Four years ago, Dave Reeves and his team at Rise Combat and Fitness in Mount Forest, Ont., sent their first two kickboxers to a world championship event. This fall, that number increased to seven. “I can’t put it into words. These guys have done an incredible job going from what we did four years ago,” he said. “Getting into this game the way we did, having two kids compete and we have seven competing now and they all push the pace.” The gym owner and MMA coach stayed in Canada as Marc Beer, another MMA coach at Rise, travelled to Jesolo, Italy, alongside their seven fighters as part of Team Canada for the 2026 World Junior Kickboxing Championship. Many continued the final stages of their fight camps on the plane, watching film from previous fights while cutting weight to ensure they were as prepared as possible for their opponents. While the athletes rose to the occasion, the North American style of fighting appeared to present challenges with the European judges, according to the coaches. “We had a different idea of what the other people were going to be doing. It was more of a game of tag and run, whereas our guys were there to fight,” Beer said. “In North America, it’s more of a fight, over there, it’s more like a point fighting system… so I really I took it on myself, and I apologized to the team for not having that dialed in, but as far as performances, I couldn’t have asked for better.” Even with the challenges of adapting to a different style of competition, Reeves explained how the experience has helped his fighters grow. “They’ve already leveled up their game right now. They’ve all come back with a lot more confidence behind them and definitely pushing the pace,” he told CTV News. “Learning that sometimes when we were telling them we need to push harder, they understood (that), yes, now I need to push harder… and they’ve learned that lesson. Now they’re taking that and applying it directly to their training, how they compete and how they train.” For fighters like Bart Llamido and Thomas Rushton, the experience was one they will never forget. “It was an experience of a lifetime, honestly. Meeting people, the food, the culture… it was really fun,” Llamido said. “Not only getting to do like my favorite thing that was fighting, it was a lovely experience. I got to meet all these different European fighters, try new food, trade clothing with these people… it was a fun experience,” said Rushton. While no fighters from Rise were able to step onto the podium, the competition gave them a better idea of what their next steps should be. ‘It was definitely different here in Canada. I’ve had fights where I just go in and brawl… in Europe, they just play it perfectly,” Rushton said. “The way they throw kicks, they know the system and it’s all they do is just fight internationally, fight the same people, so they know it very well and they know how to use it.” Of all the Team Canada members competing in the tournament, Llamido was the only fighter able to secure a stoppage win. He told CTV News that his next step could include fighting for Team Canada at the 2027 World Kickboxing Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in an adult division. He said he remains determined to become world champion. “I expected to fight the best in the world, and I honestly expected to win the entire tournament,” Llamido explained. “It was (more) experience… I told myself that I’m going to be the world champ and it’s not going to change. We lost in Italy, but moving forward, Kazakhstan… or Uzbekistan, here I come.” Only a few weeks removed from the experience, the fighters have already begun reflecting on just how unique the trip was. “Being able to actually fight down there and fight for a full championship…to me, that’s just crazy,” Rushton admitted. “I was amazed being able to fight for my home country and all these people back home watching and cheering me on, it was just amazing. Being able to say like, ‘oh, I’m from Canada’, that’s just it.” With his athletes back on home soil, Reeves and Beer have hit the ground running to keep their fighters ready. Several are competing in the North American Century Cup at the end of October, while others are eyeing Provincials in December and Nationals next March, all looking for a chance to return to the world stage next fall. No matter what his fighters have done or what they do next, Reeves is most proud that they left a lasting impression and showed their opponents what it means to represent Canada. “Nobody backed down. Nobody backed away. They looked at the world and said, ‘come on, let’s go. You want to see this? We’re going to show you what Canadians are like,’ and they did exactly that. I was extremely proud of every last one of them,” he said.
