The Duke of Canberra Crowned Champ
Mixed Martial Arts is one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
Fighters like Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey have become house hold names and have developed a massive supporter base from participating in the top tier of MMA called the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
But everyone has to start off somewhere.
For keen Australian and New Zealand MMA fighters the road to the UFC is through BRACE.
BRACE showcases the best MMA fighters from the two countries and has been in operation since 2009.
On Saturday the 8th of April, BRACE held its 49th fight night at the AIS Arena.
The night held seven fights but the main event that everyone wanted to see was the light heavyweight title fight between Canberra’s own Duke Didier and current title holder Mike Turner.
Duke, or as he is also called ‘The Duke of Canberra’ had previously had five professional fights, being victorious in all five.
With a background of Judo, Didier had won four of his five by submission and the last by knockout but would need to be at his best to defeat the veteran Mike Turner and take the title belt.
Backed by a packed Canberra crowd, Didier was the enforcer all night as he aimed to become Canberra’s first national MMA champion.
With either fighter unable to strike a finishing blow, it went to the judges who crowned ‘The Duke’ the new light heavyweight champion by unanimous decision and kept his undefeated record of now 6-0 alive.
Story by Jake Gunning.
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