Pro MMA fighter hauled before court after fracturing reveller’s faces on the Hobart waterfront

A Hobart boxer and MMA fighter has faced justice after injuring two men during nights out on the town, with one incident sparked after he used his hands to help himself to birthday cake.

Hobart mixed martial arts fighter Brayden Ion has been sentenced over two Hobart nightclub assaults. Picture: Facebook

A professional Hobart boxer and MMA fighter has faced justice after unleashing his skills during nights out in Salamanca and the waterfront, seriously injuring two men with brutal blows to the face.

Brayden Allan James Ion, now 23, narrowly avoided jail after entering a private birthday party at Botanica with a friend in November 2021, and using his hands to help himself to birthday cake.

When someone at the party told the pair to leave and pushed his friend to the face, Ion retaliated and delivered a powerful punch that broke the man’s nose and cheekbone.

Supreme Court judge Helen Wood sentenced Ion to a five-month suspended jail term for the assault, with 98 hours of community service, in December 2022.

However, the following month, Ion assaulted another man in similar circumstances outside the Observatory Bar.

Ion, who pleaded guilty to the assault dating back to January 2023, appeared in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Friday for sentence.

Hobart mixed martial arts fighter Brayden Ion, right, during a fight. Picture: Facebook

Justice Wood said on the night in question, Ion and his friends had a verbal altercation outside Observatory Bar with another group – with members of both groups beginning to push and shove each other.

One man pulled on the shirt and pushed the face of one of Ion’s friends, with Ion quickly retaliating.

“The defendant saw that application of force and believed his friend had been punched,” Justice Wood said.

“He brought his elbow down in a swift movement, hitting the complainant to the temple.”

Justice Wood said while the man felt pain and fell to the ground, he did not lose consciousness and returned immediately to his feet.

But two days later, still in intense physical pain, he attended hospital, with a scan showing he’d suffered a temporal fracture.

“It was a blow to the temple and it was just good fortune that it did not have more serious, or even fatal, consequences,” Justice Wood said.

The judge said Ion’s actions had “tarnished” his sport, and that he’d let down his fellow mixed martial arts fighters.

“The sport condemns any fighting outside the ring,” she said.

Ion also works as a part-time coach at the Hybrid Training Centre in Argyle Street.

Justice Wood said while the Observatory Bar assault was a “clear and blatant breach” of his court order for the first assault, however she noted his “genuine attempts at rehabilitation”.

She also noted he’d spent two months in custody, which would be a “strong personal deterrence” and an “effective sanction”.

Instead of activating his suspended sentence, Justice Wood imposed a substituted five-month term, backdated to June 11 and with the balance suspended as of Friday.

However, the Gagebrook resident will also serve a nine-month home detention order for the more recent assault, with 98 hours of community service.

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