Category Archives: News

It was a big day on Saturday last weekend (23/02/2019) for our Absolute MMA grappling team with both Grapplefest 4 in Liverpool, England and the UAEJJF National Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Sydney, Australia.

Internationally at Grapplefest we had a team of three competing with Craig Jones on as the main event, Lachlan Giles on the co-main and Izaak Michell (visiting from Arruda BJJ) on the main card. Izaak was first up against opponent Nathan Dunne (Next Gen) in an U70kg bout, looking super cool, calm and collected on the mat. Izaak avoided all submission attempts, and after displaying good top pressure and positional control, secured a win via heel-hook! Congratulations Izaak!

The co-main event saw Coach Lachlan Giles up against Braulo Estima black belt Bradley Hill in an U80kg bout. Lachlan found himself in trouble initially with Hill landing a rolling take down, but recovered, stringing together a series of attacks which resulted in another win via submission with an unorthodox inside heel-hook just ahead of the five minute mark. Job well done Lachlan!

In an exciting match up against 2 x IBJJF Gi World Champion Gabriel Arges, Craig Jones‘ U90kg bout rolled around on the main card and it was time to throw down! Craig kicked off the match with a slower than normal start for him, having just coached teammates Izaak and Lachlan in their bouts. Arges was first to pull guard, with Craig displaying his strong top game, passing the guard to mount. The clash continued with Craig throwing a number of leg attacks at Arges which were defended successfully, but once Craig took the back around the 10 minute mark, he wasted no time in sinking in a RNC to finish the match. Great result for Craig and the team with 3 wins via submission!

On the local scene in Sydney, the UAEJJF National Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship saw our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team go to work! Well done to everyone who competed and earned their medals on the day. Results from the team were as follows:

GIRLS GI / TEEN / 63KG / ORANGE/GREEN – Nacinta Tuuholoaki (Gold)

MALE GI / BLUE / ADULT / 85KG – Clay Lyne (Bronze)

MALE GI / BLUE / ADULT / 110KG – Luis Gabriel Contreras Olave (Gold)

MALE GI / PURPLE / ADULT / 69KG – Journ Tang (Silver)

MALE GI / PURPLE / ADULT / 77KG – Vincent Rogato (Bronze)

MALE GI / PURPLE / MASTER 1 / 94KG – George Miller (Gold)

FEMALE GI / BROWN / BLACK / ADULT / 90KG – Shantelle Thompson (Silver)

MALE NOGI / BLUE / ADULT / 108KG – Luis Gabriel Contreras Olave (Gold)

MALE NOGI / PURPLE / MASTER 1 / 83KG – George Miller (Gold)

Special mention to Clay Lyne who fought his way through his first interstate competition and through four matches (3 wins-1 loss) to receive Bronze in the gi (blue belt) and Vince Rogato who competed in the gi, winning one and losing one to eventually fight for the bronze and secure it in his third match via submission. Luis Gabriel Contreras Olave and George Miller stormed through multiple divisions to both claim double Gold, with George getting bumped up to the 94kg division as there was no opponents in the 83kg division. Amazing results, congratulations team!

Written by Emilie Yap. Photos: Foto Rolls Photography, George Miller and Lachlan Giles. 

When we found out that UFC 234 was going to be held in Melbourne at Rod Laver Arena on February 10th, 2019, we were more excited than anyone. The main event was intended to be a UFC Middleweight Championship bout between current champion and fellow Australian Robert Whittaker and The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen middleweight winner Kelvin Gastelum, however, Rob was forced to pull out of his bout the day prior due to a hernia, and a twisted and collapsed bowel that forced him to undergo emergency surgery. On behalf of all of us at Absolute MMA we would like to wish Rob a speedy recovery and we look forward to supporting the Australian champion when he can return to the cage!

Given the cancellation of the intended main event, the three-round co-main event between New Zealand native Israel Adesanya (City Kickboxing) and former champion Anderson Silva was set to headline the promotion. During the weeks leading up to UFC 234 we were lucky enough to have many of the UFC fighters, media and staff visit us to train at our facilities.

The City Kickboxing crew came down to train in full force, with Israel Adesanya, Kai Kara-France and Shane Young along with their Coach Eugene Bareman in the house on multiple occasions. It was amazing having the team train with us during the fight week, and you are all always welcome to come down again when visiting from New Zealand! Congratulations to all of you on your wins – an incredible 3 for 3 at UFC 234 for the crew! These results are a testament to how hard you and your crew work and it was great seeing you in action in the octagon. Check out “UFC 234 Embedded: Vlog series – Episode 5” which was partially filmed at our Melbourne CBD location here.

Popular UFC Featherweight Teruto Ishihara was another UFC athlete we were happy to welcome to our CBD facility during the week leading up to UFC 234. It was a pleasure to watch Teruto and his team go through the finishing touches for his fight. Although you did not get the result you were looking for on the day, we were cheering for you the whole way and we look forward to having your positive energy back in the gym next time you’re in Melbourne.

Wednesday 6th of February was an exciting day for the staff of Absolute MMA Collingwood! The gym filled with media staff, camera crews and reporters ready to take in the action of the UFC 234 media day. First up to workout was Jimmy Crute who wowed the cameras with his dynamic striking and powerful take downs. Jimmy looked as strong as ever when moving around our cage in Collingwood, and his TKO victory at UFC 234 showed just how at home he has become on the big stage.

Robert Whittaker was next to enter the Collingwood cage and impress the reporters with his slick footwork and fast hands. After showcasing his striking prowess he changed gears and rolled with Absolute’s own Craig Jones in a demonstration-type roll, in which staff of the gym were all too happy to see the Champ throw Craig on his head. The grappling was friendly and crowd-pleasing, as were Robert’s answers during the media scrum. We’re looking forward to having both Jimmy and Robert back in the gym next time the UFC are in town.

It was an exciting week for the team at Absolute MMA and we appreciate the attention and efforts of all UFC fighters, coaches and staff who took the time to come in and train with or visit us at Absolute MMA – including Dana White himself who dropped in and said hello at our Melbourne CBD location. We look forward to watching the continued success of all the fighters who call Absolute home while they’re in Melbourne, and cannot wait to see you all back in the gym next!

Written by Emilie Yap and Oliver Smith. Photography: Jasmin Frank Fight Photography, Lukaz “The Lycan” Catubig

It was one of the biggest ever cards for Absolute MMA on Saturday (February 16th, 2019) at Path to Hex 8 at the Chelsea Heights Hotel. A highly anticipated event for the gym with our very own Finnian Kinsella headlining the show on the main event for the Flyweight Championship! It definitely wasn’t just Finn though, we had a massive 8 other fighters set to put it all on the line; Adi Canimovic, Cristian Mejia, Jake Savic, Joshua Ber, Lisa Kyriacou, Rebecca Cerra, Sovann Q Ben and Tyrell Woollcott!

First up for the team was Joshua Ber in a lightweight bout against opponent Jack Wilshaw. Josh valiantly tried to hold his opponent in a triangle, but his opponent slipped out, Josh followed up with an arm bar but sustained a loss with his opponent escaping the submission and moving to ground and pound. In our next lightweight match up, Jake Savic faced off against opponent Jack Pelligana! Jake smashed it, dominating an opponent with a significant reach advantage to secure take downs every round and stay on top. A strong display of wrestling skills from Jake! Congratulation to Jake on a well deserved win via unanimous decision!

In the third lightweight bout for the team, Tyrell Woollcott stepped up against opponent Harry Webb. Tyrell unfortunately didn’t get the result he was looking for with a loss via TKO, however lots to take on board for his next bout!

Sovann Benoit up next for the team in a middleweight match against opponent Harley Bishop, coming out strong with a dominant performance in the first two rounds! Sovann got caught in a RNC at the end of the third round, sustaining a loss via submission. Lots to take away from the experience and to work on for next time!

In our fourth and final lightweight bout on the card, Cristian Mejia came out really strong against undefeated opponent in his 4th fight Mitchell Carter, showing a great striking game with sharp kicks. Unfortunately Christian conceded a take down late in the 3rd round which probably cost him the fight. Looking forward to seeing Christian back again and stronger for the experience!

Lisa “Savage” Kyriacou stepped up to the challenge of fighting Alish Smith (Spartan MMA), who has competed at the 2017 and 2018 World Championships, the 2018 Oceania Championships and the Asian Championships. This 60kg catch weight saw a weight advantage to Lisa with the experience advantage going to Alish. This was a tough fight for Lisa, with the bout going the full 3 rounds against a skilled opponent, however she came through with a win via split decision! Lisa always gives 100% heart and dedication in her training and we’re over the moon for her! Congratulations savage!

Rebecca “The Punisher” Cerra took on a strong opponent in Amber Thompson (Evolve MMA) who has represented Australia at the 2018 World Championships and 2018 Oceania Championships. Bec did a great job, getting in some solid shots and displaying her varied skill set, however just couldn’t get past Amber’s kicks and striking. Despite sustaining a loss via decision, nothing but respect for Bec, getting through some hard rounds and giving back against a technically strong opponent. Great to see Bec challenging herself as a martial artist by taking on an experienced opponent and she is sure to grow for the experience!

Stepping up in bout number eight for the Absolute MMA team, Adi Canimovic faced another undefeated opponent Bradley Shackleton in a light heavyweight clash which saw him give up a significant size advantage. Great work from Adi who kept the pressure on, securing take downs every round to take the win via decision! It’s been great seeing Adi put the hard yards in training in the lead up to his bout, we look forward to seeing what the rest of 2019 has for you!

Main event rolled around and Finnian Kinsella stepped into the octagon for his bout against opponent Troy Fumo for the Featherweight Title! A bit of a rocky start in the first round against a strong opponent, Finn picked it up in the second round and displayed his strong boxing skills. A close match ensued, with Finn eventually losing on points in a decision loss due to his opponents strong ground game. Hard day in the office, but great work by Finn who left it all in the cage, we’re looking forward to seeing you come back stronger for the experience and for what the rest of the year holds for you!

It was amazing seeing how many Absolute MMA supporters were in the venue, thank you all for coming down and showing support! We are so proud to be a part of this community and for our team all rallied around the fighters competing on the day. Thank you all once again, we’ll see you at the next one!

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