be representing Australia at the Elite World Championships and flies out Wednesday to the Philippines for a training camp. Congratulations on the culmination of all your hard work Antonia! A well deserved result and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for you. All the best for the Philippines!
Josh Ber was up next against opponent Jackson Dempster, showing poise beyond his 17 years of age and taking some heavy shots early on from his 22 year old opponent. He stayed calm, returned fire, scored a nice take down moving his way to the back and then secured a rear naked choke. Congratulations to Josh on his first round win!
On fight 9 of the card, Ty Woolcott fought a good first round, getting the better of the striking and scrambling back to the feet when taken down. Unfortunately Ty showed signs of fatigue in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, losing the grapple contests which cost him the decision with the fight ending in a loss. This was a tough fight and Ty showed great heart throughout, good on you for getting in there Ty!
Reon Mahima was up next for the team in a heavy weight contest. Unfortunately as they can go, he was caught with a huge left hook at the start of the contest by opponent Tautala Peau and did not get a chance to display his wrestling skills, sustaining a loss via KO.
Pippa Shaw finished up the team and the fight card for the night against opponent Amber Thompson in the Path to Hex bantamweight title match. This was a tough contest that went the full 5 rounds against a more experienced opponent, with Pippa emerging victorious from a tough scrap to claim the title! Congratulations Pippa!
It was unfortunate that Will, Souvan, Kevin and Rebecca all went unmatched or lost their opponents short notice. Let’s hope they get a chance to display their skills in the cage soon. Well done to all those that got in to compete!
Overseas, Coach Livia Gluchowska made it to the final of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tokyo 2018 (Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Tours organized by UAEJJF) and comes home a silver medallist in the 55kg female brown/black belt devision! Congratulations Liv! We couldn’t be prouder and can’t wait to hear all about your travels when you come home!
Teammate Shantelle Thompson also comes home a bronze medallist in the -90kg female brown/black belt division! Well done to Shantelle for getting in there and giving it everything she had.
To close up the week, our Absolute MMA Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team headed to Grappling Industries on Sunday. We’d like to congratulate everyone who competed on the day, whether it was your first time or one of many, you were all great representatives for the gym on the mats! Special mention to Coach Lachlan “The Raptor” Giles for winning the No-Gi Absolute.
