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Australian Fighting Championship

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Australian Fighting Championship
Company typePrivate
IndustryMixed martial arts promotion
Founded2010
FounderAdam Milankovic
Headquarters
Australia
Key people
Kelly Seif, Shaun McIntyre
Websitehttp://afcmma.com.au/

Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation based in Melbourne. In 2013, AFC was described as Australia's leading MMA organisation by MMA Kanvas[1] and was part of Sherdog's list of top 50 global MMA organisations (2014). Since AFC 4, all events were successfully streamed live via pay-per-view.

AFC was the second-ranked Australasian promotion in 2013 according to MMA media outlet Fight Sport Asia.[2] AFC CEO Adam Milankovic has had multiple media appearances promoting the sport of MMA to the public. AFC has showcased the talents of elite Australian and New Zealand mixed martial artists alongside international talent.[3] 2017 saw the expansion of the promotion into Mainland China and a major rebranding to the Australasian Fighting Championship (AFC).[4]

Cage ban

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The 2008 "cage ban" in Victoria meant MMA competitions, while legal, had to be conducted inside a boxing ring and not a purpose built cage (with the exception of AFC 9 in Albury, New South Wales).[5] In the Victorian State election in November 2014, The Victorian branch of the Labor Party campaigned to revoke the cage ban. With success in the election the ban is set to be repealed allowing AFC to promote MMA in a caged enclosure to ensure optimum safety of fighters.[6]

Final champions

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See also: List of current mixed martial arts champions and Mixed martial arts weight classes
Division Upper weight limit Champion Since Title defenses
Heavyweight 265 lb (120 kg; 18.9 st) Australia Tai Tuivasa 15 October 2016 0
Light Heavyweight 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) Cameroon Rameau Sokoudjou 28 October 2017 0
Middleweight 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st) Finland Glenn Sparv 7 April 2018 0
Welterweight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st) Australia Theo Christakos 7 April 2018 1
Lightweight 155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st) Australia Blake Donnelly 1 December 2019 0
Featherweight 145 lb (66 kg; 10.4 st) Australia Alexander Volkanovski 19 March 2016 0
Bantamweight 135 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st) Brazil Gustavo Falciroli 17 May 2014 0

Australian Fighting Championship Title history

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Australian Fighting Championship Heavyweight Championship

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Weight limit: 120 kg (264.6 lb)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Australia Soa Palelei
def. Joe Kielur 		AFC 3
Geelong, Australia 		14 April 2012

1. def. Sean McCorkle at AFC 4 on 7 December 2012

Palelei vacated the title when he left AFC for the UFC.
2 Australia Brandon Sosoli
def. Andre Meunier 		AFC 13
Melbourne, Australia 		14 June 2015
3 Australia Tai Tuivasa AFC 16
Melbourne, Australia 		18 June 2016

1. def. James McSweeney at AFC 16 on 15 October 2016

Tuivasa vacated the title when he left AFC for the UFC.

Australian Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight Championship

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Weight limit: 93 kg (205.0 lb)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Australia Jamie Abdallah
def. Daniel Almeida 		AFC 12
Melbourne, Australia 		22 March 2015

1. def. Randall Rayment at AFC 14 on 12 September 2015

2 Cameroon Rameau Sokoudjou AFC 21
Melbourne, Australia 		28 October 2017

Australian Fighting Championship Middleweight Championship

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Weight limit: 84 kg (185.2 lb)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Australia Steven Kennedy
def. Manuel Rodriguez 		AFC 7
Melbourne, Australia 		14 December 2013
Kennedy vacated the title.
2 Australia Zein Saliba
def. Daniel Way 		AFC 12
Melbourne, Australia 		22 March 2015
Saliba vacated the title.
3 Australia Rob Wilkinson
def. Jamie Abdallah 		AFC 15
Melbourne, Australia 		19 March 2016
Wilkinson vacated the title when he left AFC for the UFC.
4 Nigeria Israel Adesanya
def. Melvin Guillard 		AFC 20
Melbourne, Australia 		28 July 2017
Adesanya vacated the title when he left AFC for the UFC.
5 Finland Glenn Sparv
def. Stu Dare 		AFC 22
Melbourne, Australia 		7 April 2018

Australian Fighting Championship Welterweight Championship

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Weight limit: 77 kg (169.8 lb)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Australia Jacob S Lee
def. Callan Potter 		AFC 9
Melbourne, Australia 		17 May 2014
2 El Salvador Manuel Rodriguez AFC 14
Melbourne, Australia 		12 September 2015
Rodriquez vacated the title after suffering an early first round loss to 24-year-old Jacob Stephen Lee, securing Jacob’s 4th championship victory 2 Feb 2016.
3 Australia Barry O'Meara
def. Anton Zafir 22 Dec 2016 		AFC 22
Gold Coast, Australia 		2 February 2016 – 7 May 2019

1. def. Jennys Box by way of knock out in the first second of the first round during AFC 5 on 10 May 2017
2. def. Greg Goodchild by way of technical knock out to end. this flattened Gregs nose AFC 6 on 24 August 2018

Australian Fighting Championship Lightweight Championship

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Weight limit: 70 kg (154.3 lb)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 New Zealand Dan Hooker
def. Rusty McBride 		AFC 3
Geelong, Australia 		14 April 2012

1. def. Rusty McBride at AFC 5 on 10 May 2013
2. def. Nick Patterson at AFC 6 on 24 August 2013

Hooker vacated the title when he signed with the UFC.
2 Brazil Bernardo Magalhaes
def. Kieran Joblin 		AFC 10
Albury-Wodonga, Australia 		16 August 2014
Magalhaes vacated the title.
3 Australia Issac Hardman
def. James Bishop 		AFC 19
Shaanxi, China 		15 April 2017

1. def. Rob Hill at AFC 21 on 28 October 2017

Australian Fighting Championship Featherweight Championship

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Weight limit: 66 kg (145.5 lb)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Australia Alexander Volkanovski
def. James Bishop 		AFC 13
Melbourne, Australia 		14 June 2015

1. def. Jamie Mullarkey at AFC 15 on 15 August 2016

Volkanovski vacated the title when he signed with the UFC.

Australian Fighting Championship Bantamweight Championship

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Weight limit: 62 kg (136.7 lb)
No. Name Event Date Defenses
1 Brazil Gustavo Falciroli
def. Kai Kara-France 		AFC 9
Melbourne, Australia 		17 May 2014

Scheduled events

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# Event Title Date Arena Location

Past events

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# Event Title Date Arena Location
23 AFC 23 1 December 2019 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
22 AFC 22 7 April 2018 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
22 AFC 21 28 October 2017 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
21 AFC 20 28 July 2017 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
20 AFC 19 15 April 2017 AFC Arena Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
19 AFC 18 14 April 2017 AFC Arena Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
18 AFC 17 15 October 2016 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
17 AFC 16 18 June 2016 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
16 AFC 15 19 March 2016 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
15 AFC 14 12 September 2015 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
14 AFC 13 14 June 2015 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
13 AFC 12 22 March 2015 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
12 AFC 11 22 November 2014 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
11 AFC 10 16 August 2014 Bunton Park Albury, Australia
10 AFC 9 17 May 2014 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
9 AFC 8 22 February 2014 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
8 AFC 7 10 May 2013 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
7 AFC 6 24 August 2013 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
6 AFC 5 14 December 2013 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
5 AFC 4 7 December 2012 Melbourne Pavilion Melbourne, Australia
4 AFC 3 14 April 2012 Geelong Arena Geelong, Australia
3 AFC 2 3 September 2011 Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre Melbourne, Australia
2 AFC Fight Night 25 June 2011 State Netball & Hockey Centre Melbourne, Australia
1 AFC 1 12 November 2010 State Netball & Hockey Centre Melbourne, Australia

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Notable alumni

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References

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  1. ^ Adam Ireland (23 April 2013). "Aussie MMA fans set for live-streaming action with Epicentre.tv". Mmakanvas.ninemsn.com.au. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Fight Sport Asia's 2013 Asian MMA Awards Results - FSA - FightSport Asia". FSA - FightSport Asia. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Australian Fighting Championship heads to Melbourne for Saturday's AFC 7 - FSA - FightSport Asia". FSA - FightSport Asia. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  4. ^ "The latest on Australian Fighting Championship 18 and the promotion's china expansion". Fight News Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  5. ^ "The cage-fighting boom - all that's missing is the cage". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Victorian state election opens door to UFC mega-event in Melbourne". FSA - FightSport Asia.
  7. ^ Sherdog.com. "Australian Fighting Championship Fights, Fight Cards, Videos, Pictures, Events and more". Sherdog. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
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