Meet The Misfits
Situated in Elgin, The Jiu Jitsu Misfits are a relatively young MMA club, starting only in 2013, however, the core members of the team have a lot more experience than you’d expect for a club that has been around for such a short time. The club has already enjoyed vast amounts of success in both Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Competition, things are only getting better.
If you’ve been to a BJJ comp in Scotland, or more probable an MMA show in Scotland, you’re more than likely familiar with the founding members of The Misfits.
Martin Donaldson is the head coach and is undefeated in MMA and Amateur boxing. Martin is a dedicated grappler who has medalled at Purple Belt level in Scottish comps. He has also defeated the writer of this article three times at BJJ, for whatever that’s worth! He has somehow remained sane, despite spending a great deal of time keeping Ginge and Aidan in check! He remains the only person I’ve ever met to gain weight on the Dolce Diet.
Aidan Stephen teaches the striking classes. Sporting a Muay Thai record of 7-0 and an 11-1 Amateur Boxing record and regarded as the best Semi Pro MMA fighter in Scotland (with a number of title belts), he has had epic fights with Scott Malone and Paull McBain to name a few. His move to professional is much anticipated, and his dynamic and creative striking has become quite a signature in his fights. He is a huge fan of Liverpool FC, John Cena and KFC. A keen gambler too – he even won once!
Euan “Ginge” Macleod has been boxing since age 12, and since switching to MMA has racked up a 4-0 record, beating many of the toughest prospects in Scotland, including wins over well respected Dean Elliott and Gary Grant. He has also won medals in grappling comps and is apparently quite a good dancer! You knew he had ginger hair and fast hands, but you may not have known that he is quite a sensation on “Tinder” and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Guinea pigs.
Kevin McAloon, BJJ Blue Belt, has won both his MMA fights by armbar and is a regular on the grappling comp scene, the 2nd of the Misfits to have submitted this writer in competition! He has also enjoyed success in amateur boxing, winning a Silver medal at the 2013 Scottish Novice boxing championships. He has also enjoyed his share of food – rumour is that his MMA bouts took place at 70kg, but despite being sponsored by a butcher, he now inhabits the mid 80s!
If you’ve ever met any of these fellas, or any of the Misfits, you’ll have found them to be very friendly and good folks. So how did the name Misfits come about? I’ll let Kevin McAloon tell the story;
“The name Jiu Jitsu Misfits came about as a slight joke to begin with. We had no real training centre to call home and most of us trained the individual styles which comprise the sport of MMA. Our faces could regularly be seen at Thai boxing, boxing and grappling classes. We were usually the only ones who were attending these classes with an interest in MMA so we sort of drifted together to form a very close group eventually becoming known as the Misfits as we never truly belonged in one discipline but we all met through Jiu Jitsu so coined the name The Jiu Jitsu Misfits”
Without a dedicated space to call their own, and with the archaic anti MMA attitudes of the various clubs the members would attend to learn individual arts, it wasn’t an easy start for the Misfits. Things got so bad, that Kevin and Euan wound up training on GRASS outside in the park for their debut MMA fights as the local boxing club kicked them out of their gym. On one particularly unlucky day, a dog pissed all over Kevin’s training stuff during a round. Kevin, undeterred, kept sparring and finished the round – showcasing the dedication that’s become quite a trademark for The Misfits. Of note, Kevin and Euan both won their MMA fights.
The members kept plugging away though and travelled around getting the training they needed and reaping the hard earned success in both MMA and competitive grappling. A key breakthrough came for the Misfits in 2013 when local personal trainer Ally Saville opened a gym in the area. The team formed a relationship with Ally and were able to arrange set times every week where they could train in his facility. The team are incredibly thankful to Ally as finally having their own facility and regular training times was the springboard the club needed to reach the next level. Having visited the gym to train, my only advice would be to take a jumper as it’s the coldest place I think I’ve ever been!
The relationship has gone from strength to strength and in 2014 the Misfits were able to start teaching classes and having a set timetable, obviously a huge step in their growth.
The original members are pretty well known in the Scottish community, but due to the classes on offer, there are other success stories happening at The Misfits.
Team member Christina Ireland recently entered her first competition and won gold. Similarly, Laurie McCutcheon after only training for a few months also won gold in his first competition. Many club members have dipped their toes in the competition water, and things are only going to keep progressing on that front.
Young Bradley Poole, 18, started out in boxing, largely due to his fathers success in the sport, but never really stuck with it. After some encouragement, he got into BJJ and hasn’t looked back. Wowing the coaches with his dedication and his desire to learn, they tell me he’s definitely one to watch. Even his father, a boxing coach, has started going to the MMA striking classes!
Douglas Nevins, 18, who has been with the Misfits since the beginning, is also getting invaluable experience taking part in interclubs and MMA exhibitions
One thing I noticed when attending classes there, and just from chatting to members of the gym, it’s that everyone seems to fit in with the Misfits.
They have members of all different genders, ages, body types and styles. There are people on the mat from backgrounds in Boxing, BJJ, Judo or TKD and plenty on the mat with no martial arts background at all, but everyone gets on and helps each other. The good competition results the gym enjoys show that the training is good, but it’s also important to enjoy training, and they seem to have found that balance.
Club member Greg Scott summed it up;
“The guys at the Misfits are like a family. Going in most days to train with them is a true pleasure. Not just for learning but for the camaraderie that comes hand in hand with it.”
Always seeking to improve the club, the coaches at the club have built up a good relationship with Straight Blast Gym. Martin and Kevin have gone to Manchester a few times to train with SBG Black Belt Karl Tanswell at his gym SBG Mainline. Members of the gym also regularly attend the SBG seminars put on by sister club Granite City Grappling in Aberdeen.
This relationship with SBG, and the coaches making the effort to go to the seminars, means the material being taught at the classes is world class, and on the cutting edge of BJJ. When members of The Misfits compete, they do so under the SBG banner, which in and of itself just shows the strength of the bond. Indeed, John Kavanagh, who needs no introduction, even gave Kevin a video message of good luck before one of his MMA bouts!
In what is arguably the highlight of the clubs short tenure, late last year, they were able to put on a BJJ mini camp lasting 3 days taught by Estonian SBG Black Belt Martin Aedma (who recently gave Andre Galvao a good match at the IBJJF Europeans). Aedma is renowned for his coaching, and for The Misfits to go from having no facility and training on grass, to hosting a three day seminar with a world class black belt which was attended by dozens of people, speaks volumes to the clubs success.
2015 looks set to be the biggest year yet for The Misfits. The year has already started well for the team, as they were the top performing team at Scotland’s only grappling competition so far this year, a Submission Only event in Elgin which took place January 3rd. The team are set to compete in grappling more than ever this year, and the MMA team will be no less busy, with Euan Macleod already booked for an intriguing bout against Chilekwa Ngosa of the D-Unit at FFC on February 20th.
The Misfits always welcome new members, and if you want to train and live near the Elgin area, I would thoroughly recommend you give it a try. From absolute beginners to proven winners, their doors are open to all who want to get better at BJJ/MMA.
For more information, check out their FB page by clicking HERE
There is also this video highlight reel made by club member Kevin McAloon featuring footage of the team in action
The class timetable is as follows – classes are £4 each or a monthly pass to all classes is £40
Classes take place at Ally Saville PT; Perimeter road, Pinefield Business Centre, Elgin, IV30 6AN
Monday
6.45pm – 8.45pm – Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Tuesday
6.30pm – 8pm – Mixed Martial Arts Striking
8pm – 8.30pm – Competition Team Sparring
Friday
6.30pm – 8pm – Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Saturday
11am – 12.30pm – No Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Cheers
Fight Talk Scotland
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