All posts by Absolute MMA

Amazing effort from the Absolute MMA Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team this weekend at the 2019 IBJJF Pan Pacific Championship! We would like to congratulate our fantastic team, who took away 23 medals as a whole, you all have shown extreme dedication and we appreciate all the tireless training that has been put into preparing for this competition!

We are so proud of all our team who competed in the Pan Pacs this year, and we hope that you all have come away inspired and motivated to improve, irrespective of whether you took away a medal or not. We cannot wait to see how your competition experience has enriched your BJJ game, and look forward to seeing how you all have improved on the mats! Special mention to Coach Cooper Burnham who took out Gold in the purple belt lightweight division, fighting through four hard matches to secure his position as champion. Great to see Cooper on the podium once again after a long battle with injuries earlier on this year! Congratulations also to Coach Livia Giles, who took away a double gold in both gi and no-gi this year, amazing work Liv!

Our total results for the Gi from the team are as follows:

Adult / Male / White / Feather – Jacob Chun Meng Kong (Bronze)

Adult / Male / White / Medium-Heavy –  Gilberto Giorgianni (Bronze)

Adult / Male / Blue / Light-Feather – Brendi Lien Jun Ang (Bronze)

Adult / Male / Blue / Feather – Binh Le (Gold)

Adult / Male / Blue / Middle – Hugh A. Boyd (Silver)

Adult / Male / Blue / Ultra-Heavy – Luis Gabriel Contreras Olave (Gold)

Adult / Male / Purple / Light – Cooper Tye Burnham (Gold)

Adult / Male / Purple / Ultra-Heavy – Jayden Stein (Gold)

Adult / Male / Black / Middle – Gabriel Muniz da Conceição and Lachlan Warne (tied for Bronze)

Adult / Female / Blue / Middle – Brooke Butler (Gold)

Adult / Female / Purple / Light-Feather – Lauren Thompson (Silver), Chisaki Akiyama (Bronze)

Adult / Female / Purple / Light – Sarah Chapman (Gold)

Adult / Female / Purple / Open Weight – Sarah Chapman (Bronze)

Adult / Female / Black / Feather – Livia Giles (Gold)

Adult / Female / Black / Open Weight – Livia Giles (Bronze)

Master 1 / Male / Brown / Heavy – Evandro Carvalho (Silver)

Master 2 / Male / Brown / Ultra-Heavy – Doug Kaegi (Gold)

Master 2 / Female / White / Light –  Alison Loft (Silver)

Master 3 / Female / Black / Light – Kim Cousins (Gold)

Master 3 / Female / Black / Open Weight – Kim Cousins (Gold)

Master 4 / Male / Purple / Open Weight – Darren Murphy (Gold)

Source: https://www.ibjjfdb.com/ChampionshipResults/1334/PublicResults

Friday night saw the undefeated Coach Kevin “Le Monstre” Jousset take on a fight at Eternal MMA 48 for the welterweight championship on just two weeks notice! In his third professional fight, Kevin stepped up to take on a strong opponent in Jack Della (6-2), Eternal MMA welterweight champion, who is currently on a six fight win streak. The bell started, and round one began with plenty of back and forth from the two competitors. Kevin hit a picture perfect harai goshi (hip throw), showing off his judo background and landed some strong strikes in this round. Taking the fight back to standing, the two went kick for kick, with Jack securing a take down on Kevin towards the end of the round.

Round two saw Della land a big right hand, working his strikes into his grappling to push Kevin up against the cage, just after the first thirty seconds. After the two competitors exchanging strikes on the feet, Della landed another big right to rock Kevin, moving forward to get the take down and bring the fight to the ground. In a barrage of strikes in ground and pound, Della opened up a cut just above Kevin’s right eye with a big elbow. Showing great resilience to continue despite there being significant blood flow, Kevin got to his feet in an attempt to bring the fight back to standing, however was taken down again at the end of the round.

With the blood flowing significantly, the doctor called a stoppage to the fight prior to round three. While Kevin sustained a loss this time around, we are supremely proud of his determination and tenacity, and look forward to seeing him back in the octagon when he’s all healed up!

On Saturday night, Kate Van Staveren went to war representing the team at Warriors Way 24 under the guidance of Coaches Jai Tao and Joe Boobyer. Fighting against an opponent in Anela Ilic (Southside Muay Thai) from Adelaide with 12 fights experience (9 wins, and 2 Australian titles) in a 56kg match up 3×2 FTR, Kate put on a dominant performance, securing a  unanimous win via points with 30 to 27 on the score card! Amazing work by Kate who challenged herself by taking on an experienced opponent, and stepped up! Kate has won all of her fights since coming to train with us at Absolute MMA and we could not be prouder of her progression. Well done Kate!

Photography: Eternal MMA and W.L Fight Photography. 

On Saturday 28 September, the ADCC Worlds 2019 was officially underway, and the worldwide grappling community tuned in to see the world’s best grapplers go head to head! With four competitors from Absolute MMA heading to the world’s most prestigious submission grappling tournament, the team was understandably excited, looking on with bated breath as Livia Giles, Lachlan Giles, Craig Jones and Ben Hodgkinson went to throw down on the 13th edition of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship.

Day one saw our Ben Hodgkinson in the -99kg division draw Gordon “The King” Ryan – the previous ADCC champion for the -88kg division and silver medallist in the absolute in 2017. The match began with Gordan pulling guard, tornado sweeping Ben. Ben turtled in defence, with Gordan taking his back, finishing the match via RNC and taking the win. Kudos to Ben for taking on the champion in round one, with Gordon then going on to take double gold, in this division and the absolute.

In the first round of the Women’s -60kg division, black belt Livia Giles drew ADCC veteran and 2017 silver medallist, Bianca Basilio (Brazil). At the beginning of the match, Liv attempted to guard pull, however Basilio timed a jump triangle perfectly to close guard, worked on a gift wrap on Liv’s arm and began to work around to Liv’s back. Liv then conceded mount to avoid getting her back taken, and turned in an attempt to create space, however, Basilio managed to pivot and secure the back, sinking in a RNC for the win. Basilio then went on to defeat Elvira Karppinen and Ffion Davies to take home the gold for the division.

Lachlan Giles faced off against Lucas Lepri in round one of the -77kg division, with Lepri pulling guard to start. The first few minutes were tense, with Lachlan looking for gaps to start passing or enter a leg entanglement. At around the midpoint of the match, Lachlan sat back to 50/50 for a leg, with Lepri getting free quickly. With the two then facing off in a double guard pull until the final five minutes of the match, Lepri then stands to start passing. In the last three minutes, Lepri passed with a knee slice, Lachlan turtled to defend however Lepri countered with a back take for 3 points, holding the back until the clock ran out, Lepri securing the win via points (3-0).

Craig Jones, breakout star of ADCC 2017 drew Ben Dyson, winner of the EU trials for round one. Craig pulls straight away, aggressively trying to get on Dyson’s legs, and eventually gets onto one, Dyson trying to scramble away, with Craig coming up to get the sweep. With Craig then working to pass, Dyson comes up on a under-hook sweep, Craig jumping to closed guard in response. Craig plays on bottom getting into a few leg entanglements and attacking heel hooks and toe holds, but Dyson manages to scramble out of things well, showing great submission defence. Persistent as always, Craig hits a beautiful saddle entry and gets the heel just after the 6 minute mark, securing the win via heel hook.

Round two came about, and Craig went up against Mason Fowler, an up and coming professional Mixed Martial Artist, with a great wrestling skillset and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu foundation. This match had plenty of back and forth with both competitors attempting to wrest control from the other, with more often Craig securing dominance from guard and on top. With 45 seconds to go, Fowler attempted a single leg, allowing Craig to secure the head before the fight was taken to ground, with Craig firstly attempting a mounted arm in guillotine, with Fowler rolling Craig to his back, and unable to escape, tapped with 30 seconds left on the clock. A hard fought victory for Craig via guillotine!

A crucial match for Craig was up next in the semi-finals against opponent Jon Blank (10th Planet Bethlehem) and EBI 17 winner, in a repeat of their match at KASAI in April previously this year. With Craig pulling guard in the first minute, he secured a deep arm in guillotine choke from knee shield, ending up in mount. Blank did well here to escape Craig’s choke and attempted a leg lock, which Craig had telegraphed. This resulted in Craig securing the back, sinking in a brutal RNC for the win. A repeat of the finish of their match in April!

Day two rolled around, and it was time for the finals! With finals lasting 20 minutes, Craig came up against a familiar face in Matheus Diniz in their third match up. Craig spent the first half of the match on his back attempting submissions, including a brief kimura, and a number of leg entanglements, which Matheus was able to escape prior to Craig securing anything substantial. This stalemate resulting in ten minutes of overtime, in which Craig attempted a takedown at the halfway point, which Matheus was able to reverse, ending up on top and securing two points. Craig once again attempted to lock on submissions which Matheus eluded, the over time period culminating in a points victory for Diniz (2-0). A valiant effort from Craig, who sustained an eye injury during the competition and was unable to participate in the absolute division. Congratulations on being one of the first two Australians in over a decade to secure an ADCC medal! 

In the Absolute/Open weight of day two, Lachlan Giles (under 77kg) came up against Kaynan Duarte (+99kg), winner of black belt IBJJF worlds and winner of the ADCC +99kg division earlier on the day. Lachlan starts the match by pulling guard, working to invert and shoot towards a leg entanglement. Kaynan then works to take Lachlan’s back, however Lachlan manages to keep a hold of Kaynan’s leg, preventing the back take. Kaynan then looks for space in an attempt to pass or take the back, however Lachlan shuts down Kaynan’s attempt by keeping him locked in guard. During the third minute, Lachlan inverts and shoots to 50/50, securing the heel hook. Kaynan then taps, with Lachlan causing arguably the largest upset of the tournament. Lachlan emerges victorious to an adoring crowd, with an amazing win via heel hook!

Round two of the absolute division saw Lachlan come up against Patrick Gaudio (+99kg), a IBJJF bronze medallist at worlds and well accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor. Patrick begins the match by attempting to pass low in order to counter against Lachlan’s leg entries. Lachlan played guard well here, and stifled Patrick’s pass attempts. Just before the final three minute mark, Patrick changes his tactic and stands, trying to jump back for a loose leg lock. Lachlan counters and shifts to his 50/50 position, working on a heel hook to get the tap from Gaudio! Giant slayer Lachie Giles secures another massive upset and advances to the semi finals.

In the semi-finals of the absolute division, Lachlan steps into a match with Gordan “The King” Ryan (-99kg), who has just won the under 99kg division for ADCC 2019, one of the best No-Gi grappler’s on the planet and one of the favourites to win the absolute division. Lachlan attempts to employ the same strategy he has used previously in the absolute, however Gordon defends and counters well, using his own deep knowledge of the leg lock game. Gordan then secures a dominant top position and gives Lachlan no space, shutting down his leg lock entries. Using pressure to slowly smear his way to mount, Gordon then forces Lachlan to turn, securing his back and finishing the match with a RNC in the last three minutes. Great defence from Lachlan against one of the world’s best, with this match complete Lachlan advances to compete for third place. Gordon would go on to take out the absolute division in the finals, and achieve champ champ status!

Competing against Mahamed Aly (2018 world champion at black belt) for bronze, Lachlan takes on yet another giant with Aly weighing around 114kg. Lachlan pulls guard, and Aly tries to pass standing while Lachlan attempts to secure a leg entanglement. In the first minute, Lachlan hits the same leg entry that he did on Kaynan and Patrick earlier on in the day. Aly tries desperately to spin out, however Lachlan is on his heel, cranking hard. Lachlan gets the tap in just over one minute and emerges victorious via heel hook, to a screaming crowd who have just watched him take down three highly skilled opponents with significant weight on him. Making ADCC history as the first and only Australian to medal in the absolute division and emerging as the darling of day two, Lachlan takes away the bronze medal!

We are supremely proud of all our competitors for making it onto this prestigious stage and of everything that they have achieved at this tournament. Our athletes made up all but one of the Australians representing at ADCC Worlds and this representation is a testament to how hard our coaches and students have worked over the past two years to prepare for this competition. Congratulations to all of our athletes!

Written by Emilie Yap and James Sullivan.

Photography: Jiujitsu in Frames, Jiu-Jitsu Times 

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.

We’re often asked by members who are either new to training martial arts or at least new to a specific discipline “What can I do outside of my martial arts training to help me improve?”.

So we’ve put together a short list of things you can implement outside of your class times in order to speed up your improvement.

• Strength training! Approach one of our highly educated personal trainers and book in a session or regular sessions to work out a training routine in the gym that will see you’re strengthening your body in the right places to apply to your discipline, also helping to prevent injury. Alternatively, submit your personal training inquiry here.

• Attend or watch fights and competitions! This will allow you to see the practical application of the techniques you’re learning in class, as well as how shows are run, should you aspire to compete. With a fight team as active as ours, there are generally always shows/competitions upcoming, so be sure to check in with our reception staff or follow us on social media to see what’s coming up!

• Eat well! As the saying goes “You can’t out train a bad diet”, regardless of your goals; weight loss, fitness or becoming the best martial artist you can be, a solid nutritional base will undoubtedly assist in all aspects. Recovery, body composition, and higher energy levels all result from good nutrition. We sell healthy meals at all locations to give you an idea of where to start.
• Stretch! We don’t always stretch during classes, so in order to help out with your mobility and flexibility we highly recommend you undertake a stretching routine outside of your martial arts classes. In order to do this safely an easy option would be to attend our yoga classes. Read more about our yoga program here.

• Cardio! You can never be too fit, take full advantage of our range of cardio equipment, or better yet attend our high intensity interval training (HIIT) classes to really boost your fitness levels so you can get more out of your martial arts training sessions. Read more about our FIT classes, HIIT and conditioning sessions here.

• Socialise with other members! Inevitably the people you train with will become your friends over time, building solid relationships by socialising with them outside the gym as well as in classes will have a positive effect on your training, making your classes more enjoyable, meaning you’ll learn more as well as making the gym a place you strongly look forward to coming to. Examples would be the social events put on by the gym, watching shows and competitions together whether live or at viewing parties for televised events.

Written by Joe Boobyer.

Photography: Terry Vorg/Kings of Kombat, Hannah Cooper

September 14th was a busy night for the team across the board, with Coach Darren Gn stepping into the ring for his final fight of the year on Kings of Kombat 25 at MSAC, and our Mixed Martial Arts ladies Lisa Kyriacou and Holly Pfeiffer representing down south in Hobart, Tasmania on All Styles Grappling – MMA Fight Night 3.

First up on the card, and in her first bout as part of the Absolute MMA team, Holly faced off against opponent Amy Jay. It was over quick for Holly’s opponent, with Holly securing the win in the first round via a RNC submission! Great work Holly, we are glad to have you on board with the team and look forward to what the rest of 2019 holds for you. On the fourth fight of the night, Lisa Kyriacou was matched against opponent Emily Nalu. Lisa dominated the early rounds, showing off her striking technique with quick, heavy hands, but her opponent continued to be aggressive. After two dominant rounds from Lisa, her opponent secured the win via TKO in a surprise upset after taking Lisa down late in the third round, and finishing with ground and pound until the referee called the match. This was an explosive match, taking away the title of “Fight of the Night” and despite not yielding the result we wanted, plenty for Lisa to be proud of and learn from, she will be back stronger for the experience!

Back home in Victoria, at the Kings of Kombat 10 year anniversary event Kings of Kombat 25, Coach Darren Gn went up against an experienced opponent in Baris Kilic, putting on a dominant performance to secure the win via unanimous points decision in his sixth fight! Listening well to his corner, Darren went to war every round, countering consistently against an aggressive, tough opponent with over 12 fights. As the only K1 fight on a Boxing card, Darren performed beautifully to represent his style and brings his record to 4-2 with this win. Congratulations to Darren on his win, he has worked tirelessly in the lead up to achieve this result and we could not be prouder of his efforts!

Run by Head Coach Thiago Stefanutti, Super BJJ saw a large number of our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors throw down on the mats on Sunday at the Broadmeadows Leisure Centre. We could not be prouder of the growing number of members who are now testing themselves in competition, and we cannot wait to seeing how you all have furthered your BJJ game through the pressure of a competition environment on the mats this week! A huge thank you to all our coaches, training partners, friends and families who came down to support our dedicated athletes, we could not do what we do without your support. Congratulations to everyone who challenged themselves on the Super BJJ mats, and whether you made it to the podium, received a medal or learned, we are proud of your efforts. As a team, we took away 37 gold, 31 silver and 22 bronze medals. A massive effort from the crew! Special mentions go out to Con Haritou, who took out 3 gold medals (gi weight, no gi weight, no gi open) and 1 silver medal in the gi open, Jamie Common taking away a double medal with a gold in the master 1 medium-heavy and silver in the open weight and Susy Ferri who secured a silver in the blue belt middle weight (gi) and gold in the open!

In Tokyo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt and key BJJ Asia member Dorothy Dao represented at the Asian Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship for Absolute MMA Shanghai, absolutely smashing it out to take away a silver in open weight and a bronze in the absolute. Great to see Dorothy showcasing her skills on the mats, and we are very proud to have her on board with the team!

Photography: Terry Vorg, Fiona Gumboots, Adam Wright, Dorothy Dao.