It was one of the biggest ever cards for Absolute MMA on Saturday (February 16th, 2019) at Path to Hex 8 at the Chelsea Heights Hotel. A highly anticipated event for the gym with our very own Finnian Kinsella headlining the show on the main event for the Flyweight Championship! It definitely wasn’t just Finn though, we had a massive 8 other fighters set to put it all on the line; Adi Canimovic, Cristian Mejia, Jake Savic, Joshua Ber, Lisa Kyriacou, Rebecca Cerra, Sovann Q Ben and Tyrell Woollcott!
First up for the team was Joshua Ber in a lightweight bout against opponent Jack Wilshaw. Josh valiantly tried to hold his opponent in a triangle, but his opponent slipped out, Josh followed up with an arm bar but sustained a loss with his opponent escaping the submission and moving to ground and pound. In our next lightweight match up, Jake Savic faced off against opponent Jack Pelligana! Jake smashed it, dominating an opponent with a significant reach advantage to secure take downs every round and stay on top. A strong display of wrestling skills from Jake! Congratulation to Jake on a well deserved win via unanimous decision!
In the third lightweight bout for the team, Tyrell Woollcott stepped up against opponent Harry Webb. Tyrell unfortunately didn’t get the result he was looking for with a loss via TKO, however lots to take on board for his next bout!
Sovann Benoit up next for the team in a middleweight match against opponent Harley Bishop, coming out strong with a dominant performance in the first two rounds! Sovann got caught in a RNC at the end of the third round, sustaining a loss via submission. Lots to take away from the experience and to work on for next time!
In our fourth and final lightweight bout on the card, Cristian Mejia came out really strong against undefeated opponent in his 4th fight Mitchell Carter, showing a great striking game with sharp kicks. Unfortunately Christian conceded a take down late in the 3rd round which probably cost him the fight. Looking forward to seeing Christian back again and stronger for the experience!
Lisa “Savage” Kyriacou stepped up to the challenge of fighting Alish Smith (Spartan MMA), who has competed at the 2017 and 2018 World Championships, the 2018 Oceania Championships and the Asian Championships. This 60kg catch weight saw a weight advantage to Lisa with the experience advantage going to Alish. This was a tough fight for Lisa, with the bout going the full 3 rounds against a skilled opponent, however she came through with a win via split decision! Lisa always gives 100% heart and dedication in her training and we’re over the moon for her! Congratulations savage!
Rebecca “The Punisher” Cerra took on a strong opponent in Amber Thompson (Evolve MMA) who has represented Australia at the 2018 World Championships and 2018 Oceania Championships. Bec did a great job, getting in some solid shots and displaying her varied skill set, however just couldn’t get past Amber’s kicks and striking. Despite sustaining a loss via decision, nothing but respect for Bec, getting through some hard rounds and giving back against a technically strong opponent. Great to see Bec challenging herself as a martial artist by taking on an experienced opponent and she is sure to grow for the experience!
Stepping up in bout number eight for the Absolute MMA team, Adi Canimovic faced another undefeated opponent Bradley Shackleton in a light heavyweight clash which saw him give up a significant size advantage. Great work from Adi who kept the pressure on, securing take downs every round to take the win via decision! It’s been great seeing Adi put the hard yards in training in the lead up to his bout, we look forward to seeing what the rest of 2019 has for you!
Main event rolled around and Finnian Kinsella stepped into the octagon for his bout against opponent Troy Fumo for the Featherweight Title! A bit of a rocky start in the first round against a strong opponent, Finn picked it up in the second round and displayed his strong boxing skills. A close match ensued, with Finn eventually losing on points in a decision loss due to his opponents strong ground game. Hard day in the office, but great work by Finn who left it all in the cage, we’re looking forward to seeing you come back stronger for the experience and for what the rest of the year holds for you!
It was amazing seeing how many Absolute MMA supporters were in the venue, thank you all for coming down and showing support! We are so proud to be a part of this community and for our team all rallied around the fighters competing on the day. Thank you all once again, we’ll see you at the next one!