Category Archives: News

Our grappling team proved themselves on the mat this weekend at Grappling Industries on Saturday, held at Monash Sport, Monash University in Clayton. Grappling Industries is a great competition to be a part of, and we are proud of all of our members from 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. 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!

While we are proud of all of our students that participated, we would like to draw attention to some standout performances.We had three of our white belt ladies take away amazing results on the day, with Vesper Chun taking away a gold in the gi, winning her four gi matches via submission (two armbars, two straight footlock) and a silver in no-gi after two matches (one win, one loss), Kathleen Peachy taking away a gold in her no-gi division (female, beginner, master, -150lbs) and Marielle Lee, who in her debut competition took away the gold in gi, and a silver in no-gi! These ladies have spent tireless hours on the mat in preparation and it is amazing to see their hard work pay off.

We would also like to congratulate Lane Cole Delu who took away the gold in no-gi (intermediate) after 4 wins and 1 loss, and bronze in the gi, and Susy Ferri for taking away a silver in the gi after three wins and 1 loss. Meesh Hall also took away a silver medal in the no-gi intermediate adult (+165kg) after winning two of her three matches! We would also like to shout out to Lee Harker, who battled through four matches to take away silver in the no-gi adult advanced (-170lbs), missing out on the gold to Izaak Michell, a well known international competitor who has trained with us in the past. Well done team!

Edward McMutrie took away a double gold for his efforts in both gi and no-gi (beginner, -210lbs) with three wins in the no-gi (Joshua Zuccato taking away silver shortly behind him with two wins and one loss in a great result for his competition debut) and a huge five wins in the gi! A huge eight matches for Edward! Blair McGrouther took away a massive three medals for his efforts, with a silver in the gi at -210lbs (3 wins, 1 loss), gold in no gi after two wins and a gold in the absolute (white, masters/seniors). 

Interstate at the WA Italian Club in Perth, Eternal MMA launched their very first Eternal Development Series (EDS) for up and coming Mixed Martial Artists. First up on the card for team Absolute MMA was Danielle Stevens, who fought an aggressive, forward moving grappler in opponent Michala Manning. Danielle used her defensive grappling well against a tough opponent who had made it her mission to put Danielle on the cage and take her down. Defending well against her opponents takedown attempts, Danielle kept her on the outside and continued to land long, straight punches through the bout. Great striking from Danielle, who made solid use of her jab to secure a win via unanimous decision! Congratulations Danielle!

In back to back Absolute MMA bouts, Jake Savic was up next on the card against opponent Dan Molyneux. Jake came in composed, and achieved what he had set out to do, showing off his footwork and using crisp boxing combinations well to set up his take downs, which he did repeatedly throughout the fight. Controlling the fight well on the ground and against the cage, Jake secured a decision victory for his efforts. Well done Jake!

Coach Liam McNeill finished up the card for the Absolute MMA team, against opponent Logan Murray. Liam came out strong, keeping Murray on the outside, and doing significant damage with low kicks and body kicks. Murray went for a take down and ended up fighting against the cage, Liam took his back in the scramble to sink in a rear naked choke in the first three minutes of round one, achieving victory via submission. We always enjoy seeing our coaches showcase their skills, congratulations to Liam on a stellar performance against a game opponent!

Photography: Eternal MMA, Meesh Hall, Joshua Zuccato and Vesper Chun.  

This week we are excited to run an Ask Me Anything with Coach Simon Carson! 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.

You probably know Simon best from his 256th place finish in the Mongolian Wrestling Nationals. Outside of that, he is also a professional mixed martial artist, a brown belt in BJJ, registered Exercise Scientist, holds a Bachelor of Health Science (Human Movement) and of course he also founded this gym we all call home.

Also a Level 1 Olympic Lifting Coach, Simon has trained Olympians, World Champions in BJJ and State Champion boxers. His expertise is widely recognised, writing for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and he has been featured on Nova and SEN.

Tyrell Woollcott – Big Boss, have you ever had a different profile picture Simon Carson? ?

This bad boy.

Stefano Seung Jin Lee – How did you get into MMA, and what made you open your own gym?

I got into MMA through first doing Boxing, then BJJ and then wanting to put it together. I started the gym mainly as wanted to make a place that was a really good place for me to train by making a good facility with everything I needed, including great coaches.

Trung Le – What did you learn in your past career that help you built AMMA? And how did you come up with the unique idea of Thailand for a seminar/holiday location gym? Also…what’s next?

Hey Trung, in terms of lessons from my past career in health and fitness, it was really trying to bring the service and facility standard across from that industry to Martial Arts (It was a bit more of a cottage industry 10 years ago). The Thailand gym came up as I liked training there, and it is of course the home of Thai boxing. It does not mean that there is not great coaches here for Thai boxing, but over there you can run with an instructor to student ratio of 3/4 to 1 which means everyone gets pads, and more individual instruction. In terms of whats next, it is just to continue to improve what we are doing already. We would only open another centre when we have more of our own coaches wanting to and ready to take the jump to being partners in a centre

Jack Nicola – After your dominant win in a big show like Battlefield FC…don’t you think you should continue?

Thanks Jack, but I am old and fat. More keen to help you young guys get to the top.

Reon Mahima – 1. What’s your story? 2. Who’s your top 3 MMA fighters? 3. How do you defend a NS/TBag kimura in an MMA rule set? 4. What’s your thoughts on KO’s in sparring? 5. Rank- pad work, roadwork, bag work, shadow, s&c, sparring, drills, situation.

1. My Story – My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloé with webbed feet. My father would womanise; he would drink; he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament…My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon … luge lessons … In the spring, we’d make meat helmets … When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds — pretty standard, really. At the age of 12, I received my first scribe. At the age of 14, a Zoroastrian named Vilmer ritualistically shaved my testicles. When I was 18 I went to evil medical school. At age 25 I took up tap dancing. I wanted to be a quadruple threat: an actor, dancer, singer and mixed martial artist.

2. Top 3 Fighters (Current) DC, Alexander Volkanovski and Rob Whittaker.

3. N/S Kimura Defence – If done correctly, there is no defence (wearing no underwear and Thai boxing shorts).

4. KO’s in sparring should not happen. Only on rare occasions where accidental (harder) contact is made.

5. Ranking of pad work, roadwork, bag work, shadow, s&c, sparring, drills, situation. In my honest opinion, all these things achieve different outcomes so I dont think ranking one more important than the other is the right way to look at it.

Joshua Ber – Who’s your hero and why?

I don’t really have a hero that I look up to, but the fighter I respect the most would be DC. He conducts himself well both in and out the cage and seeks to test himself against the best at any weight.

Absolute MMA fighter Josh Grove has been training at Absolute MMA Thailand since June this year, and putting in the hard work in the heat of Phuket! On Wednesday, 27th of November he faced off against Franco (Eagle Muay Thai) on the main event of the evening at Bangla Boxing Stadium. After some action packed rounds, Josh took away the title, taking away the belt and becoming “Champion of Bangla”. Congratulations Josh!

On Saturday, Maricarmen “MK” Rubae and Jess Fothergill, two of our Muay Thai students stepped into the ring at “Roots 13: Could you be loved” at the well-known St Kilda Town Hall. Great to have two of our ladies representing on the amateur day show prior to Rebellion Muay Thai, Australia’s premier Muay Thai promotion. Jess was up first for the team on fight 3 of the card, against Christine Bui (8 Blades) in a 3×2 minute match up at 59kg (with elbow pads). Roots is now operating under full Thai rules, with some bouts utilising elbow pads. Jess came out strong using nice defensive work and movement on the outside, but was outworked in the clinch for the first round. Despite the setback of her hair coming loose, she listened well to her corner and kept the fight at range well in the second and third rounds, and managed to control and nullify more of the clinch exchanges, all the while returning kicks consistently to the body and front leg of her opponent. A very close match overall, with consistent pace from two conditioned fighters. With the bout going to the judges, we thought she did enough for a 2-1 victory on the cards, but unfortunately only one of the three judges thought the same, resulting in a very close split decision loss. Given how much she hated clinching at the start of this camp, we are proud of how far she has come in that aspect of her game!

On the later end of the show, MK went to war on fight 13 of the card, with opponent Jessica Williams in a 3×2 minute bout at 54kg. MK started out looking to use her height and range to keep her shorter opponent at bay, landing some good kicks at distance and her straight punches finding their target. Her opponent was strong and pushed forward, initiating a heavy clinch game. In the exchanges on the inside, MK saw some success reversing position and landing some knees of her own but her opponent was strong and managed to finish the majority of the clinch battles in a dominant position while landing more scoring shots. This was the story for most of the fight, with some good offensive and defensive work from both sides. Ultimately it was not enough for MK take the rounds, however we commend her on a great effort against a tough opponent. Plenty to take away from the experience, congratulations to both girls for a great hard fought fight!

Representing for the gym on Australian Fighting Championship (AFC), Lyle “Krusher” Karam (5-0) was matched against Luke Howard (5-3) at welterweight. A great performance from Lyle, he came out strong, controlling the distance and pace well over the three rounds. Getting the finish late in the third round, Lyle remains undefeated, and takes away the win! Congratulations to Lyle on his stellar display of skill.

Fresh out of Grapple Fest last week, Jeremy Skinner of Absolute MMA St Kilda entered Polaris 12 this weekend in back to back competitions! Matched against Eoghan O’Flanagan in a No-Gi 79kg catchweight preliminary bout on the under card, this bout marks Jeremy’s second appearance on Polaris. Jeremy begins by pulling guard, with O’Flanagan making a rolling kimura attempt over the top, Jeremy reading this well to almost catch his opponent in a leg entanglement. O’Flanagan, using the momentum from the kimura attempt finds mount, Jeremy defending well here to force an open guard. With Jeremy now threatening a straight ankle lock, O’Flanagan threatens one in return, Jeremy making use of his superior leg entanglement system to secure an inside heel hook for the win!

Photography: Absolute MMA Thailand, Lyle Karam, W.L Fight Photography.

Written by Joe Boobyer and Emilie Yap.

Last weekend saw the highly anticipated GrappleFest 7 show take place in Liverpool (UK). On bout number seven of the card, Kaya Rudolph faced off against John Moffatt (SBG UK). To start, Kaya clinches, briefly threatening a guillotine with John pulling guard, Kaya then finding a knee slice entry. Kaya shows off his stellar defence here, fending off a single leg take down attempt by John and an attempted heel hook entry. John pulls guard into a single butterfly, with Kaya doing a great job to maintain balance on top. Kaya neutralises the butterfly with a body lock, using the body lock to pass. A wonderful back take from Kaya! Kaya transitions from double hooks into a body triangle, attempting to sink in an RNC. After a brief period of hand fighting with John managing to escape the body triangle, Kaya uses the opportunity to snap the RNC on for the tap at the 2.35 mark. Kaya marks himself as one to watch at just 18 years of age! Congratulations on taking away the win in your debut GrappleFest appearance.

Up against Kade Ruotolo (Atos), Jeremy Paul Skinner had a very dynamic match, with high level jiu-jitsu being showcased. Significant submission attempts started early, with Jeremy finding a 50/50 entry, a similar approach to that of Lachlan Giles at ADCC Worlds 2019. Jeremy showed amazing defence throughout this match, fighting off submission attempt after submission attempt. Unfortunately for Jeremy, Kade neutralised his heel hook attempt, securing a kimura grip to transition into an inverse triangle. After giving up on the inverse triangle, Kade moves to his feet in an attempt to isolate one of Jeremy’s legs, snapping on a tight d’arce. Jeremy turtles, with Kade forcing him into bottom side control. The two then move to standing, with Kade securing an underhook. Jeremy, matching Kade’s athleticism, hits a flying triangle and then proceeds to try and sink in a chin strap. From the flying triangle position, Jeremy forces a leg entanglement to no success. The two continue the fight for dominance with Jeremy in an open guard and Kade on the feet, Kade hitting another d’arce entry to get the tap with three minutes left on the clock. A hard match against a tough opponent for Jeremy, however we commend him on an entertaining performance and great skill in neutralising many submission attempts from an aggressive opponent.

In a under 90kgs match up, brown belt James Walters faced off against Ben Hills (Next Gen). Up against a skilled opponent in Hills, James regrettably got caught early in the match after some back and forth grip fighting between the two contenders, with Hills securing a high wrist guillotine. Despite this not being the result James wanted, we are supremely proud of how he conducted himself in at GrappleFest as a sporting representative for the gym and that he is competing at such an elite level.

The main event for GrappleFest saw Coach Craig Jones in a match for the under 100kg belt against Adam Wardzinski (Checkmat). The match kicks off with Craig securing the clinch off the feet to start, Adam sitting down, and Craig attempting to saddle. Craig sits into a butterfly and then quickly transitions into Z guard. Adam, understanding the danger of Craig’s Z guard, quickly moves to his feet, with Craig then finding the same clinch where the match began. This results in Adam pulling guard, this time with him finding a shin to shin, with Craig diving over the top, looking for a kimura. Craig also uses this movement to lock in an inverse triangle. Adam attempts rolling out to reverse the position, Craig, going with the momentum, closes the space on the triangle for the tap at the 1.20 minute mark! Craig continues his dominance over the competitive scene and takes away the belt!

Continuing the overseas trend, ONE ROUND IRE (Imanari Roll Ecstasy) commenced in Tokyo on Sunday (24/11/2019). Both black belt Coaches Sean Le Gourrierece and Mikael Yahaya competed at this event in a singular, 5 minute round format with overtime rules. Up against the legendary Imanari, Mikael’s match went to overtime. In overtime, the contenders take turns attacking and escaping both starting from 50/50, the fastest escape or submission wins the match, with submissions being superior to escapes. Mikael attacked first, however Imanari eluded his heel hook attempt, escaping in 20 seconds. Despite Mikael not securing the win, an amazing opportunity to compete against a legendary grappler in elite competition for Mikael!

Coach Sean Le Gourrierec had his match-up against Robson Tanno, a Brazilian competitor competing out of INFIGHT Japan. In the five minute round, Sean passed his opponent’s guard twice, transitioning from a wrist lock attempt to a d’arce choke, to a north south choke. Unable to secure the tap despite having the choke on at the 5 minute mark, the referee took the match to overtime. With overtime seeing the two start in 50/50, Tanno popped Sean’s ankle a couple of times, getting the tap 10 seconds in. With Sean’s turn to attack up next, he started in saddle, getting the inside heel hook in 11 seconds- just one second too late! An inspiring performance and amazing battle from Sean.

Written by Emilie Yap and Matt D’Arcy.

Photography: violetxanthephotos, VTG Images and Mikael Yahaya.  

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