Coaches

Head coach: Michael Faulkner

Michael captured the Combat Challenge MMA lightweight title back in September, 2015 to crown years of growth as a well rounded fighter across multiple disciplines. He started off in martial arts with the brutal stand-up art of muay thai in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, training at East Area Muay Thai but unfortunately work and personal commitments prevented him from pursuing this for many years.

With more time on his hands and having moved to the West Yorkshire area, he looked to pick up where he left off. The muay thai coach he was under one day asked him if he’d ever tried Jiu-Jitsu as he himself was learning it at a local club. He hadn’t, but was happy to give it a try, and this is what quickly changed everything regarding the way he viewed martial arts. Quickly he fell in love with the grappling based sport and sought out training from multiple different gyms over the next year before joining the place he would call home… UKGJJ (UK Gracie Jiu-Jitsu).

In April, 2012 Michael would throw himself into the clubs “Combatives” program, as well as being given the nickname of “Evil Superman” by the clubs owner, and after six months emerged with his blue-belt, the first significant promotion in the sport. In June, 2016 he would be awarded the rank of purple belt, the first student to achieve this in UKGJJ’s history.

Two years before receiving his purple belt though Michael found himself wanting to test his skills against other local fighters in a safe and controlled environment, but in the type of contest that would be as close to a “real fight” as possible. MMA (or mixed martial arts) caught his eye. The start of 2014 saw Michael begin to revisit some of the striking he had picked up years before, as well as seek out coaches and training partners that could help and push him in the different areas of the sport. He also started to help some of the strikers he was working with round out their game by teaching them the art of Jiu-Jitsu. By September that same year he was ready to go and jumped into the cage with the vastly more experienced Matt Dossett who’d had three fights at this stage. Michael controlled every aspect of the fight, winning the stand-up exchanges before effectively taking his opponent to the ground five times over the course of three rounds. A unanimous decision win was awarded to Michael on the night.

He next decided to move his MMA training to the Fusion Martial Arts Centre in Bradford, seeking out the help of its coaches and bringing in his own help as well. Michael begun coaching others in the art of MMA on a larger scale, paying particular attention to the grappling side of the sport which he’d used to win his earlier fight. In February, 2015 he was ready to compete again inside the cage, taking on Richard Whitehead in what turned out to be a very one sided affair. Michael would land a number of knees to the body against the cage before recovering his own guard and slapping on a triangle (his favorite submission) to force the tap in the very first round. Things continued to progress for Michael at Fusion with class sizes building and team mates getting better all the time, something that significantly helped in his own improvement.

Over the summer months Michael was offered a shot at the Combat Challenge Lightweight title and, after the promotion’s original champion decided he didn’t want to step into the cage with “Evil Superman”, the Polish knockout artist, Pawel Smietanski was named as his opponent. September would arrive and Michael was ready for anything thrown at him on the night, quickly landing a jab and driving his opponent up against the cage. After a brief takedown Michael took the back of his opponent and sunk in the rear-naked choke. Moments later, Smietanski tapped and a new champion was crowned.

Michael would then decide it was time for him to officially open his own school, after years of training students at other facilities. He opened The MAC (Martial Arts Centre) first in Haworth, then moving to a bigger facility in Keighley. The students flocked in and Michael continued his development on the mat himself, seeking out former UFC heavyweight champion, Ricco Rodriguez to come in twice a year from New York. This aided the clubs Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu programs development, with Michael awarded his brown belt in 2018 and eventually his black in 2022. 

To book a private with Michael, call or message 07528 303782…

Assistant coach: Des Kormoczi

I have been training in combat arts from a young age. This started with learning the fundamentals of boxing from my Grandfather who boxed at at amateur level and during national service. During my teenage years I trained predominantly in traditional karate, achieving my black belt. This lead me to competing in a number of tournaments, with varying degrees of success.

However, I still felt that something was lacking and became disillusioned with the sporting nature of such arts and there ability to be effective in a real altercation. I was then drawn to the early UFC’s watching Royce Dominate the cage against bigger stronger athletes. However at the time the ability to train in such an art was unavailable to me. Then in 2009 I began my journey in BJJ after finding the only certified Gracie club in the UK right on my back door. In 2011 I was tested and achieved my blue belt scoring a perfect 100/100 score.

I carried on training in BJJ for a number of years. Since then I have gained experience in a few BJJ competitions and participated in a number of interclubs which has included K1 and MMA. Most recently I have been taking on more of a coaching role, which is where I have found the most rewards developing peoples abilities and confidence. During this journey I have had the privilege to train under some of the best in the world such as Alistair Overeem, Matt ‘the terror’ Serra, Demetrious ‘mighty mouse’ Johnson, Jonathan Haggerty, Liam Harrison and Brad Pickett to name a few all have assisted in molding my coaching style that has a strong base in learning reliable, solid fundamentals in all aspects of MMA and Grappling.

To book a private with Des, call or message 07528 303782…

Striking coach: Tayyab Hussain

My combat journey started from the age of nine, boxing as an amateur for five years, learning the basics and working on the foundations. Through the busy years of life I wanted to get back to what I loved, combat sports, so in 2020 I took the plunge and joined The Mac. I’ve learned so much and been grateful to work with so many great people and have been perfecting the art of striking ever since.The “art of 8 limbs” has been what I relish the most and I’ve now progressed into a coaching position within the club.

To book a private with Tayyab, call or message 07528 303782…