Yellowknife's Jarrett Vornbrock gets 1st win at MMA World Championships
Yellowknife mixed martial artist Jarrett Vornbrock is off and running at the 2016 IMMAF World Championships of Amateur MMA after winning his first bout Tuesday by technical knockout (TKO).
Representing Canada, Vornbrock, who competes in the 125-pound flyweight division, defeated Swedish fighter Sedar Altas — last year's silver medallist — during the first day of competition at the Las Vegas tournament.
The fight was a back and forth affair, said Vornbrock, but heading into the third and final round, he saw an opening.
"You could tell, he was just gassed," he said. "He was so tired."
As the third round began, Vornbrock opened with punching combinations. A hard punch led to Altas searching for a takedown, which Vornbrock quickly reversed. He then moved himself into a dominant position and landed punches until the referee stopped the fight.
"Every time, when I win, it's just 'holy crap, I did this,'" he said. "It's such a crazy high, to be able to think that you're competing at a world class level, and beating these guys."
'I'm 100 per cent here to win this thing'
Vornbrock lives in Yellowknife, but is currently training in Grande Prairie, Alta., under former Yellowknifer John Stanley and his Warrior Strong International gym. He qualified for the tournament by winning a qualifying match in Lethbridge, Alta., in late May.
Stanley was unable to make the trip to Las Vegas, but Vornbrock is preparing for his tournament matches by sending tape back to Grande Prairie, speaking with his coaches on the phone about his game plan.
Vornbrock's next match will take place Thursday, when he'll take on Josh Neale, a fighter from Great Britain, in the tournament's quarterfinals.
Despite the impressive early result, he made it be known that he wasn't satisfied with just making the quarterfinals.
"I'm 100 per cent here to win this thing," he said. "There's nobody at 125 pounds that I can't fight and beat."
The World Championships of Amateur MMA is in its third year. The finals of the tournament will be part of the Ultimate Fighting Championships' Fan Expo, part of a weekend of festivities leading up to a professional light-heavyweight championship clash at UFC 200.
Despite being so far from home, Vornbrock said that the support he's received from Yellowknife has been "awesome."
"My phone's going off like crazy with all the support I'm getting from Yellowknife," he said.
"I think it's really cool, coming from such a small place... you never really hear of too many people going into big things like this. I think it's really cool that I'm able to do that for my community."
