4 Poa Court, Craigieburn VIC 0423 164 730

VABL × WKA Australia — Gym of the Month

Hard pad work during an MMA class at The Mint MMA
Mon 7:00pm & Tue 6:00pm — Ages 16+

The whole game,
one room

Striking, wrestling and grappling stitched together instead of practised as three separate hobbies. Drills and positional sparring, every session.

What we actually do

Drills, then
positional sparring

MMA is not a class where you turn up and fight. It is a class where you take one problem — being pressed against the fence, defending a takedown, striking from top position — and work it until it is solved.

01

Striking into takedowns

The hand-fighting and level changes that connect a punching combination to a shot. This is the part that separates MMA from kickboxing plus wrestling.

02

Cage work

Underhooks, wall wrestling, getting back to your feet. Most of a real fight happens here and most gyms never drill it.

03

Ground and pound

Striking from dominant position and, more importantly, defending it. Controlled, gloved and supervised every single time.

Positional sparring against the cage during an MMA class Positional sparring
Built on the base classes

Three disciplines feeding one

Our MMA class works because the pieces are taught properly elsewhere on the timetable. You are not learning to punch in MMA class — you are learning to punch in kickboxing, and learning what to do with it here.

  • Kickboxing — fourteen sessions a week for your stand-up
  • Wrestling — Tuesday and Thursday for takedowns and control
  • Jiu-jitsu — four sessions a week for submissions and escapes
  • Saturday sparring at 10:00am to put it all together
Pathway to competition

If you ever want
to test it

Recognised by VABL and WKA Australia for our commitment to athlete development. Most of our members never compete — but if you want to, there is a real, structured road rather than a coach throwing you at a card.

01

Train consistently

Six to twelve months of regular attendance across striking and grappling. No shortcuts here and no exceptions.

02

Spar properly

Regular controlled sparring, in the gym, with people who will test you honestly. Saturday mornings exist for this.

03

Interclub first

Low-stakes matches against other gyms before anything official. This is where you find out how you handle nerves.

04

Amateur card

Sanctioned amateur competition with a full camp behind you — corner, cut-man, weight plan, the lot.

The fight team

Results from
our corner

Victorian Amateur Champion

Dane “The Anvil” Kovacic

Took the Victorian amateur title on a unanimous decision after three rounds of relentless pressure. Trains out of the Tuesday MMA and Thursday wrestling sessions.

Debut win

Michael “The Red Baron” Howard

Picked up a unanimous points decision on debut after dropping his opponent with leg kicks in the second round. A successful night for The Mint, and a loud one.

Sparring sessions are what the martial spirit is about — hard and uncompromising inside the ring, friendly outside it.

Common questions

Before you start

Some. MMA assumes you can already move a little — if you have never trained anything, start with kickboxing or jiu-jitsu for a month or two and come across once the basics are there. Talk to a coach and they will tell you honestly where to begin.

Not on day one, and not ever without agreeing to it. Positional sparring is controlled and light by default, with gloves and shin guards. Hard sparring is a deliberate choice made by people preparing to compete, not a weekly obligation.

To start, shorts and a rashguard or t-shirt. Over time you will want your own MMA gloves, shin guards and a mouthguard. We will lend you what you need until then.

MMA is sixteen and up. Under that, kids and teens are extremely well served by jiu-jitsu, wrestling and kids kickboxing — which is the right foundation anyway.

Monday 7:00pm · Tuesday 6:00pm

Put the pieces
together

One membership covers striking, wrestling, grappling and MMA. Your first class is free.