Two local MMA fighters and their coach have returned from the world championship in Jakarta, Indonesia, having contributed to Team Canada’s best ever result on the global stage.
Hannah Horner and Brock Pinder represented Team Canada as athletes in the 70 kg and 61 kg weight classes respectively, while Brent Fryia served as head coach for Canada at the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) world championship from Dec. 10-14.
Locally, Horner and Pinder train at Steel City MMA in Sault Ste. Marie, while Fryia is the owner and head coach of the club.
Horner opened the tournament with a dominant unanimous decision win over Fadi Omrani of Algeria, before falling to defending champion Kelly Hamming of the Netherlands in the quarterfinal. Hamming went on to repeat as champion.
Pinder dropped his opening match via submission to Juan Cruz Ramallo of Argentina.
Team Canada finished sixth overall in the standings, the highest ever for a Canadian team at the event, and came home with three medals, the most ever by a Canadian team.
Danielle Lentini claimed Canada’s first ever world championship gold medal, winning the 52kg division, defeating fighters from the USA, Uzbekistan and Thailand.
Amanda Gans and Willow Morton both secured bronze medals at 61 kg and 57 kg respectively. Morton, who now lives and trains in Toronto also has a local connection, having grown up and attended high school in Sault Ste. Marie.
“It was a great result,” said Fryia “We wanted to put together a small team that we knew would be competitive for Canada’s return to the world championships, and it worked out.”
Fryia also spoke to the resilience of the team. “Things were not in our favour, having travelled farther than any other team, dealing with jet lag, the extremely hot and humid conditions in Indonesia, having to make weight every day, it was a real grind”.
Despite the obstacles team Canada was able to perform above expectations “We were competitive in every fight, and managed what a few people would consider big upsets, although in our minds they weren’t upsets.” said Fryia.
Focus for the Canadian team now shifts towards the 2025 world championship in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
“The goal is definitely to finish in the top five” said Fryia.