Top Sunshine Coast Ignite Martial Arts Academy fighters prepare for explosive 2024
Leading Sunshine Coast MMA stars from one of the region’s top gyms are preparing for their next major fights ranging from professional debuts to key title showdowns. Can they keep up an incredible run of main event wins?
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They are the main event mafia, and Ignite Martial Arts Academy’s hold on the Australian fight scene is only about to get tighter.
A number of rising stars from the Sunshine Coast gym are deep in preparations to get back into the ring in 2024, as the gym aims to keep up its incredible streak of main event victories.
Head coach Ryan Dunstan, who first established the gym in 2004, said he was ready to go bigger and better rthis year after a record breaking 2023 campaign.
The Ignite team and ‘Dunstan Death Squad’ had an overall record of 33 wins, 25 losses, one draw and one no contest from 60 fights in 2023.
They also had 10 main event fights, winning nine in a row, and will start 2024 with four major title fights across Australia and one overseas.
The Sunshine Coast Daily spent time with some of Ignite’s leading talents to get inside their psyche as they prepare for battle.
John Martin-Fraser
After an impressive performance and reclaiming his belt, two-time Eternal champion John Martin-Fraser will defend his middleweight title against the number one contender, Ben Johnston.
The Australian middleweight championship bout will take place on March 16 at the Southport Sharks, Gold Coast.
“Everything’s been great, I kept my head down training hard throughout Christmas and hit the ground running straight after,” he said.
“Ben is an accomplished striker that’s done well in MMA so far, tall and long.”
The 31-year-old said he was eager to get back into the ring.
“I think I have an advantage in MMA experience over all, I have power in both hands and the cardio to drag Ben into a high paced fight over five rounds, if I don’t get the early stoppage,” he said.
“I haven’t taken Ben lightly, I’ve been mixing it up and preparing with some of the best middle and welterweights in Australia and I’m excited to get to show some improvements I’ve made since my last fight.”
Jamie Edenden
Edenden is a cross-code killer who has had more than 30 amaturer and professional MMA fights and is now throwing her hat into the boxing ring for the sixth time.
Her current professional record for MMA is three wins, two losses and one draw while for boxing she’s two and three.
“I’ve been doing boxing for about two years, I had just turned pro and was looking to get some fights and ended up winning a Queensland title,” she said.
“MMA is still my main goal but because of the weight that I fight at and the opportunities in Australia are too few and far between I take boxing fights to stay active.”
Edenden will contest the WBA Oceania Middleweight title against Elle Coulson (13-1-1) on February 3 in Nottingham, England.
Coulson is also a two time commonwealth champion and one time world champion but Edenden said she wasn’t worried.
“My point of difference for one is that I like to fight, I’m not going to stand there and try to win on points, I’m there to hurt someone, to knock them out or to see some blood,” she said.
“She (Coulson) fights in a beautiful and clean way on the outside and scores points but I want to come in and make it rough, make it messy and have a real fight which I don’t think she’ll be able to handle.
“My other point is my strength, I think I’m a lot stronger than most females and she won’t be able to handle the force and power that I come with.”
Edenden, who also trains out of the Hit House in Bli Bli said she hoped to secure more MMA fights in 2024.
“I’m open to more MMA fights but I don’t want to sit on the bench waiting because I might be out of action for six to 10 months or even a year so I’m lucky I can stay active in boxing when fights come to me,” she said.
“I’m not just there to make up the numbers in boxing either, I’m there to fight, there to put on a performance and if that wasn’t the case then I wouldn’t be fighting for these titles.
“I’m ranked number one for my weight in boxing and in MMA so I’m fighting the best girls in both codes which not many, if any are doing.”
Jake Piper
After an incredible amateur career Piper is ready to enter the professional arena with plenty of hype and expectations on his shoulders.
The 19-year-old will vacant his three current amateur titles of South Pacific Bantamweight, Australian Bantamweight and Australian Featherweight.
He’s set to make his professional debut when fighting in the co-main event for Beatdown Promotions at Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane on March 9 against Japanese talent Issei Moriyama.
“Training has been good, nothing is really different I’m just working away and keeping my eyes on who is in front of me and locked in on my fight in six weeks time,” he said.
“Camp has been okay, I had cellulitis which kept me out for two weeks but I’m back at 100 per cent fitness and come fight day I’ll be like David Goggins.”
Despite Moriyama contesting 13 professional fights already, Piper said he was ready for the challenge.
“I’m not nervous, partly because I’ve never been nervous for a fight ever as I just love to fight,” he said.
“Sometimes I get nervous talking to a girl but not to go out there and fight so I’m keen to punch on and worse comes to worse I get flatlined and knocked out but I don’t care, I’m just doing it for fun.
“I reckon I’m going to knock him out within the first minute of the first round or the first minute of the second round.
“I think he’ll come forward and get cracked and he’ll try to grapple but that’s not going to work so I’ll crack him again.”
The rising star also hoped to attract some supporting sponsors.
“I’m chasing some monetary sponsors because I cant keep working my ar*e off, training twice a day and coaching,” he said.
“I can’t just live off red bulls so if there’s anyone out there that wants to help out that’d be unreal.”
David Martinez
With three titles to his name ‘The Smiling Assassin’ lasts fight was against undefeated Murad Guseinov as the co-main event on the Brave CF76 card in Indonesia in November 2023.
“My last fight didn’t go to plan because of the refereeing but that’s since been overturned to a no-contest so that’s fine,” he said.
“I look at it as I got an overseas trip, a fight and an even result which isn’t too bad.”
Martinez, who has a current professional record of 11 wins, five losses and one no contest, will be fighting Antonio Caruso for the ISKA Sanctioned Pro Lightweight Australian Title on March 3 at the Adelaide Oval, South Australia.
“I know Antonio’s got an extensive record on the regional scene, I believe he was 8-0 before fighting for a PFL championship so he’s got an extensive track record and is a solid opponent,” he said.
“Camp has been going really well, the team is continuing to come together and the fact that everyone is fighting pretty soon means we’re all firing at the same time.”
Martinez said he wasn’t planning on messing around on fight night.
“I do believe cardio, pace and my striking will play a big role in this fight,” he said.
“My grappling will cancel out his grappling and then I’ll just be running down hill with my striking.”
Auryn Parmley
After an impressive amateur career Parmley is now set to make his professional debut on the XFC71 fight card at the Mansfield Tavern, Brisbane on February 24.
After beginning his MMA career at 15-years-old, the now 26-year-old is the current amateur XFC Light-Heavyweight titleholder and will be stepping into the octagon against Isaac Hogan who is also making his pro debut.
“Hogan is very tough, he’s there to fight and will be in my face so I think it’s a great first fight for me to have against someone like him and someone who is also making their pro debut,” he said.
“It’s a big step forward but I’m very excited for the challenge and very excited for elbows to be honest.”
Parmley said he felt like he had one of his best camps to date.
“My weight is down, I’ve had no injuries, I’m feeling super strong and my cardio has gone through the roof so I’m feeling phenomenal to be honest,” he said.
“Usually I’m quite nervous in camp because I’m so focused on improving but this one I know I’ve done the right things so it’s been a lot more comfortable.”
He said he was excited for the coming weeks.
“I think I’m much more technical in terms of the stand-up department,
“I see a few holes in his (Hogan’s) game that I’ll be looking to exploit where I’ll be trying to head kick him, let him come forward quite hard and I’ll overhand right him to knock him out.
“I think in the first round I’ll aim to set it up and then in the second I’ll see things much easier and just be able to unload.”
Sean Gauci
Guaci has an impressive current record of eight wins and one loss and is also the son of highly regarded veteran jockey Darren.
He said he hoped to secure another major fight in the coming weeks.
“Nothing has been confirmed yet but I’m aiming to fight in May,” he said.
“I want to take on the two best fighters in Australia and I’ll most likely drop from batamweight (61kg) to flyweight (57kg).
“You never know after that but I’d be hoping to get a call up into the UFC or through Dana White’s Contender Series.”
The 27-year-old has been training under the Ignite team for just under a year after relocating from Melbourne for work.
“I started MMA when I was 13-years-old but the move up here has been amazing and one of the best things for my career,” he said.
“Ryan’s so professional and the gym comes with so many talented fighters so I’ve started seeing things from different perspectives.”
Tomas Schellhammer
Currently known as the king of the featherweight division, the 18-year-old boasts a 3-0 amateur record and will be contesting the XFC Amateur Featherweight Championship against Declan Corcoran on February 24 at the Mansfield Tavern, Brisbane.
“I know that he’s got a Muay Thai background and has won a state title before but that doesn’t mean much because you can be good in another sport but in MMA you’ve got to be good everywhere,” he said.
Schellhammer said he was excited for the coming weeks.
“I think my point of difference against any amateur as a featherweight is my grappling,” he said.
“I feel like there’s no featherweight that can out grapple me and even if they can I feel like I could catch them with a quick submission which is my real big difference.
“The other thing would be the experience I have for my age, I’m still young but I’ve been doing MMA for 12 years and it’s been the only sport I’ve done so I hold that pretty proudly over people.”
Darcy Nunan
Nunan, 29, boasts a current amateur record of nine wins and seven losses across both MMA and Muay Thai.
He said he was hoping to secure his professional debut in the coming months.
“I’ve been training pretty consistently since the start of the year but excited to hopefully get something confirmed so I can get stuck into fight camp,” he said.
Nunan, who also trains with Gamebred Academy in Brisbane who share an affiliation with Ignite, said he was ready for his next challenge.
“Whoever the opponent is I’m very excited, I’d be looking to come out hard and fast and looking to get a finish,” he said.
“If I was to make my pro debut I want to make a statement and looking to get it done pretty quickly.”
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