Category Archives: News

Last Friday, doors opened at 6 pm at The Ukrainian Hall on Russell Street in Essendon, and the VAMAA Fight Night for February was underway! We had two of our amateur team members competing on the card, organized by the Melbourne Fight Club. Duy took out a win via first-round stoppage, and Cindy Huynh (CBD) sustained a loss via decision in her debut match, against an experienced opponent with three fights experience. We are supremely proud of both our students, who looked composed and strong in the ring and displayed great technique! Well done team! Read More

Legion 11 saw our very own Chris Wase step into the octagon against opponent Shaun Etchell in a match for the Legion Bantamweight title down south in Tasmania. It is always great to get the wins in your fights but sometimes a loss can be just as impressive. Chris stepped up to take on a really tough opponent. He broke his hand early in the first round and still kept fighting hard to the 4th round and it was a really back and forward contest all the way through. He utilized his legs kicks really well and would have stopped most people with the damage it did to his opponents lead leg, it was impressive display of toughness from his opponent to keep fighting. There will be a few lessons to take from the fight and know that it is not the result you were after Chris, but you should be really proud of the effort your put in and you displayed a lot of great qualities that are unteachable.

Overseas in sunny Thailand, Julia Nyman from our team in Phuket took on her second Muay Thai fight, after getting a feel for the ring in her recent debut match. Julia has now been training with us for about three and a half months, and we would like to congratulate her on her second win via KO in the second round! Another stellar performance for Julia, who has now won with back to back knockouts in both her matches! We are looking forward to seeing Julia get back in there for her next bout soon.

Photography: Dogs of War Photography, Absolute MMA Thailand. 

Last weekend on Sunday the Abu Dhabi National Pro 2020 took place at Monash University, Clayton. While several of our athletes competed on the day, and we are proud of all of their efforts, we would like to highlight a few standout performances. Brown belt and Coach Vince Rogato took out gold by dominating in points in the final against his opponent and Juliette Brillet took out a double medal with bronze in her division for women’s blue belt in the gi, and a gold in no-gi. The recently promoted purple belt Hugh Boyd followed up his mother’s recent win at No-Gi Worlds (Lisa Boyd), taking out gold in no-gi after two matches. What a family of champions, great work team!  Read More

Welcome to 2020! Our grappling team kicked off the competitive season of the New Year this weekend at Grappling Industries, held at Coburg Basketball Stadium. Grappling Industries is a great competition to be a part of, and we are proud of all of our students and staff from all three of our locations (Collingwood, St Kilda and Melbourne CBD) who competed on the day. We would like to say a huge thank you to all the friends and family who came down to support the Absolute MMA team this month, your presence is greatly appreciated by those competing. Irrespective of whether you took away a medal or not, we would like to congratulate you on furthering your grappling game in competition, and taking away an invaluable experience that will only move you forward in your martial arts journey! Read More

Ah, January. The first month of a fresh New Year. A time for beginnings, to set goals, and evaluate where you want to be in the future. While we are big fans of goal setting and aiming for your dreams, we want to make sure our members are setting achievable, realistic goals that will put them on the path to long term success, and not just that of the short term! Read on for our three top tips and tricks on how to achieve long term success.

1. Consistency over intensity

Settle, petal! We’re all for an intense workout, at the right time though. If you’re returning from a couple of years off, and not in the best physical shape, you may do yourself more harm than good by throwing yourself head first into five classes a week. Let’s aim to find a sustainable routine, and whether that for you means starting slow and building up gradually from one class a week, that’s great.

Even if you have been training consistently, remember to listen to your body. Finding a volume and intensity that will keep you on the mats for months and years is preferable to burning the candle at both ends and doubling your costs on physio!

2. Get that R&R…Rest and Recovery. 

Gains also can happen off the mats, in the kitchen and on the couch. If you are training like a beast, you have to rest like a beast. Effective nutrition, sleep, hydration and rest days all allow you to give it 100% when you are at training. Perfect practice makes perfect and you can only apply yourself effectively if you have done the work when you aren’t at the gym.

3. Get involved in the community

If you ask our members why they love training at Absolute MMA, one of the most common answers is “the people”. We are extremely proud of the warm, supportive community that we have built at our gym and love welcoming new members. There is strength in numbers, and our community is definitely a resource that you can call upon for strength when you are in need of motivation. Reach out to your fellow students! Plan a drilling session together outside class hours, or organise to lift weights with a buddy to spot you.

Feeling shy, or a little uncertain? Take it from our members themselves!

“Everyone is super supportive and always happy to jump in and lend a hand if I’m struggling with anything. I’ve made so many lifelong friends at Absolute, I couldn’t imagine training anywhere else!” – Stephanie Scipione

“Absolute MMA has bought some amazing people into my life. I’m very grateful for that.”- Adrian Mannix

“You can literally walk into any class and immediately connect with your training partners, everyone is always so helpful to one another and the comradery between the coaches and students is very special to be a part of. You can set yourself any short or long term goals and know that you have the support of the coaches and your training mates.” – Anica Wajswelner

Photography: W.L Fight Photography, Apryl Eppinger, Emilie Yap. 

Written by Matt D’Arcy and Emilie Yap.

Matt and Emilie have a combined amount of over 15 years of experience in the fitness industry and wish all of our members, new and old, all the best with their fight and fitness goals in 2020.

Last Friday, four of our coaches and fighters closed up the year for the team on Hex Fight Series 20 at Melbourne Pavilion. First up we had the French born Jack Nicola in his fourth professional fight, opening the show against opponent Rohan Pope, and what a start it was. Throwing a devastating right hook to the chin of his opponent, Jack secured the win at the 18 second mark of round one via TKO! A sensational result for Jack, and a great beginning for team Absolute MMA!

The second fight of the night saw Coach Sam Hibberd face off against Juan Lizama, judo black belt from Guam, and make his debut in the Bantamweight division. No stranger to the Hex octagon, Sam put on a dominant performance from the beginning, landing heavy punches and exerting great control on the ground. Ultimately, Lizama was overwhelmed by Sam’s grappling skills, with Sam scoring multiple takedowns before setting up a Japanese neck tie, securing a tight darce choke to get the tap after the two minute mark of round two! Congratulations to Sam on an incredible win via submission!

Bout number four of the night saw Coach Kevin Jousset battle it out in a welterweight match up against a familiar face in Mat Myers (Adrenaline MMA), who he has previously come up against in his amateur career. It was a heated rematch from the two, with the match going the full three rounds. Round one saw Kevin cut his opponent above the eye with elbows on the ground. Using his elite judo skills, Kevin also tossed his opponent from the clinch, using a strong wizzer control on the ground to do damage, switching expertly to a reverse triangle to control his opponent and attack the kimura. Myers did well here, escaping the submission before the end of the round. Round two saw another dominant performance from Kevin, who began the round with an expertly placed trip against the cage, controlling the majority of the contest with his expert grappling skills. The final round began with striking exchanges on the feet, but went to the ground in a scramble, Kevin escaping a RNC to return the fight to standing. With the fight going to the judges, Kevin took away a well-deserved win via unanimous decision. What a fight!

Coach Raja Shippen finished up the night for the team on the co-main event of the evening, going to war against opponent Michael Barber. Round one saw Raja come out aggressive, throwing elbows and knees, and defending well. Back stepping towards the cage walls, Raja got Barber on the front foot to land an expertly placed spinning back elbow and securing the win via TKO in round one! A truly impressive finish from Raja, and for the team, with all four of our fighters taking away wins! We are supremely proud of all of our team, and how hard they have worked to achieve this result. A huge thank you to all of the coaches and team who took the time out to help our team prepare, and to support them in the corner, and to all our students and members who came to cheer for our fighters on the night.

Overseas in Anaheim, California, The World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championships spanned four days and it was great to see so many of our students and staff head across the ocean to compete and prove themselves on the mat. Congratulations to the whole Absolute MMA team that competed and put their jiu jitsu on the line! While we are proud of all of our athletes, irrespective of whether or not they took away a medal, we would like to highlight Lisa Boyd for receiving gold at Master 3 (Blue Belt), Daniel Schuardt on taking bronze at Brown Belt, and purple belt Chisaki Akiyama‘s run at Light-Feather, in which she took away a Bronze medal. Chisaki showed beautiful technique in her No-Gi Worlds performance, and she has come so far in her Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu journey. Congratulations Chi!

To all the athletes from Absolute MMA and the rest of the Aussies that made the trip and left their heart on the mats, we salute you. Thank you to everyone that contributes to the training of this wonderful martial art on our mats, and our training partners who make our performances possible!

At the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Jiu-Jitsu made it’s debut as a sport, and we were proud to have a representative from our gym, brown belt Coach Apryl Eppinger as a member of the Phillipines National Team. Apryl has been training tirelessly for this competition in recent months and we are extremely proud of her result, taking away a Bronze medal for her efforts in the 62kg female division! Well done Apryl!

Photography: W.L Fight Photography, Livia Giles.

This week we are excited to run an Ask Me Anything with Coach Livia Giles, BJJ Black Belt, physiotherapist and ADCC 2019 competitor! Each week we will have a new coach take questions from members via our Facebook Members Only group. New to the club? You can join our group here.

Liv is a 3-time BJJ World Champion (brown/purple/blue), World Pro Silver and Bronze Medallist (black) and IBJJF No-Gi World Championship Silver Medallist (black). She is also has worked for the Australian Institute of Sport. Before taking up BJJ, she was the 2003/04 Track Series Australian Cycling Champion and has represented Poland and Australia in rhythmic gymnastics.

Please note that while Livia is a physio, it would inappropriate (and illegal) for her to give advice on injuries or rehab without a consultation. She can still offer general advice though.

Anton Harrison-Kern – I have 2 questions! 1. What is your pre-comp ritual? 2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? And a supplementary question – how can I be less of a loser at match check in time! 😉

1. I warm up well. I usually listen to something that pumps me up. Go over my game plan and try to smile. I like walking on the mat first, and shaking the refs hand first.
2. In 5 years I will still be training and maybe competing, I’ll be coaching, employ a Physio or 2, probably have a family, keep growing Absolute MMA and help other fighters achieve their dreams.

Definitely wear shoes when you are not on the mat. Especially when in the toilet. That’s loser-ish for sure (haha).
Also make sure you have all your gear – rashies, belt and gi that is within the rules ?

Joshua Ber – What are your thoughts on cutting weight/ losing weight for comps?

I’m assuming you’re referring to BJJ? Everyone is different, but I guess it’s good to be as strong as you can in your division, which is why people cut weight.
I think for BJJ it’s very personal. I have competed between 46-60kg, and I personally feel the best when I’m around 53kg. In saying that I usually only cut for Worlds or bigger competition and let my body recover for local competition. I always consult a dietitian to help me when I’m manipulating my weight, be it cutting or bulking.

Jamie Selby-Pham – Your death stare during comp before the match starts – curious if your mindset is focus/ aggression/ visualisation of how you want it to go / other?

iI probably depends what level I’m competing at. At local competitions I usually try out new stuff, and try to relax and have a bit more fun. World champs etc, I’m there to win and nothing else will do. My RBF comes from me being focused and nervous. I don’t mean to look like a psycho, but I often do.
I try to visualise the first grip and where I want the fight to go, but it’s not always possible and you have to be flexible and just feel it out.

Weez Bee – In your opinion, what makes a good culture at a BJJ gym? 🙂

Inclusiveness, friendly people and coaches, welcoming staff and members. Also, creating a training platform for elite athletes and hobbyists alike. I think Absolute MMA does all of this pretty well.

Andy Sales – Knees. Best exercises/conditioning ideas for keeping them in one piece?

Doing the correct techniques is most important. Understanding which way your knees are not meant to bend also. In terms of general conditioning, it’s important to keep strength up – quads, hammies, glutes and proprioception.

Colm Reddy – What percentage of your time would you train what you are already good at versus improving your weaknesses (if you have any)?

I pretty much always work my weaknesses. I generally do my A game rolls around 2 weeks before major competition.
I set goals based on what I need to work on and what is most likely to help me win the next competition, and I drill those things, specific train the positions and then implement them to my A game.

Shamus Tyler – Seeing how many competitors you guys have had coming out of the absolute gym for ADCC and other super fights. What do you think sets your gym apart from the rest? What’s more important gym (coaching) or athlete (individual) to becoming elite?

I think that great coaching and coaches who lead by example is something we are very fortunate to have at Absolute MMA.
We have a structured introduction, fundamentals and advanced program but more than anything we encourage self- directed learning. I think smart training and addressing your weaknesses and being encouraged to ask questions is important.
We are also lucky to have very high level grapplers who train with us from all over the world. I am personally always inspired by my coach/hubby Lachlan Giles, Craig Jones and other teammates doing amazing things on the big stages and never want to be left behind.
I think both coaching and the athlete are important. Not everyone wants to or has the ability to become a world champion. I think a great coach is vital to an athletes success, however self-directed learning, motivation, a good plan and desire to learn and win is even more important.

Hanny Bannany – Y u so smol?

I’m giant. You seen my guns?!