Running over four days from the 21st of August to the 24th, the World Master IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship saw several of our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition team, including Coach Thiago Stefanutti head to Las Vegas for the competition. The World Masters is a tough competition, with the most experienced competitors over the age of 30 from all over the world travelling to the Las Vegas Convention Center to throw down on the mats! We would like to congratulate all of our competitors, and all of our fellow Australians who made the journey to compete, irrespective of their result. What a great learning experience for the team being out there and competing with the best in the world! Congratulations in particular to Vince Rogato, who defeated two opponents, losing in the third round. Vince showed excellent maturity in his competition game and was awarded his brown belt by Coach Thiago Stefanutti for his efforts. We look forward to seeing everyone back on the mats, and back home in Australia when they return!
Saturday, 24th of August saw the second Hardcore Promotions event kick off at Ultima Function Centre in Keilor East. Out of the nine fights on the card, we were proud to have three of our female Muay Thai team set to compete, from both our Melbourne CBD and Collingwood locations. First up for the team on the second fight of the night was Georgia Verry (3-1-0), facing off against Selina Sor. NakDeeGao (7-3-0) from Dynamite Muay Thai in a 53.5kg, 3 x 2 minute round bout (FTR). Sustaining a cut on the top of her head in the first round from an elbow, we immediately knew this was going to be a hard fight! Georgia kept her composure, pushed forward and stayed strong throughout a fight that took place almost entirely in the clinch, with Georgia driving in heavy knees and her opponent relentless with elbows in the pocket, and both girls landing good kicks on the outside. After 3 rounds of non stop action the result was left to the judges who ruled in favour of Selina 2 rounds to 1. Nothing but respect to Georgia for taking on an experienced opponent and really making her work for the win, proud to have her as part of the team and excited to see how her game will evolve further from this experience
Second in action for Absolute saw Kate Van Staveren (3-2-0) step in against last minute replacement Hadiqa Abdul (5-2) from Supafight gym in a 3 x 2 minute round bout (FTR). Hadiqa saved the day, accepting the fight just 9 days before the event after her teammate (Kate’s original opponent) sustained an injury. The late opponent change didn’t bother Kate and with a new game plan she came out hard from the opening bell and maintained the pace from then on. Hadiqa was busy throughout the contest, landing heavy low kicks, working well in the clinch and making Kate miss on multiple occasions with the technical style Supafight gym is known for, but our girl was determined and threw with power and accuracy. Ultimately Kate proved too strong, wearing Hadiqa out to finish the fight, ending the last round with a flurry of punches and a high kick attempt to really show she was trying to get the finish even after she heard the 10 second clapper! Great work from Kate getting a unanimous points decision in her first fight for the team!
Finally we had Tamika De Cesare (5-2-2) take on Supafight’s Tiff Lam (8-1-0) over 5 rounds in the co-main event of the evening! Moving up in weight meant Tamika had a slight size disadvantage on the night, but her speed and movement were the tools we were looking to utilise most leading up to the bout. The match up started well, with Tamika catching a kick from Tiff and getting the trip, from then on she stayed busy with fast boxing combinations and some well timed kicks off of counters, frustrating her opponent in the early rounds, things were looking good. Approximately halfway through the contest was the turning point, Tiff got some very smooth sweeps in the clinch and started to find her rhythm, making Tamika miss more often and landing sharper kicks on the outside, racking up points in her favour and managing to nullify the boxing in close with good clinch work. “Tenacious” Tamika lived up to her nickname, constantly pushing forward and looking for the finish all the way until the final bell, but unfortunately the cleaner counter work of her opponent saw the judges rule a points victory to Tiff in an exciting 5 round clash of styles.
The girls of Absolute all come back into the gym with clear things to work on in victory and defeat, as they continue to grow their own game as well as each other’s and the rest of the team! We’re very proud to have them as part of the Absolute MMA family!
Written by Joe Boobyer and Emilie Yap.
Photography: W.L Fight Photography, Thiago Stefanutti.