ATHLETE Luke Vella has returned from the northern hemisphere with some precious cargo after winning the silver medal at the Commonwealth Sambo Championships in England last month.
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Vella was one of more than 150 competitors at the event from more than 20 Commonwealth nations and came up against a number of experienced competitors on his way to the podium.
The result was more than the 29 year old had hoped for.
"This event was stacked with pro-fighters from the UFC and Bellator and some of the competitors have competed at an Olympic level," Vella said.
"It was a great experience just to be competing against these guys and to come away with a result like this is amazing."
A Russian martial art, Sambo incorporates throws, submission holds and strikes.
Vella's medal at the championships has vindicated his selection in the Australian team for the championships after he made a name for himself in mixed martial arts (MMA) circles, including winning the UCU Heavyweight Mixed Martial Arts Championship early this year.
"Sambo is actually a really new sport in Australia, so the team is selected from athletes who have performed well in other combat sports," Vella said
"Sambo is very similar to MMA in that you can mix up your strikes with grappling attacks. My coach Joe Lopez spent some one-on-one time with me specifically for this event but always has us prepared for any situation, so to me it was just tweaking my game to incorporate a few small rules changes.
Vella is not the only fighter from Windang's Freestyle Fighting Gym to make a name for himself on the international stage.
Alex Volkanovski will then make his promotional debut at Pacific Combat Xtreme in Guam on October 24 when he takes on Kyle Reyes.
Volkanovski, a former Warilla-Lake South Gorillas rugby league star, is then due to return to Australia for a fight against Eternal MMA champion David Butt at Wollongong Wars 2 at Anita's Theatre in Thirroul on November 1.