Shaolin MMA combatant Aggam Bawa captures first Canada Fight League match in Stoney Creek

July 2, 2026 · 0 Comments

Shaolin Martial Arts combatant Aggam Bawa defeated Gurmehak Turna in a three-round MMA bout to capture her first Canada Fight League match at the Winona Vine Estates in Stoney Creek last Saturday.

Bawa—who has trained at Shaolin Martial Arts in Aurora since 2021—credited her training and coaching at the Mary Street facility as a key factor in her victory.

“It’s been great to train here—it’s a nice place to come to and throw myself into the training. It’s a healthy escape for me.”

Shaolin Martial Arts Coach Rocco Colarossi, who recently competed in an MMA tournament and will achieve Master’s Level status at the end of the month, praised his protégé’s progress, diligence, and talent as it manifested in Saturday’s match: “Aggam’s been putting in a ton of effort and she’s doing the prescribed work here and at other gyms where we’ve sent her to get more specialized coaching. She’s fantastic and it showed in her match against Turna. She was dominant in the first two rounds of the fight and she won all three rounds. When Aggam got Gurmehak in a rear naked choke, from my view, it looked like the fight was over, but she was saved by the bell at the end of the second round. In the third round, she stayed away from Aggam.”

Bawa concurred with his coach’s assessment of the match: “I beat this Thai boxer who’d been training for ten years. She was really advanced in boxing, but by the end of Round 1, I was taking her to the floor where I had the advantage of grappling. She was the superior boxer and I had to stay away from her, but when I got her in a choke hold, she was losing consciousness, and she was saved by the bell.”

The ten-year King City resident and graduate of St. Anne’s School in Aurora was pleased with her performance in the three-round match.

“Just seeing my skills put together and seeing everything I’ve worked for over the last five years in my first MMA match was satisfying. Obviously, my striking and grappling abilities were the difference as well as reading the fighter and realizing how to get out of holds because of my training. It felt good to say to myself ‘I know how to get out of this one.’ Finally, being able to use all my skills in one place was satisfying, too.”

The 18-year-old is heading off to New York University in the Fall to earn a degree in business, technology, and entrepreneurship and is “looking forward to balancing my studies and maintaining my skills. I want to get my blue belt while I’m in the USA and I’m looking forward to the gyms and the coaching styles as well as opportunities in New York.”

However, before she starts her studies at NYU in September, Aggam Bawa has one last goal in Ontario: “Before I leave, I want to have another MMA fight.”

By Jim Stewart