Sutton Resurrection teen duo call up for England MMA youth

Travis, 16, and Brooke, 15 earned their call-ups with success in their first full competitive MMA event - the Arnold Sports competition at Birmingham's NEC.

The pair will now compete in next year's World Championships wherever in the world it ends up being, currently said to be likely in Saudia Arabia or Bahrain.

In her first fight, Brooke, of Kirkby, won unanimously with superior striking and heavy low kicks.

She lost her second fight on a tight decision but showed heart and dug in and the English coaches, both youth and senior, plus other EMMAA members were so impressed by her fight and skill set she was given the call-up.

Resurrection owner and head coach Christian Smith said: “Brooke has been with the club from an early age and has always shown great enthusiasm and passion for martial arts.

“She has always regularly attended any classes running at the gym from BJJ, to wrestling, boxing, MMA, or self defence, Brooke has done them all, and now a treasured instructor passing on her knowledge to our junior members.

“I am super proud of Brooke, not just today but everyday.

“She is an amazing martial artist, so tough, super strong and an inspiration for all young female athletes out there looking to get into the sport.”

On Travis' fights, Smith said:“In his first fight he finished his opponent first round with an assassin's precision, winning by triangle.

“He then beat his second opponent on an unanimous decision, but again he was lethal every round nearly finishing him by a couple of triangles and an omaplata attempt.

“Unfortunately his last opponent had to pull out due to injury from a previous bout, but he had already beat the winner of that match.

“Again I am super proud as Trav is the perfect example of what a martial artist should be - kind, humble, hard working, and an absolute killer when you need to be,” said Smith.

“Travis has been with the club for a fair few years now and I’ve watched him grow from a little boy into a real gentleman. “He’s always kind in training, polite and listens to every word you tell him because he wants to be the best.”

Both have previously earned Team GB calls in freestyle wrestling.

Tim Butler is Brooke’s dad as well as a coach at the club “I am over the moon with them both. I have watched them develop over the last seven years I’ve been coaching them.

"They are both world champions in Brazilian Ju Jitsu but this was their actual first fight in an MMA cage so it was quite nerve-racking.

"But they both absolutely smashed it.

"They have come through our junior programme and have now moved on to the youth development team and will move on the bigger and better things. They do every discipline they can but have been looking to achieve this in MMA.”