MARTIN NGUYEN
“THE SITU-ASIAN”
ONE Featherweight World Champion Martin Nguyen was born and raised in Sydney to Vietnamese parents, who moved to Australia by way of Malaysia and Indonesia. At school, he was a promising rugby league player, but was forced to quit the sport after suffering multiple injuries.
He took up martial arts at the comparatively late age of 21 in a bid to pick up a new hobby and lose weight, but discovered a life-changing experience. He has never looked back, winning two amateur mixed martial arts tournaments before deciding to make his professional debut in 2012. He quickly took the featherweight division by storm, winning an eight-man tournament to be crowned Australia’s BRACE Featherweight Champion. After that achievement, Nguyen signed for ONE Championship in 2014.
Six stunning finishes later, Nguyen stood as the first-ever two-division titleholder in ONE Championship history, having knocked out both Marat Gafurov and Eduard Folayang to stand as the very best featherweight and lightweight martial artist in the world. In fact, he almost became the first-ever three division mixed martial arts World Champion in history, but ultimately decided to focus on building his legacy as a featherweight.
LINN SANDSTROM
My name is Linn Sandstrom. I was born in Brazil, raised in Sweden, and I now live in Sydney. I’m a former table tennis champion, but have since transitioned into boxing. I live my life by a code, in that I never want to be mediocre or average. I train for me, so that I am as good as I can be. As such, I train 15 times a week with one of the best coaches in Australia (Tony Del Vecchio) at Bondi Boxing Club. For me training is a way of life, as important as my next breath, so I believe in working as hard as I can to achieve my goals.
Right now I’m training super hard to prepare for my professional debut this year.
“I dream, I believe so I can achieve. I am going to be a Champion.”
Achievements:
Gold – Australian Novice League title
Gold – Australian League Title
Silver – Swedish National Titles
Bronze – Arafura Games
ANTONIO FRANCESCO CARUSO
“THE SPARTAN”
Pro MMA Record: 7-1-0 (Win-Loss-Draw)
Professional Promotion: ONE Championship
Nickname: The Spartan
Age: 29
ONE Championship Weight Class: Welterweight /Lightweight
Affiliations:
Northside Boxing & Jiu-Jitsu (Adelaide, Australia), Trinity MMA (Adelaide, Australia) HardKnocks 365/ Sanford MMA (Fort Lauderdale, USA), Phuket Top Team (Phuket, Thailand)
Height: 6 Foot (181cm)
Born: Adelaide, Australia
Citizenships: Australian and Italian
Fight Achievements:
– 10 years plus martial arts experience;
– Brown Belt in Brazlilan Jiu Jitsu;
– Professional and amateur fights in boxing;
– Professional Mixed Martial Arts fights;
– World wide competition experience;
– 7 (wins) – 1 (loses) MMA record;
– Multiple time state champion in BJJ;
– 2 time Pan pacific champion in BJJ;
– Personal trainer for 5+ years now from all levels;
– Trained all over the world in world class fight gyms;
– 4 (wins) 1 (draw) 1 (loss) Professional Boxing record
ARLENE BLENCOWE
“ANGERFIST”
2011 – Gold medal Arafura Games Boxing
2013 – WIBF World Champion Boxing (Light Welterweight)
2013 – WBF World Champion Boxing (Welterweight)
2014 – Ken McDonald Australian of the Year Award
2014 – First Australian female signed to Bellator MMA
Currently #3 ranked MMA featherweight in the world
Holds record for the fastest female finish within Bellator history – 22 seconds
LUKE JACKSON
“ACTION”
Luke Jackson (born 1 January 1985 in Hobart, Tasmania) is a professional Australian boxer with a current record of 19-1 (8 KOs). Jackson turned professional in 2013 and is the current title holder of the WBA Oceania, WBO Oriental and Australian Featherweight titles.
A former Australian Institute of Sport boxing scholarship holder, he had an amateur record of 113-32 and won a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He was named Team Captain for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the lightweight division, again as Team Captain.
AWARDS:
– Professional record: 19-1 (8KOs)
– Amateur record: Won 81, Lost 0
– Australian Title x 6
– 2006 Commonwealth Games, Melbourne – Bronze
– 2010 Commonwealth Games, India – Top 16
– 2005 World Championships, China – Top 32
– 2011 World Championships, Azerbaijan – Top 16
– 2012 Afrura Games, Darwin – Gold
– 2005 Oceania Championships, PNG – Bronze
– 2008 Oceania Championships, Samoa – Silver
– 2010 Oceania Championships, Canberra – Gold
– 2012 Oceania Championships, Canberra – Gold
– 2012 Olympic Games, London
PROFESSIONAL RECORD SUMMARY:
17 Fights – 16 Wins – 1 Loss
By Knockout 7 – 1
By Decision 9 – 0
ALAN PHILPOTT
“THE APPRENTICE”
MMA Fighter
Professional featherweight record: 19-12-0-1
Head MMA coach at Legends Gym Kensington
Fighting out of IMMA Ballymena/ Legends Gym, Kensington
Birthday: 22/09/1992
Hometown: Ballymena, Northern Ireland
Always involved in sports, Alan discovered boxing at 12, and started training every night to learn the craft. He medaled in a few novice competitions, which just stoked his love of the sport. At 16, Alan transitioned to MMA, where something clicked, and Alan has dedicated his life to it ever since. Over 11 years later he has 32 pro fights and 17 amateur fights under his belt, having fought in the USA, England, Scotland, Wales, Republic of Ireland , Japan, Poland , Australia and Singapore.
Pro Titles
- Bamma Lonsdale bantamweight champion
- Akuma bantamweight champion
- Wimmaaoo Northern Irish Bantamweight champion
Amateur Titles
- EFR all Irish Bantamweight champion
Other credentials
- Amateur U18 Irish fighter of the year
- Represented Ireland to fight Team USA
Pro Accolades
- Fight of the year vs top duquensoy
- Numerous Fight of the Night awards
- First fighter from UK & Ireland to fight for One Championship, selected to take part in Rich Franklin’s One Warrior Series
BRENT REES
A carpenter by trade, Brent is also a professional national and international mountain biker when he is not at his day job. He races around Australia and the world. He was lucky enough to represent Australia in the U23 World Championships in 2018. He has finished strong in various races, as listed below. Unfortunately, Brent suffered a crash at the beginning of 2019, compressing 3 vertebrae and sustaining other facial injuries and fractures. He has since recovered and is climing his way back up the ranks. Brent hopes to represent Australia again soon and take on new races worldwide.