BRAD Kora’s “champion factory” has again delivered in the top-level martial arts realm.

Kora was the grappling coach for the New Zealand GAMMA team, which took part in the GAMMA World Championship in Jakarta in December.

He returned to New Zealand with his Whakatāne MMA Centre fighters having won three of the four New Zealand medals.

Jack Connor won gold in the 79.4kg Striking MMA class, Jesse King won silver in 93kg MMA and Raukawa Genesis won bronze in 93kg Striking MMA.

The other New Zealand fighter to get a podium placement was Telahune Yedenkachew who won bronze in 56.7kg MMA.

Unfortunately, Whakatāne MMA Centre fighter Dylan McPhee was unable to take part in the event after injuring his hand during  his claiming of the New Zealand 79kg GAMMA title in November.

“We are winning national and international medals,” Kora said.

“Being proud is an understatement – we have proved ourselves on the world stage.”

Seventy-eight nations took part in the world championships, held at the Dewa MMA Arena in Banten.

Out of the 37 nations to win medals, Kazakhstan topped the table with nine golds, three silvers and seven bronzes.

The United States was second with four golds, two silvers and one bronze, with Samoa placing third, with four golds, one silver and five bronze.

Australia came 10th with one gold, two silver and two bronze while New Zealand shared 11th with Kyrgyzstan, both with one gold, one silver and two bronze.

Ōpōtiki fighter King beat a Russian GAMMA contender in 33 seconds and an Indian champion in 22 seconds, but missed out on the gold to Shakhgireyev from Kazakhstan.

“I got beaten by decision – he was a real strong, good wrestler,” King said.

“It showed me what I need to work on, but it also showed me the level I am at.”

King classes the result as “a good lesson, not a loss”.

“I got to experience a high-level grappler that was wrestling-dominant early on in my career,” he said.

“I’m glad I found him now – not 10 fights into my professional career, which I am looking to start very soon.”

Kora said whānau support and long hours were some of the ingredients in the secret sauce that saw the Whakatāne MMA Centre bring home medals.

“We knuckle down and we grind, we train in a lot of heat,” he said.

“We do lots of technical breakdowns and tactical strategy.”