Unified MMA’s big haul of medals
Nine gold medals at club’s very first time at a tournament
Te Awamutu-based Unified MMA earned nine gold medals, a silver and a bronze at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu club Tsunami Southern Tribes Aotearoa national tournament in Levin. The club sent nine children and three adults to the contest, including owner and coach Regan McFall. With over 100 competitors from 12 New Zealand clubs, this was no mean feat. All seniors — Aaron Dykstra, Chris Ramsbottom and McFall — won gold medals while only two juniors didn’t come away with a medal. Junior gold medalists were Marie Wing, Stan Wing, Daneka Takitimu, Rocco Driver, Noah Logan and Lincoln Dinnan-Cooper. Brax Haworth gained silver while Laytin Takitimu grabbed a bronze. This was the first time that Unified MMA attended the tournament, but McFall attended last year, also taking home gold. “It was massive. We’ve been open for two and a half years and this is the first comp that we’ve taken our kids to. They just put on an absolute clinic,” McFall says. “It was a real proud moment for me as one of the gym owners and coach. Our black belt jiu-jitsu head coach Dalton Newby is also an owner of the gym. For him and I, two and a half years of blood, sweat and tears coaching these kids, then to go see them put on a performance like that was pretty special.” McFall says they were also proud of how the kids were off the mat. They won graciously, lost graciously and all of them were mat-side supporting their teammates’ fights. “When you’re on that mat, it’s a very one-man sport but it takes a whole team, a whole gym, to get fighters ready. It was cool to see that real team morale.”
The group had been tunnel-vision training for the tournament for six weeks with varying levels of experience. “Some of these kids have been training jiu-jitsu with us for two years and we had [Dykstra and Ramsbottom] in the adult beginners division,” McFall says. “One had been training for 12 months and the other for four. I was in the intermediate division and I’ve been training for two years.” American organisation Tsunami Southern Tribes is Unified MMA’s jiujitsu overarching body that governs their grading, syllabus and criteria for meeting the next level of belts. This means their belts are recognised internationally. Unified MMA will now attend the Levin-based nationals annually. “This is definitely the first of many competitions for our kids. They’ve really got the bug for it and clearly, they’ve got the skill for it,” McFall says. “It’s all self-funded and it’s a huge commitment for the parents to take the kids four and a half hours, there and home. Dalton and I appreciate the parents’ commitment — without them, it doesn’t happen. “Also, a massive thank you to Dalton. Without his guidance, there’s no way that these kids would be at the level that they’re at.”