In the middle of my career I suffered a staggering 6 losses in a row (out of the 10 losses of my professional Muay Thai career).  Initially I welcomed to opportunity to fight against World Champions, but eventually, the losses became more and more unbearable.  At the end of this run, I was offered to fight a well known fighter on the island – Farida Okiko.  Farida was well known in the fight community for her impressive fight career as well as someone who I had crossed paths with outside of training.  She was someone who was becoming a friend. Fighting a friend, or at least ..read more

It’s been a pretty crazy few weeks over here in Berlin and life has presented me with a few awesome surprises. My Berlin Bestie has been doing personal training at an MMA gym.  This has been going on for quite some time but I never really registered as to which MMA gym he was at.  This gym was recommended to me when I left Spitfire but I wasn’t in the right head space to take on that information at the time and I was pretty hell bent on taking a break from martial arts. Fast forward a few weeks and I get a phone call from my friend.  He said that he spoke to someone at his gym a ..read more

For anyone who knows me at all, it will come as no surprise to hear that I’m completely obsessed with CrossFit at the moment. A surprising number of people often ask me why I prefer CrossFit as my conditioning for fighting and I could think of nothing more appropriate and equally as challenging. As I worked my way through my WOD today (8 toes to bar and 12 burpee over box, 5 rounds for time) all I could think about was those damn level changes in MMA.  In my first camp it’s what destroyed me the most, even though I was in great shape at the time.  Although I’m taking a break from fig ..read more

I have always shied away from writing detailed encounters of a the negative variety.  That is until now. Unfortunately I have reached a crossroads in my life.  It’s now getting to a point where I feel like speaking out is the only way I get to stand up for myself and the things that I have worked my guts out for.  It means I get to defend my reputation – of which I have worked very hard over the years to maintain. So here it is.  The ugly truth. On May 27, 2017. I was supposed to face off against the German number 1 for the AFSO German title.  It was an incre ..read more

On Saturday March 11, 2017, after a roller coaster journey, I made my Pro MMA debut ending with a victory at the end of the second round. To give you all a little background… MMA is not something that I just decided to do.  I wanted to fight MMA before I had even begun my Muay Thai career.  Back when the UFC was host to fighters like Rich Franklin and Forest Griffin. When I fell in love with Muay Thai, everything else took a back seat.  I figured I would get to it somehow but it just never happened. Back in Australia, I wasn’t good enough to get decent Muay Thai fights and my gr ..read more

Recently, I’ve been asked by a number of people, about my process on making the decision to change gyms, or cities, or how I go about making big life calls in general.  It may seem like a lie when I say I am a really private person, but in reality, I am.  I try to not make half statements or bitchy posts on social media and I find that when I do finally announce the big things, people are often surprised.  So I am here to share my own internal monologue and process when it comes to making the “big calls”. I live my life by a pretty simple motto.  “Be happy”.  As l ..read more

It’s been an insanely promising start to the year over here in Berlin and this week, things got even better! I am so excited to announce Black Sheep Athletics as one of my new sponsors for 2017! When I moved to Berlin I was pleasantly surprised  by the popularity of Crossfit within the city.  Countless boxes appear on Google searches, all boasting very similar practices and facilities. After spending some time with Unit 27 in Phuket, I have been spoiled for quality in coaching and facility.  Selling me on a new box was going to tough! Through networking and meeting ot ..read more

There are a lot of opinions and discussions out there about what it takes to be a champion.  This applies to mostly everything.  When people reference athletes though, the most common topics to come up are things like how hard someone trains, the way they train, how they treat their body, what they do for recovery perhaps, and finally, their mindset. “Champions make habits, not excuses.”  “Champions go the extra mile/round.”  “Champions don’t quit.” Do any of these statements sound familiar to you? I wanted to write about this after seeing the UFC 207 post fight press ..read more

It’s no secret that this year has been more challenging than the first two I had spent abroad.  But when everything happens in so many small, unconnected incidences, it’s quite confronting when someone forces you to look back at the challenges you’ve faced. I always try to be positive and move forward – always looking for new opportunities if I believe I can be doing better – doing more.  That is, after all, how I ended up in Berlin. My time in Thailand has allowed me to become a complete master in compartmentalizing my emotions.  Don’t get me wrong.  I have my moments ..read more

There should be no surprises when I say that moving back into the Western World was not without a little reverse culture shock.  It has, however, surprised me by the things that have taken some adjusting to and the things I am really enjoying! Drinking tap water should have been the greatest thing in the world.  But I have been so wired to not drink tap water now that I kept forgetting that I could.  Couple that with the cold weather and I was extremely dehydrated my first week here.  The water tastes a bit funny to me but I am also not sure if that is just the taste o ..read more