Danielle wins gold!
Home grown winner, Danielle Curtis, posing with the Australian flag.
Ex Hay War Memorial High student Danielle Curtis has been crowned World Champion at the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) Championships held in Amsterdam on the weekend.
In her first fight, Curtis beat New Zealand rival Mackenzie Vellonworth after three rounds to surge into the women under 65 kilogram final.
The Kiwi buckled early to give up valuable points, then found it difficult to breach Curtis’ solid defences, tapping out of the match.
“Got the job done with a tough opponent, with a first-round submission via Rear Naked Choke. The submission came right on the buzzer too,” Curtis posted to fans on social media.
The win led Curtis to face a near impossible task in the final against Kazakhtan’s Ibraveve Meruvert. Mervuvert is the world’s third highest-ranked fighter in her weight class and won gold at last August’s Asian Championships.
Despite Ibraveve’s number one seed status, she has received a pasting in the first round, receiving a bye in the first round thanks to her world ranking.
However, the lack of practise may have impacted her game.
Curtis landed numerous strikes to critical areas, and also dominated the ground game.
“Get your hands under her arse and take her for a ride,” called the Australian coach from outside the ring.
The Kazakh looked tired and sluggish while Curtis was the complete opposite and as a result stole a deserved gold medal away.
