The Champion Coaching Team

Professor Mahood

Canadian MMA pioneer, former King of the Cage Light Heavyweight Champion and UFC fighter with over 30 sanctioned fights to his credit, Bill "The Butcher" Mahood has multiple black belts including a 3rd degree in Hapkido, a 2nd degree in Taekwondo as well as a Black Belt in Brazilian Jujitsu under the lineage of 5x World Jujitsu Champion Bibiano Fernandes.  Bill's unique yet practical application of BJJ to MMA has laid the foundation for other current fighters to the UFC such as Kajan Johnson, and most recently on the amateur side, Champion Gym 2X World Championship Silver Medalist turned winning pro Alex Martinez and 2 other #1 ranked Canadian fighters by way of Brent Auger and Kyle Francotti. For Brazilian Jujitsu, Bill has developed multiple Brazilian Jujitsu gold medalists such as Shane Miller, Will Robbins, Jackson Fontaine, Roberto Jose, Ian Stoby and Justin Knoepfli. ON TOP of all that Bill is the Canadian Amateur MMA Team Coach, coaching and cornering several other National athletes to medals including Gold in 2015. Bill has served on the Combative Sports Commission and has intimate knowledge of the sport, rules, and safety of MMA.

Alex Goc-ong is a Master of YawYan, with the branding to prove it. Just watch Master Alex for a minute and you can immediately see a whole other level. A Mechanical Engineer and former MMA competitor in his native Philippine, Master Alex is a certified fitness and conditioning trainer who now resides in Canada working as a full-time Champion Coach. Alex is married and expecting his first child- A GIRL! and spends the rest of his time improving himself when not training, including achieving certifications in search and rescue and mountaineering. We are extremely proud to have Master Alex on the Champion Team of Coaches, where he instructs and trains students of all ages and skill level. 

Adam Link has produced multiple champions in Freestyle and Folkstyle wrestling and is a staple of Champions MMA training. Adam's own daughter, Kinley Link (in the photo with Adam) as the Cadet Canadian National Freestyle Wrestling Champion has gone on to win bronze at the Pan-Am Games in Peru and is now competing in the Juniors! You'll find Adam on the Champion mats throughout the week as well as a Member! 

Coach Amber's degree is in rehabilitation which lead her to train athletes at Peak Power Sport Development cross training and rehabilitation. She obtained her Barre certification because of her extensive background in dance. She is excited to bring her passions together to our Superhero Classes, Parkinsons Group and Adventure camp programs. 

Coach Amber has a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, CSEP-CPT, CPR/FIrst Aid and Total Barre Instructor Foundation Level One.

Master Lawrence

Master Lawrence Head is a lead instructor for our Olympic Taekwondo program. WT (World Taekwondo) has been a passion of his for over 25 years having achieved his 5th degree black belt in the process. Master Head not only has experience in running his own school in Grande Cache (before moving north of Grande Prairie), but also is highly ranked in Brazilian Jiujitsu as well, having achieved his blue belt. We are certainly proud to have this coaching talent on our team!  

Coach Randy

Coach Randy is our Youth, Junior and recreational BJJ Instructor who brings valuable experience to the Champion fold. He is a Brazilian Jiujitsu Purple Belt under Bill Mahood and loves competing in MMA with several amateur bouts experience under his belt before becoming professional.  Randy, previously a top tier football athlete, is also a brown sash in kickboxing, as well as a brown belt in Goshin karate. He has been a featured competitor on the Fight Network and is a proud father of two little boys and when he is not coaching and competing, he is with his family. 

Becky is a registered massage therapist since 2000, as well as a certified yoga teacher and advanced Buti yoga instructor  She has boxed in her youth and became a coach for Rocky Titans Boxing Club from 2001-2003.  She is married with 2 beautiful children.  She likes to spend her free time running with her 2 labs, doing yoga, reading or hanging out with friends and family.  Her focus is on safely building strength. Empowering people to better understand their movement patterns and working within that to challenge growth while preventing injury.

Raphael is a level 1 boxing coach, First Aid Trained, NCCP Certified, former (2010-2011) King Of The Cage Canadian Heavyweight Mixed Martial Arts Champion and Olympic WTF Taekwondo Black Belt with referee training under ‘Big John' McCarthy (C.O.M.M.A.N.D.). He has been training and competing for over 30 years since 1984 - beginning in boxing at the N'Amerind Boxing Club and in Tracey Kenpo Karate under Master Ralph Chinnick.

Raphael moved into and spent most of his competitive years in Taekwondo beginning at Bluewater TKD, then with Master Sang Kim and eventually under Olympic Team Coach Young Choung. He has competed, won and/or placed in numerous Taekwondo Provincial and National championships including the 2000 Canadian Olympic Team Trials. He has been training ever since in his first dedicated art, competing at the provincial and national level including the 1997, 1999 and 2018 Canadian Championships.

Raphael has had 10 Professional MMA fights as well as over 70 matches in other combat sports from WT Taekwondo, Brazilian Jujitsu, Kickboxing, Pankration, Japanese Jujitsu (winning the 2001 N.E. Regional & New York State Jujitsu Championships under Straight Blast Gym's Richard Beaupit) and even Ssireum a Korean version of Sumo where he won the 'Yokozuna' (Highest Rank) equivalent at the 1997 Open Class National Ssireum Championships at Toronto's Dano Spring Festival. He has also boxed amateur to raise awareness for, like in MMA, children's charities at in-house and Fivestar Fight League promotions. 

Raphael has also filtered his striking through notables such as Kru Roger Lumyoung. His MMA game was further gelled together in Alberta by a JTF 2 (Canadian Special Forces) operator/ instructor training him in Burmese boxing, Muay Thai and elite conditioning.

With a background in security including service for heads of state such as former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and former Chinese President Hu Jintao as well as personal protection, celebrity, event and facility security Raphael's mission is to bring the valuable lessons, leadership, teamwork, and discipline that greatly enriched (and at times protected) his life to others through Champion Gym, while channeling low-esteem violence into positive athletic personal power with the ethical structure only martial arts and sports can offer. 

Complementary to his work in Martial Arts and sport, is his Health, Safety, Environment and Security profession with a focus on the oil and gas sector, where he consults including as an external auditor for Energy Safety Canada. Raphael applies aspects of his profession to the safety at Champion Gym, particularly with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic where a municipal official and AHS employees have noted the preventative measures to be among the most stringent in the province.

Raphael is the proud father of 2 young children, who are his world.