January 4, 2026
2025 Australian MMA Amateur of the Year – Ayden Todoroff
Ayden Todoroff is 8-2 in his amateur MMA career and went 5-0 in 2025. He is one of the most active competitors around, with 10 fights since the start of 2024, and he keeps leveling up every time he competes.
Full disclosure, Ayden fights out of my gym, Base MMA, a steadily rising gym about two hours south of Perth in Western Australia. Base is still relatively unknown on the wider scene, but Ayden is putting the gym on his back and forcing people to pay attention. There is a real sense that he is carrying the flag for the region.
The 2025 run tells you exactly why the hype is building. He stopped Kim Luk in 18 seconds of round one at Domination MMA 11. He followed that with a second-round stoppage of Wyatt Fraser at Eternal MMA 93, then finished Torun Mercuri in round two at Ascension Fight Series 4, to claim their lightweight crown. He showed he can continually go the distance too, taking a unanimous decision over Alex Torres at Eternal MMA 97, and he capped the year with a round-three submission win over Shai Krimotat at Eternal MMA 99.
What makes Ayden dangerous is how he wins. He trains basically every day and fights like it. His style is suffocating and relentless, a walk-down approach that never gives opponents space to breathe. He invests in the body with nasty shots that take the spring out of people, and once they slow down, he turns the pressure up again. On top of that, his wrestling and submissions have come on fast, and with a newly earned purple belt, the grappling is not just defence anymore. It is a real weapon.
The losses in 2024 look like learning moments more than setbacks, because the version of Ayden since then has been sharper, meaner, and more complete. From card starter to featured prelim, he is climbing in real time.
He is aiming to go pro in 2026 with only a couple years of MMA experience, which sounds wild until you look at his activity and improvement curve. If he stays healthy and keeps this pace, the future is bright for the young man. He has a genuine shot at becoming a breakout fighter of the year type, and he is doing it while putting Base MMA on the map.
