THE first victory in the cage in two years for Mildura mixed martial arts star Jesse Medina has come as a “huge relief”.
The 33-year-old reverted back to his submission specialist guise last Saturday with a first-round victory via rear naked choke over Josh Kuhne at the Eternal MMA 94 event on the Gold Coast.
It marked two MMA victories in as many weeks for Sunraysia athletes as John Loughhead of Mildura Martial Arts earned his sixth amateur victory by defeating Rohullah Qarabagh at Diamondback FC 22 on March 9.
With injury and other obstacles dogging “Funky Cold” Medina’s past two years, the ecstasy of his first victory since February 2023 and breaking a streak of five losses was palpable in the Queensland cage.
In their catchweight bout, the Sunraysia veteran wasted little time in trying to force combative striker Kuhne to the mat as all of his opponents four professional wins came via technical knockout.
Once on the canvas Medina gained control of the back and locked in the rear naked choke, forcing the referee to stop the bout in the opening round.
“It’s pretty much been two years so honestly it was a lot of relief more than anything to finally get the win,” the veteran said.
“There’s been some injuries, other stuff here and there and even the mentality sometimes where there has been some self doubt come into it.
“This time I just felt laser focussed and everything was moving in the right direction. This time I felt I was going to win going in.
“Honestly my camp wasn’t the best. The past few fight camps I’ve had have gone really well only for me to stuff it up at the end, where as this time I had a skin infection, got a bit sick and had some other issues to work through but we got there.
“I had a couple of coaches from Perth come and join me and I had training partner Aydan Russell in my corner as well. It just felt like everything was going well leading into it.
“My last few fights the guys I was going up against were good everywhere, so maybe that led to some indecisiveness.
“This guy is a brawler who had knocked a few opponents out before, and I knew I didn’t want to go up against that so I would be going to my grappling game, and I managed to get the back and lock in that choke.”
Medina said time spent returning to jiu jitsu competition had helped reinvigorate him, and give himself the platform to secure the winning submission.
“The last few years I had maybe fallen a bit out of love with jiu jitsu, but I took part in one competition which was run by a mate of mine, just to have some fun, and then a couple more followed,” he said.
“I think that was when I got some enjoyment back in it, and doing those competitions I think helped me get this win.”
Medina is looking to line up his next bout in May or June.
