© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com
Elvis Sinosic – Australia's first UFC gladiator
Born in Canberra, Australia, Elvis Sinosic was the first of only two Australians to have competed in a UFC tournament.
But it was MMA pioneer Bruce Lee who first motivated Elvis to take up a martial art: "I pretty much got into the martial arts back in the Bruce Lee days. Bruce inspired me. I saw the movies and wanted to be like him.
Probably a lot of the martial artists around my age had some inspiration from him. I actually started in judo, which has nothing to do with Bruce Lee, but at nine years of age, it was a martial art and that's all that mattered to me then. It was at my local primary school, and my parents were able to drop me off for classes," says Sinosic.
"Later on, when I got a bit older, I wanted to do a stand-up martial art, so I joined up for Tae Kwon Do. From there I kept training, and I went for a more free style with a bit of stick work, grappling, and striking."
Like most well-rounded MMA competitors, Elvis incorporated striking, takedown, and submission disciplines into his training.
"I moved on to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and now I've done a lot more. We kind of focus on the Muay Thai, BJJ, and the freestyle wrestling. We combine the three.
"The one thing all those styles have in common is that they're what I call reality styles. Everything is based on application against the resisting opponent. You can practice with the compliant opponent, but then there's always some sort of training, whether it's sparring or drills, where your opponent has to resist. And you have to apply the moves in response to that. That's where the reality comes into it."
For his BJJ training, Elvis took up with Anthony Lange in Sydney. Although Sinosic has had brief trips overseas and trained with Carlos Machado, he has remained with Lange for most of his training, and also commenced training with Anthony Perosh who trained under Carlos in America.
"Anthony Perosh traveled to the US for 3 years where he trained directly under Carlos. When he came back he continued to return to Texas to train with Carlos so I took the opportunity to go over with him. Since then, Perosh and I have been working together as training partners and now run a school together (www.sinosicperosh.com.au), and we've been using Anthony Lange, John Will and Carlos Machado as different sources of knowledge whilst training with the Machado network."
Elvis Sinosic at his gym ready for the 2005 ADCC trials
The caliber of athletes Elvis has faced over the years is a testimonial to his fighting ability, and reads like a 'who's who' of Mixed Martial Artists. The list includes such well-respected names as Tito Ortiz, Evan Tanner, Frank Shamrock, Jeremy Horn, Dave Beneteau, and Renato Babalu.
With just two weeks' notice prior to their battle, Elvis fought former UFC champion Frank Shamrock under PRIDE FC rules at the December, 2000, K-1 Grand Prix. Much to the crowd's disbelief, Sinosic was able to go the distance with Frank in their clash.
Due to Elvis's impressive performance against Frank, as a result of Jeremy Horn's opponent sustaining an injury leading up to their February, 2001, bout, Sinosic was selected as replacement, again on two weeks' notice.
To compete at UFC level – a competition that has been described as the Super Bowl of Mixed Martial Arts – is every fighter's dream. And not only was Sinosic invited to compete in UFC 30: Battle on the Boardwalk, but at his Octagon debut, Elvis defeated MMA legend Jeremy Horn by triangle arm-bar.
"Just getting the opportunity to fight at that level was amazing for me. And to win on top of that – especially against such a great, quality opponent as Jeremy Horn – was absolutely fantastic and the highlight of my career, for sure."
Sinosic later fought Tito Ortiz at UFC 32: "It was a tough match. Tito obviously did his homework. I did my homework, and thought I came up with a good game plan to work against him, but he came a little bit more prepared, and he was able to use his elbows on a cut. I was fine to continue physically and mentally, but the doctor ruled that the cut was too big. I can understand that, but Tito won the match on a TKO, and I learnt a lot from the match. I know I got lazy during the bout and I made a few mistakes, which Tito was able to take advantage of. So, although I lost the fight, I still got a lot out of it.
"Because I won the Battle on the Boardwalk match instead of Jeremy, that rocket-propelled me into the title shot. In hindsight, I think I took the match too soon. That was part of my jumping up from a debut to my second fight being a title fight. I probably jumped in a little too early, but once again, it was an incredible opportunity. And how could I say no to it?"
Elvis, will we see you competing again at UFC?
"I'd like to go back to the UFC or possibly fight in PRIDE. If a promoter comes up with an offer, I'm happy to fight, but of course they need to see results from me as well. That's why last year I took a fight against Roberto Travern and I beat him by knockout. So hopefully I'll have one or two matches this year that will once again propel me up into the scene of MMA. Once again, it will come down to what I do in the interim and whether the promoters are interested."
And Elvis, you're not just a pretty face. I believe you're also a computer whiz.
"I spent 10 years in the IT industry and I have a degree in information technology, but I quit the industry to teach martial arts at my own gym, full time."
How is the Elvis Sinosic 2005 model going?
"He's doing well. Nowadays, I spend a bit more time coaching guys. I have a few up-and-coming fighters in our gym who are doing well and looking to move up to the next level for fights. I'm putting some time and effort into these guys, using my experience, and hopefully some of my contacts will help push them on.
"Anthony Perosh and I are constantly pushing each other to improve our grappling and MMA skills. I won the Warriors Realm LHW Superfight last year, and Anthony won the Spartan heavyweight title in 2004. So we're still forging ahead, remaining extremely competitive, and keeping our students honed."
What about the ADCC this year?
"Anthony and I will both be competing at the Abu Dhabi trials in Sydney on February 19, 2005. We also have quite a few students competing in the ADCC trials as well. Our goal is to win those trials and head over to the Abu Dhabi world championships."
Have we seen the best of Elvis Sinosic?
"Absolutely not. My training is all about learning more and getting better. Every year I'm better than I was the previous year. I can't picture a time when you'll have seen the best of me. I'm going to keep on improving and learning."
Elvis, is there anything you'd like to add?
"I'd like to thank my training partner, Anthony Perosh, my students for all their support and hard training, and my sponsors: Musashi (supplements), Fairtex (Kickboxing Equipment), and Atama (kimonos).
3rd South Pacific Trials Poster
"You can keep up to date with what I'm doing. Check out https://www.elvissinosic.com or to see what is happening at my academy, check out https://www.sinosicperosh.com.au."
