Category Archives: News

It was a sweltering temperature of 37°C yesterday in Melbourne, but our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition team braved the heat at Monash University in Clayton to showcase their skills on the mats. It was great to see so many of our staff and members from Collingwood, St Kilda and Melbourne CBD competing on the day, a huge thank you to all the friends and family who came down to support the Absolute MMA team, despite the heatwave. How lucky are we to be part of such a supportive community?! To everyone who competed and received medals, we would like to congratulate you on continuing to challenge yourself and moving forward in your martial arts journey!

We had some standout performances on the day, including Clay Lyne who took out Gold in his Gi Division (winning 6 matches in total) and Bronze in no gi advanced! Big effort for Clay, who went straight into the no gi after his gi division, losing 2 and winning 1. What a beast! We also had Edward McMutrie who closed out his division against some tough opponents to receive gold and Nick Hayden who competed in three divisions to receive bronze (open weight purple belt), silver in his weight class and gold (no-gi).

Sarah Chapman stormed through a massive 9 matches to secure a well deserved gold in her weight division for both gi AND no gi, as well as a silver in the absolute no gi division. Great to see Sarah killing it in the purple belt division!

Flo Ryan from Absolute MMA St Kilda also made a triumphant comeback to competition after 9 months away, winning all of his 7 fights by submission via heelhook and footlock to earn the gold medal in the -77k advanced no-gi division! In the absolute division Flo won his first two matches by submission, conceding in the third via points against Australian UFC fighter Jake Matthews. An amazing 10 fights, 9 submission from Flo! What a champion!

Brown Belt Jeremy Paul Skinner received gold in the no-gi absolute division, finishing 4 matches by submission to take the final decision against teammate Daniel Schuardt! In the under 155 weight division, Jeremy utilized his wrestling skills and avoided attacking the legs to secure silver, teammate Marcus Tan taking out the gold after battling through 6 fights (4 wins via submission)! A final match up we often see in our 10am pro training classes at St Kilda!

A huge thank you and shout out to Head Coach Thiago Stefanutti and coaches Apryl Eppinger and Sean Le Gourierrec who spent a large majority of their day cornering and supporting our students through their matches. We don’t know what we would have done without you two! Well done once again to everyone who competed and earned their medals on the day

And just like that, the first competition of 2019 is out of the way! DEFGroup held it’s second episode of it’s second season this past weekend at SHBJJ Century Avenue. To switch things up, all the fights were no-gi. The Absolute MMA crew showed up ready for battle as always, and we’re proud of our competitors for putting themselves out there!

Bret continued our Absolute white belt win streak, as he took out the white belt division in all his wrestling glory. Xiaoxing made it to the finals of the coloured belt division, taking the silver medal. Everyone performed great, and we’re more than happy to kick off the 2019 competition year with exciting matches and good results.  Let’s keep the momentum going, and we’ll see you on the mats!

Written by Absolute MMA Shanghai.

The Absolute MMA St Kilda Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team went to war last weekend on the 3rd Edition of the AGC Invitational at the Arkaba Hotel, in Adelaide South Australia! One of the first tournaments for the year (inspired by ADCC and EBI) AGC saw our very own Coach Mikael Yahaya along with teammate Jeremy Skinner stepping onto the mat to defend their respective titles (under 77 kg and over 77 kg). Unfortunately, due to injury Dion Gadd had to pull out of AGC, with Hugh Boyd stepping up to replace him in a stacked bracket.

Overall, we saw excellent results from the team with Absolute MMA taking home the under 77 kg, and over 77 kg divisions! Great effort Jeremy Paul Skinner, Daniel Schuardt, Mikael Yahaya and Hugh Boyd, you all put on a great display of jiu-jitsu and showcased your skill! Congratulations to all of you on your efforts, thank you all for being such great representatives of the gym.

A great start to 2019 for the team, we can’t wait to see what the rest of this year brings you all!

Photo: Lachlan Giles

While we had an awful weekend in Melbourne with floods and rain, there was nothing but sunshine for our Absolute MMA Thailand team overseas, literally and figuratively.

Amateur MMA fighter Josh Grove from Melbourne made his Muay Thai debut at Bangla Stadium on Wednesday, securing a win via first round TKO! Not to be stopped, Josh then entered a grappling competition on the weekend, coming up against a high level wrestler from Kazakhstan and unfortunately sustaining a loss via refs advantage. Great to see Josh making the most of his trip in Thailand, we can’t wait to see what 2019 brings for this up and coming fighter!

On Friday night, Muay Thai fighter Olivia Ritchie stepped into the ring once again in a rematch against a southpaw opponent she fought about 2 months ago. Focusing on her boxing to keep the pressure on, Olivia dominated the fight and secured a win via KO in the first round with a right head kick! Congratulations Olivia!

Results are in from the 2018 IBJJF No-Gi World Championship that was held this weekend in the USA! Congratulations to the whole Absolute MMA team that competed and put their jiu-jitsu on the line. We had athletes from all three Australian gyms AND our Shanghai location make the trip and experience competing at the highest level of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

We’d especially like to congratulate Sarah Chapman, purple belt from Absolute MMA St Kilda who received a bronze medal in her division! Great to see Sarah looking more confident and comfortable in the purple belt division. We also had several athletes make it to the quarter finals of their divisions, Kit Dale and Dorothy Dao (Absolute MMA Shanghai), just missing out on the podium! Amazing work guys, we know you’ll take your experience gained and apply to your jiu-jitsu in 2019.

A special mention to Coach Lachlan Giles who went to war against opponent Vitor Oliveira in an epic battle for the ages. This was a ten minute wrestling match that conceded in Lachlan losing by a few advantages and Vitor pulling out of his next match. A very tough fight and great performance from Lachlan!

To all the athletes from Absolute MMA, whether you made the trip from Shanghai or Australia, you all left your hearts on the mat and we salute you! Thank you to everyone that contributes to the training of this wonderful martial art on our mats – our athletes would not have been able to make it to this level without your support.

Absolute MMA boxing champion Antonia Konstantopoulou set the tone for the weekend on Friday the 7th of December, winning the semi-finals of the 2018 Elite Men and Women’s Boxing Championships (Nationals) in a 5:0 decision! Antonia showed great boxing technique, ring craft, ring control, defense and offence in her semifinal bout. Qualifying for the Women’s Bantamweight (51-54 kg) finals the next day, Antonia was matched against opponent Sacha Ryan-Dryden from Queensland.

Not to be stopped, Antonia continued her winning streak with a 5:0 decision victory in the final, emerging as the new Australian Bantamweight Champion! Antonia has been dedicated to her craft this year, just returning from an overseas training camp in Greece. We are so proud of what she’s achieved! We’d also like to extend congratulations to the whole Boxing Victoria Team for continuing to have the highest amount of medals won as a state, winning 12 medals across 16 weight divisions!

The highly anticipated Polaris Professional 8 rolled around, with Coach Lachlan Giles up first for the middleweight title against opponent Mansher Khera. This was a great fight, we got to see a lot of Lachlan’s guard work, with plenty of back and forth happening, Mansher putting lots of pressure on. Lachlan was strategically trying to attack the legs, and at one point got a good entry on a leg entanglement, but wasn’t able to convert it. In light of Mansher’s forward pressure and pressure passing, the judges granted Mansher the win via unanimous decision.

Up next for the team was Coach Craig Jones much looked forward to rematch with Keenan Cornelius to determine the light-heavyweight championship. We got to see a new side of Craig’s competition game with Craig pushing forward and utilizing his wrestling and pressure passing. His wrestling and heavy top game got him the win via split decision from the judges. Congratulation to Craig on a hard fought victory against one of the best in the world!

The Absolute MMA Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition team traveled all the way up to Kazakhstan to compete in the ADCC trials this weekend. Even though ADCC officials elected to not give out the invites due to low attendance, we had a couple of great performances from the team with James Walters coming 4th, and black belt Ben Hodgkinson taking away the sole ticket to ADCC by winning 6 fights with 6 submissions and not a single point scored against him!

It’s been a hard weekend for the team, with plenty of lows and highs, but I think we can all agree that one of the greatest things to come out of Kazakhstan is this photo of Coach Mikael Yahaya.

Cooper Burnham, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt training under Thiago Stefanutti traveled overseas to Texas in the USA for NAGA (North American Grappling Association). Having just finished his last year of high school, Cooper finishes off a big year with an outstanding result, winning Gold in his two divisions (no-gi expert division and his purple belt gi division)! After battling illness up to the comp, and a stressful couple of days with lost luggage and training gear, Cooper has proven his resolve is greater than the circumstances. Congratulations on a great year Cooper, and to everyone else- keep an eye out for this athlete who is heading over to No-Gi Worlds to join the rest of our Absolute MMA team!

Coach Livia Gluchowska unfortunately had to pull out of EBI 18 in the female straw weight tournament due to injury, with teammate Chisaki Akiyama, purple belt, stepping in on short notice (four days!) to replace her. Drawing multiple world champion black belt Pati Fontes (Checkmat) as her opponent in the first round, Chi put up an admirable fight, displaying good guard work, however eventually Pati took her back and finished it via RNC. This will be a great learning experience for Chi and will prepare her for fighting in the higher competitive levels of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu where we know she will be in the future!

Written by Emilie Yap
Photos: Polaris Professional, Antonia Konstantopoulou, Thiago Stefanutti, Lachlan Giles, Ben Hodgkinson and Young Nghiem

Our amateur Mixed Martial Arts team went to war on Path to Hex this Saturday, with Lisa “Savage” Kyriacou, Rebecca “The Punisher” Cerra and Donn Malate representing Absolute MMA in the cage!

Rebecca Cerra stepped up first to represent in the gym at bantamweight against opponent Holly Pfeiffer. Starting strong for the team, Bec put on a show, throwing heavy body shots and showing good cage control. The fight went the full three rounds, with Bec eventually securing a win via unanimous decision! Awesome fight Bec, well done on your result. Looking forward to seeing you keep it up and get back in the cage in the new year.

Trained by Coach Luke Catubig, Donn Malate made his amateur MMA debut on this weekend’s Path to Hex against opponent Abe Tsimiklis. Donn has been working hard in the gym in the lead up to his bout, consistently sparring and working across the MMA classes, Thiago Stefanutti’s BJJ classes and Laos Toohey’s striking classes. Donn stuck to the game plan, working his southpaw stance in the early rounds to great effect. With a focus on his grappling and take downs in rounds two and three, Donn dominated the fight and kept the momentum going for the team by securing a win via decision! Congratulations on a great first bout in the octagon Donn!

Finishing up the event for the team in a flyweight bout, Lisa Kyriacou lived up to her fight name “Savage” by finishing her opponent via TKO ground and pound in the first round of her match! A quick finish from a takedown in the first one or two minutes! A great performance by Lisa, we are proud to have seen the growth in her since her last bout on Eternal MMA and she has trained hard to achieve this result. Well done you weapon!

A clean sweep for the Absolute MMA team with all three of our fighters taking away wins on Path to Hex! We are so proud of how hard you all have worked and your many hours of dedication have showed in this result. Thank you all for being such great representatives for the gym, we look forward to what 2019 brings for you!

Sunday saw our Melbourne CBD Boxing team head to the Reggio Calabria Club in Parkville with Coach Pradeep Singh to support Liam McNeill and Ankur Bisla in their bouts. In a great display of skill, Liam secured a win in the second round, stopping his opponent with a body shot. Congratulations Liam!

Up against a strong opponent, Ankur put on a good show and displayed his skills. Unfortunately falling short on points, the bout eventuated in a loss for Ankur via decision. Well done on getting in there Ankur, we know you will take this experience and come back stronger for it in 2019!
Congratulations to both boxers, thank you to everyone who came down on the day to support the team!

Overseas, one of our professional Absolute MMA Thailand fighters Phil Engeroff faced off against Leandro from Sitsongpeenong at Bangla Stadium. This was an absolute war, with Phil landing some heavy shots on a strong opponent. Congratulations to Phil on his round three KO!

From Absolute MMA Shanghai, purple belt Roeslan won a gold medal at Dumau Tianjin, also called the SJJCF International Open in Tianjin, China. Well done Roeslan! You can read more about the event and results here:
https://www.dumau.org/main/eventResults/337

Written by Emilie Yap
Photos: Pradeep Singh, W.L Fight Photography

Congratulations to Coach Jason Saggo of Absolute MMA Thailand on his win last weekend!

It was a triumphant return to the cage for Jason, who defeated opponent Adam Assenza with seven seconds to go, via RNC in the first round of their bout on the BTC 4 main event in Peterborough, Ontario. A UFC veteran, Jason holds a record of 3-3 in UFC matches, with this bout taking his career mark to 13-4. Congratulations on taking away the lightweight championship belt Jason! Moving forward, Jason hopes to fight with ONE Championship in Asia. Read more about his goals in his interview with Bloody Elbow here:

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2018/11/25/18111715/jason-saggo-expendable-ufc-one-championship-btc-4-lightweight-mma-news-interview?fbclid=IwAR092m0GqDXub9a03XMX31lEZ7GXVhZedZ_UOrKROcSuJaF9IleT52js_tw

Jason begins working with us officially at Absolute MMA Thailand next week. We look forward to learning from your experience Jason and welcoming you on board!

Photos: The Journal Pioneer