The first weekend of June saw our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team busy both locally at Aus Sub Only and internationally at the IBJJF 2018 Worlds in Long Beach, California. Our MMA boys also made moves interstate, with Finnian Kinsella and Rob Pelle heading to South Australia for MMA Rising Stars 2 run by Diamondback Fighting Championship.
Friday, 1st of June saw Finnian Kinsella and our main man from Absolute MMA St Kilda, Rob Pelle, head to South Australia for MMA Rising Stars 2 under the guidance of Coach Jordan Lucas. Both our boys fought against some of Adelaide’s best talents in their matches. Finn was up first, facing against opponent Brad Walley. Finn had him on the back foot early in the fight, coming forward with crisp, fast striking and we’re proud to report he handled his own. He defended against multiple take-down attempts in the opening round, however in round two and three the strength of his opponent took over. Walley landed take-downs in the later rounds, and these ultimately won him the fight by judges decision. Finn got put in positions that most would struggle to get out of, and that many would take the easy way out in. He showed nothing but heart and continued to fight hard until the very end.
Rob fought well known Adelaide prodigy Anthony Pugliese in the co-main event which was also acknowledged as “Fight of the Night”. From the opening round these two undefeated fighters went head to head, with many good exchanges and a lot of exciting scrambles. Both boys had won a round each going into the last round, with Rob gaining momentum from a dominating second round in which he managed to shut down all of his opponents guillotine attempts. The third round was razor close again until Pugliese managed to capitalize on a guillotine choke (of which he is well known for) late in the third which saw a submission end to the fight.
Although both our boys saw a loss, there are positives to come with every negative, both boys tested themselves against two of Adelaide’s top amateurs and will only come back stronger from the experience. You can choose to take easy fights or you can choose to take opportunities to test yourself against hard opponents, in order to reach where you want to be in the future. We know what we have to work on and exactly how we are going to do it, so look forward to seeing both boys back in the win column very soon! You both are great representatives for the gym and tough as nails.
It was a weekend full of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu action with the IBJJF World Championships taking place in Long Beach, California. It was great to see the Absolute MMA team out in force as well as so many fellow Australians competing in LA! From our team we had Livia Gluchowska, Lauren Thompson, Sarah Chapman, Chisaki Akiyama, Jacinta Quattrocchi, Lisa Boyd, Hugh Boyd, Seth Crossman and Sean Le Gourrierec all competing. Shout outs to Sarah Chapman who won three matches before meeting the eventual Gold medallist in her fourth and Livia Gluchowska who won her first match (27-0), unfortunately then losing in the quarterfinal in the last 10 seconds, by an advantage.
Whether you came to win or learn, we couldn’t be prouder of our Absolute MMA BJJ team for making it to World 2018, for conducting themselves professionally and being amazing representatives for the gym. Well done to you all!
Congratulations in particular to our fellow Australian Levi Jones-leary who fought his way to gold to became the lightweight brown belt world champion. You have worked so hard and there is no one more deserving!
We would also like to congratulate everyone from our Absolute MMA team who competed locally at AUS SUB ONLY this weekend including staff members and coaches Apryl Eppinger, Lachlan Warne, Richard Lattemagi (stepping up to cover teammate James Walters who unfortunately was ill) and Mikael Yahaya who faced Rob Sabaruddin in a super fight. It was great to see so many of our members also competing from all three of our gyms!
The Absolute MMA competitors also took away the no-gi team trophy as a unit and we couldn’t be prouder. Well done to the entire team and congratulations on the culmination of all your dedication and hard work!
Photos: Jordan Lucas, FloGrappling and MassaPhotos.com
