Our fight and competition team was busy internationally, locally and interstate this weekend with Coach Sam Hibberd going to war on Eternal MMA 36 on the Gold Coast, several of our grapplers with bouts on Grapplefest 2 in Liverpool (UK) and two of our Boxing team at home in Melbourne at the Reggio Calabria Club.
Saturday the 17th of September, Gold Coast – it was time for Eternal MMA 36, where our tough as nails Coach Sam Hibberd was set to step into the octagon for the headline fight of the night! Sam “Flubber” Hibberd was matched up against a tough opponent in Diego Pereira who went in as the crowd favorite. We’re proud to note that Sam displayed strong striking and take down skills throughout, managing to out wrestle his opponent and dominate many of the exchanges on the feet (in fine flair as always!).
After an even first round, the second round saw Sam get controlled in the octagon and unable to impose his game. The third round was clearly dominated by Sam, however the match eventuated in a loss via split decision with the judges citing the second round in favor of Sam’s opponent on points.
A very impressive and tough fought out fight by Sam, and he will continue to learn and grow in and out of the ring as Sam always does. He will be back before we know it, and will be back in coaching at our Collingwood location this week!
Check out the other results from the card here: http://www.fightnewsaustralia.com/eternal-mma-36-results/
Grapplefest 2 by Figure 4 Promotions in Liverpool, England saw three of our high-level grapplers compete- Craig Jones, Ben Hodgkinson and Tom Everett. This was a huge grappling event, with 25+ no-gi submission only super fights on the card!
Tom Everett kicked things off for the Absolute MMA team on the undercard, and fought a close, tough match that eventuated in a loss via decision. This was a great fight from Tom, and we’re super proud of his work and to have him as a representative from the Absolute MMA St Kilda team no matter the decision.
The co-main event rolled around, and black belt Ben Hodgkinson went up against British opponent Ashley Amos. Amos is known for piling on the pressure, however Ben dealt with this promptly, showing an absolute textbook counter of Amos’s takedown attempt, sweeping, passing and then taking the back to sink in a rear-naked choke for the submission. Congratulations to Ben on his win!
A highly anticipated main event saw our very own Craig Jones versus Matheus Diniz. In the beginning of the bout, Diniz poured on the intensity, aggressively attempting to pass Craig’s guard. Craig countered successfully, eventually putting Diniz inside his closed guard at approximately 12 minutes into the match. This clash of styles saw the match go the distance, with Diniz solidly defending. After 20 minutes, the decision victory eventually went to Craig as the only grappler to attempt submission. With this bout Craig has also promised to learn wrestling to increase his killing power. Congratulations on a well-deserved decision Craig!
Sunday the 16th of September, the Reggio Calabria Club in Melbourne – Our Boxing team members Ankur Bisla and Dushan Wanniarachchige headed to Brunswick for their bouts. Great to see Dushan debuting, congratulations on your first time in the ring! Despite sustaining a loss, Dushan boxed extremely well and showed great composure against a larger and stronger opponent. We look forward to seeing you in the ring once again Dushan!
After becoming state champion last month, Ankur stepped into the ring once again. This was a tough match, and Ankur showed great aggression against a strong opponent, landing straight punches and showing an impressive left that found its target many times. A well deserved win and a tough fight for Ankur, it’s great to see how far you have come and improved in your training. Congratulations on the culmination of all your hard work!
Photos: Tom Everett, Eternal MMA, Ben Hodgkinson, Figure 4 Promotions and Pradeep Singh
Compiled by James Walters and Emilie Yap