Coach Mikael Yahaya of Absolute MMA St Kilda started the weekend for the team in his black belt debut on Subversion Jiu-Jitsu 1, in Sydney on Saturday night. Utilising his guard to gain top position, Mikael stayed dominant throughout, keeping the pressure on the entire match whilst passing. In the last 30 seconds of his match against opponent Kian Pham, Mikael got the pass to mount and ended up finishing in a guillotine set up, running just out of time to get the submission. A well deserved win via decision for Mikael, and a great start to his competitive career at the black belt level!
Sunday saw two of our amateur team prove themselves in the ring at Alpha Fight Series in Ferntree Gully, with Joseph Choundary matched up on a four man 66kg tournament. Giving up weight to take on the four man, Joe weighed in at 64kg in his third amateur match, up against a tall experienced opponent. Despite sustaining a loss via points, we are proud of Joe for going the distance against an opponent who would eventually go on to win the four man tournament (but not the belt, as he came in overweight). Well done Joe!
Patrick Neyland made his K1 amateur debut against an experienced opponent who had previously fought 3 times. Coming from a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background and very familiar with 6 minutes of rolling, Pat stepped out of his comfort zone to experience the intensity of 3 x 2 minute kick boxing rounds. The first round was close, with Pat landing heavy single knees and his opponent preferring to chop the legs.
The second round saw Pat set up some tricky fake push kick/right punch combos, giving his opponent a blood nose. By the third round both boys were exhausted and the score card was close. Pat needed to push forward but by that point had already given his all, leaving not much left in the tank to continue. Although he lost the decision, he showed he can play in the ring as well as he can in BJJ on the mats, and we’re looking forward to seeing him take his striking further in 2020!
We are proud to report that our Absolute MMA Shanghai team took away a double win on the weekend with fight team members Rahmon Chapoteau and Ruben Arrieta dominating their way to victory at Ringside Fight Night with Coach Jowad in their corner. This was Rahmon’s first fight and Ruben’s return to the ring after a break from competition. Both fighters did us proud and put on a winning performance in front of Shanghai’s martial arts community. Great performance team!
Overseas in Thailand, Albert “Timorese Assassin” Xavier made weight (64kg) on September 21st, ready for his appearance on Sunday at MAX Muay Thai, stadium Pattaya. Up against opponent Hinchai Aor.Sansuek in the pre-main event of the night, Albert came out aggressive, throwing strong boxing combinations and devastating low kicks. Keeping the pressure on throughout his bout, Albert stormed to victory and took away the win! Well done Alby!
Compiled by Emilie Yap, Georgia Verry and Dorothy Dao.
Photography: Laos Toohey, Subversion Jiu-Jitsu, Absolute MMA Shanghai, Georgia Verry.