COACH

Richard Mathews
Rich got his first taste of martial arts in 1988 when he saw a Judo demonstration and from then on he has been hooked. He started training in Judo from age 8 and after 8 years training he had achieved his Judo Black Belt. Whilst training in Judo Rich competed in two consecutive Judo tournaments with over 30 participants in each. He took the Silver Medal in the first and stepped up a weight category to compete in the second. Even at this weight and being the lightest competitor in the field he still took home another Silver Medal. Rich never wanted to devote himself to one style so at the age of 12 whilst still training in Judo he started studying Shotokan Karate and after just 4 years he had achieved his Shotokan Black Belt. At 14 Rich expanded his martial arts knowledge even further by training in Jujitsu. It was in 1996 aged just 16 when he met Andy after starting to train in Katsudo Kempo Karate. Katsudo allowed both fighters to expand their martial arts knowledge in a number of areas that would not be taught in most other clubs. Learning to fight with and defend against a real knife was certainly a new experience. Rich and Andy both agreed that multiple styles were needed to create the best form of martial arts and so Rich trained in many other styles including Boxing, Wing Chun, Aikido and Muay Thai. In 2000 Rich decided to take all the knowledge he had built up and put it into one all around style designed for every situation and SJ-MMA was born.

COACH

Andy Horrigan
Andy has been training in a number of different martial arts since 1990. As a kid he was fascinated by Bruce Lee which led him to his local club where he trained in Tang Soo Do from the age of 9. At the age of 15 he started training in Katsudo Kempo Karate which was where he met Rich. Training at Katsudo consisted of hand to hand combat as well as weapons training in Bo Staff, Jo Staff, Knife fighting and a huge variety of different fighting scenarios. From the very beginning Andy and Rich could both see that there was a lot wrong with learning one style and one style alone, so they both trained in various different martial arts. Whilst Katsudo Kempo included training in throws, takedowns and ground fighting, Andy had always focused his training on the "stand up" side of martial arts so at the age of 19 he started training in Boxing and Kickboxing with the goal of competing. At 21 Andy competed in his first Kickboxing match and after 3 fights he had 3 wins under his belt. Andy spent 3 months living in Thailand and had the opportunity to study Muay Thai in its country of origin. In 2000 when SJ-MMA was just being started Rich approached Andy about coaching - SJ-MMA was born and the rest is history....

FIGHTER

Mike Eweje
Age:22
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 170 lbs / 77 kg
Background: Mike has been training at SJ-MMA since the beginning of 2008. He has a fighting style that is very exciting to watch and his height and reach make him a challenge for most fighters in his weight category. Mike's goal has always been to compete and he was the first SJ-MMA student to fight in a cage. He took his first fight up in Newcastle at short notice and fought in front of a packed crowd to a great reception.

FIGHTER

Vitor Da Silva Chagas
Born: 21 December 1985 / BRAZIL
Height: 5’10”
Fight Weight: 170 lbs / 77 kg / Welterweight
Born in Rio De Janeiro, Vitor started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when he was just 6 years old.  In 1993 he moved to England where he continued his training and also added traditional Jiu-Jitsu.  Vitor has been actively competing in tournaments throughout his life and in 2009 he came to SJ-MMA with one goal – to be a champion mixed martial artist.  Vitor has an excellent grappling background but is also a handful for anyone in the striking department.

FIGHTER

Kevin Wiggs
Born: 25 May 1983 / ENGLAND
Height: 5’9”
Fight Weight: 170 lbs / 77 kg / Welterweight
Kevin started with SJ-MMA back in September 2010 to add some grappling experience to his top notch striking. His Muay Thai base keeps most people at bay, but he has recently proven that he is pretty handy on the ground winning his first MMA bout via Anaconda Choke.

FIGHTER

Sam Gray
Born: 14 November 1984 / ENGLAND
Height: 5’11”
Fight Weight: 185 lbs / 84 kg / Middleweight
Sam used to live in the gym, his knowledge of strength training has helped many guys both experienced and new to weight training, but now he is pushing his mma and adding to his strength with great technique and explosive power.

FIGHTER

Steve Charles
Born: 27 May 1989 / ENGLAND
Height: 6’2”
Fight Weight: 265 lbs / 120 kg / Heavyweight
Steve joined SJ-MMA in May 2010 with a background in Tae Kwon Do and Kickboxing.  He competed in his first MMA bout in the cage at UK MMA League shortly after that.  Steve has a good background in strikes also likes to work the submissions, his favourite being the Arm Triangle.

FIGHTER

Steve Munoz

More info to follow.

FIGHTER

Will Jones
Born: 10 July 1992 / ENGLAND
Height: 5’10”
Fight Weight: 155 lbs / 70.5 kg / Lightweight
Will started his MMA training with SJ-MMA in February 2010 and joined us as a beginner.  Within 7 months he was competing in his first fight – a cage match at UK MMA League.  He likes to take fights to the ground and submit his opponents, his favourite submission being the Armbar From Guard!

FIGHTER

James Vass
Born: 01 December 1991 / ENGLAND
Height: 5’10”
Fight Weight: 185 lbs / 84kg / Middleweight
James has trained with SJ-MMA since April 2010 when he started as a beginner.  He has a background in Amateur Wrestling and in less then 6 months he jumped in the cage to compete at UK MMA League.  James likes to work the ground game where his favourite submission is the Armbar from Scarf Hold.

FIGHTER

Jon Turvey

More info to follow.

FIGHTER

Andrew Howie

Born: 05 March 1992 / ENGLAND
Height: 6’1”
Fight Weight: 185lbs / 84kg / Middleweight
Andrew began MMA training with very little experience and after 9 months training had 2 fights at Welterweight. He came away with a win and a draw in two brilliant performances. He took a lot away from the fights and is now pushing forward with his striking as he looks to move up in weight and compete at Middleweight.

FIGHTER

Chris Pecorella
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 205 lbs / 93 kg
Background: Chris joined up with SJ-MMA in May 2009 with the sole aim to compete in an MMA bout before returning to coach Rugby at university. Within 3 months he got his wish and along with Mike Eweje he took a short notice fight and was competing in Newcastle to a great crowd.