Diego Pereira Retires, Chelsea Hackett Joins The Team

“It’s hands down the riskiest change we’ve made since moving the gym to Meakin Rd in 2022, but we knew it was time.”

The last quarter of 2025 at TFC opened this week with a bang.

Strap in for a series of big announcements, abrupt endings, and exciting new beginnings, we soft launch a new timetable, Diego Pereira retires, Chelsea Hackett joins the team, and Ben Johnston makes way for Auryn Parmley in the Kids & Teens BJJ program.

In the 2 weeks leading up to the inevitable moment that was October 2025, the exec team in the office, alongside the guiding hand of head coach, Ben Johnston, decided to take this time to implement a key change we’ve been workshopping all year. 

That led to a behind the scenes overhaul that many of you probably haven’t yet noticed. Efficiency without too much disruption was the goal. 

I do my best to sum it up in this 3-part article; but there is so much more to say as we head for the finish line of 2025, and the last quarter of not only this year, but this century – pretty wild hey?

We will save some words for the next blog though.

For now, read on to learn more about the key changes that kicked off October, and what this means for you at TFC!

• Diego Pereira Announces Retirement, Auryn Parmley Joins The Team

  At the tail end of September Diego Pereira announced not only his departure from TFC, but his retirement from MMA.

  

  A bitter sweet, but graceful ending for ‘El Pantera Negra’.  Knowing when to bow out, on your terms, is an important part of winning the game.  How and why he decided it was time can be found here, in his own words.

  
  We let Diego lead the way in informing students at TFC that he would be leaving at the end of the month.  As the last few days rolled onto the calendar, so too came the gifts and baked goods!  A well loved, well respected trainer was always going to be a hard act to follow.  Couple that with Diego’s insane level of technical knowledge and patience, and we knew we needed to hatch a plan that would compliment the work Diego had put in.
  
  As the lead coach of our kids and teens BJJ program, this was the first hurdle to tackle.  We don’t like to disrupt the kids trainer roster too much, getting to know a new trainer can be daunting for the young ones who have built up a relationship with Diego over time.
  
  For this reason Ben Johnston will be overseeing the program for the first few weeks of Diego’s departure, alongside talented mainstay, Jevahn Perele-Chong, who is a familiar face to all of our kids & teens.

  
  
  
  Ben will work to transition the program over to new lead trainer, Auryn Parmley.
  
  Auryn is one of our MMA pro team members who has been training with both Ben and Diego for over a year now, and has an extensive martial arts teaching history of over 10 years. 
  
  A BJJ purple belt and current MMA fighter, Auryn had his first MMA fight at just 15 years old.  He has competed in 3 different amateur world championships, and is already embedded into the culture here; so we were stoked to negotiate a place for Auryn on Team TFC and can’t wait to work more closely with him in this next era.

  
  

• Chelsea Hackett Enters The Chat

  But all the gaps Diego left behind weren’t yet filled…

  The 12pm Muay Thai classes were part of Diego’s roster.

  If you have trained in one of those classes this week then you would’ve been the first to know that Chelsea Hackett has stepped into that spot.
  
  In case you’ve been living under a rock let me brief you on the PFL, Australian Combat Sports Queen that is Chelsea Hackett.

   

  

  Chelsea trained Muay Thai for 7 years before transitioning over to MMA for the last 6 years.
  
  Training from the age of 12, at 27 years old Chelsea has solidified her place on the fight scene, here’s a list of her titles:

  • WMC Queensland title
  • IKBF Queensland title
  • Queensland title
  • WMC Australian title
  • WBC Australian title
  • WKBF Australian title
  • Nationals gold medalist
  • 2x IFMA Worlds Gold medalist
  • WBC International title

   

  

  Representing Australia at the IFMA World Games twice was a highlight for Chelsea in her career.  Not to mention, being the first female to fight for the WBC international title here in Brisbane.

  It’s crazy that we get to put on 2 such experienced fighters in the same week, but it’s the icing on the cake that one of them is a woman.

  Chelsea Hackett is TFC’s first lead female trainer, it only took us 10 years to get here, but it’s very, very cool!

• Paving The Way To A New Timetable

  If that’s not enough excitement for you, then hold onto your hats as we have quietly soft-launched a new timetable this week.
  
  BJJ being a traditional martial art remains largely unchanged, while in Boxing, Muay Thai and MMA there are now 3 class styles to choose from.

  This means you can mix up your training to best match your goals. 
  
  The key changes are pace and type of learning, either more technical and strategic, or fast paced and under pressure, or the traditional skill and drill that many of our members will be familiar with.
  
  The technical and strategic advancements happening on the fight scene in all codes over the last few years have been massive.  We’re always analysing and trying to stay ahead of the curve.
  
  A challenge presented to us was to create a more well rounded timetable that invited a greater audience to the table.  Making combat sports accessible to multiple demographics has always been a challenge.
  
  We believe we do it well with our culture, we’re always friendly and welcoming, and do our best to remain transparent and communicate with clarity.  Still there were some gaps in the equation. 
  
  TFC at its roots is a place where 2 best mates built a place for them and their friends to train.  It grew over time, into a place of opportunity, as Ben Johnston, brick by brick, is becoming one of the best coaches in the country across multiple codes.
  
  We’ve relied on those roots for context, and it’s been great.  Because of it, TFC has grown into one of the largest and most reliable combat sports learning centres in Australia.  More recently however, in the last 18 months the data has been pointing to the need to expand on that context, and broaden our offering over the 50+ classes that we teach every week.
  
  We’re both equally excited and nervous to launch this timetable.  It’s hands down the riskiest change we’ve made since moving the gym to Meakin Rd in 2022, but we knew it was time.

  A full description of each class type can be found in your member app.  The learning styles cater for beginner level and up.