Revolution Gym fighters gain international medal haul in Hungary tournament

For the second year running a team from Neil Huntley’s Revolution Gym in Sutton-in-Ashfield attended an international event in Hungary but with sixty people this year’s contingent was twice the size of last year’s as twenty-three competitors were joined by thirty-seven coaches and supporters. Revolution’s medal haul of eleven gold, fourteen silver and five bronze placed the club second out of sixty-two competing with Revolution’s Will Bingham and Daisy Fisher taking joint ninth place out of 350 competitors and youngest fighter Mikey Bateson aged nine winning a silver.

Huntley is understandably delighted at Revolution’s outstanding performance. ‘The World Championships came round so quickly after last year’s Europeans. This year was an experience that nobody will ever forget as building on last year’s success we all came together and stepped up nearly doubling our fight team to take a Revolution army sixty strong to Hungary.’

Most fighters from Revolution qualified for finals and Huntley was keen to commend amongst others ‘Tyler Spencer who made huge improvements defeating a boy who’d stopped him previously through excellent K1 striking technique before going on to win two more bouts that same day. We’re so proud of him.

‘Will Bingham lost in his MMA debut last year, but commitment and valuable experience gained this last year enabled him to dismantle a Sambo fighter and win with a rear naked choke. Will then became the promotion’s double World Champion by beating an older, heavier opponent in the K1 elite final, hypnotising him with fast-paced striking.’

‘I went to Hungary hoping to bring home world titles and I succeeded in both K1 and MMA,’ said Bingham, a sports studies student who turns seventeen in July. ‘In my K1 eliminator I won by technical knockout which took me to the final where I fought an older and heavier opponent and won by decision. In MMA I won in the second round gaining submission by rear naked choke. I’ve been working hard to improve groundwork and grappling skills. I want to thank coaches Neil Huntley, Tyrone Robinson, and Rob Watson for making this possible. I couldn’t do this without them. We’ve had an excellent time and the team bonded and supported each other.’

Daisy Fisher, 14, stopped her opponent in the first round bringing home a gold medal. ‘Taking part was a wonderful experience with the best people! Joining Revolution was the best choice I ever made and now three years later, competing in the World Championships is completely insane! In Hungary I fought my final on the anniversary of my mum’s passing so when I managed a first-round knockout it meant everything. It’s all possible thanks to Neil who puts in endless hours of hard work, coaching and planning so we can enjoy making memories for life. I can’t wait for next year’s championships.’

Daisy’s cousin Marko Fisher also won gold along with team captain Mark Miles, Taylor Brown, Jude Stevenson, Tavan Shipman, Sam Turner, and Tayla Williams, with the rest of the team putting on outstanding performances and some bringing home silver and bronze including Tyler Spencer, Poppie Holland, Levi Potter, Mikey Bateson, Archie Lofley, Dylan Griffin, Jessica Williams, Hawley Oscroft, Karson Greenacre, Ollie Cheesmond, Josh Stevenson, Chris Sieder, Blaine Smith and Paulette Spencer.

Huntley nominated Jude Stevenson as fighter of the competition. ‘Jude is thirteen and does Brazilian Jujitsu. We added him to the team at short notice for an MMA bout but on arrival there was no opponent, so he entered K1. Jude was initially outgunned by older, heavier, and more experienced opponents in two different categories. However, he made a final against an opponent his own age and size and was triumphant in winning gold. Watching Jude come through adversity and still have the strength to persevere after being knocked down and feeling defeated shows what Team Revolution is all about. He had nearly everyone in tears.’

‘My fellow coach Tyrone Robinson put unbelievable effort into all this and neither of us can find words to describe how proud we are of everyone involved. I’ve been around gyms for thirty years and never experienced anything like what we have built at Revolution Gym, a little ice-cream factory on Redcliffe Street. The support and trust parents and fighters put into this club and us coaches is what makes this one big family. I had this vision fifteen years ago, I wrote it down, I worked hard, and it became reality. I never expected it to be this special. Do good and good will be returned. Let’s keep going Team Revolution.’

Bingham’s mother Claire is effusive in her praise of the gym which ‘has done so much for my son. The atmosphere was electric when any of the team were fighting, everyone was there cheering each other on with fighters all so supportive of each other. This experience has shown that despite fighting being an individual sport during the bout, when you are part of a gym like Revolution, you’re foremostly a team enjoying phenomenal support. We may well have been the loudest noisiest team there. It just showed what a family we have as everyone stuck together in mutual support.’

The championships took place in Baja two hours’ drive south of Budapest and were organised over four days from 16th May by fight sanctioning bodies the World Kickboxing League and the World Boxing League. Disciplines included boxing, K1 kickboxing and MMA as clubs from Hungary, Romania, France, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria, Egypt, Dominican Republic, Slovenia, and Ukraine joined the finally third placed England team.