James Whitcombe can officially call himself a New Zealand champion.

The 16-year-old, Whakatāne High School student and Whakatāne MMA centre fighter produced an absolute masterclass to be crowned WKA New Zealand Champion recently.

The accolade caps an impressive nine months for the MMA Centre, which has won four belts, with Jack Connor, Jesse King and Dylan McPhee all title holders alongside James.

James said it was “pretty cool” being a New Zealand champion.

“Brad (Kora) had a good game plan for me. I backed him and just went out and did what he said.

“It’s pretty cool to think that I am now a New Zealand title holder.”

James said this was something he had wanted to achieve since picking up the sport three years ago.

“I wanted to win a New Zealand title, but I am still shocked that it has happened so quickly. I thought it might have come in a few years.”

He did not know much about his opponent heading into the fight.

“I just knew he liked to sweep a lot, so I made sure I didn’t allow him to do that.”

Now he’s won one title, the youngster is eager for more.

“I have got that hunger to continue getting better.”

James does not have to wait long as he’s fighting the Tahitian number 1 in Auckland this weekend for the South Pacific title.

“It’s going to be a good challenge for me, but I’m up for it,” he said.

Coach Brad Kora said it was a clinical showing from James to win the New Zealand title.

“It was an amazing performance. An incredibly aggressive style. He never took a step back and just put pressure on his opponent. The whole five rounds were total dominance.”

The fight was officiated by Whakatāne’s Carl Cowley, who said James was impressive.

“It was a dominant performance. James won by unanimous decision, winning all five rounds on all three of the judges' scorecards.

“He dominated as he was in far better condition than his opponent. He looked like he could have easily done another couple of rounds.”

Kora has been training James since he started training at the gym three years ago, and is proud of his achievement and the effort he puts in.

“When he walked through the doors to my gym, he was a biggish kid and I was like, ‘I dunno if this is the sport for him’ – that is how I first met him.

“He was running 21 kilometres every Saturday, 10 to 15km  Monday to Friday, and, to get ready for this camp, he was doing an Olympic lifting programme three times a week, plus I was holding Thai pads for him. That’s how much he’s done work wise and why it's so awesome to have seen him win the title.

“He’s a great kid; he deserves this so much.”

James was getting up early every morning to train for an hour or two before school, then after school he would be back at the gym for another few hours, Kora said.

“He was very dedicated. He has been training like that for two years. Obviously, he went to Bali earlier in the year and came back with major results and this was the icing on the cake.

“He’s an incredibly hard worker and good humble kid.”

He said the other young fighters really looked up to him.

Kora expects this weekend’s fight to be a good challenge.

“He’s just won the WKA NZ title belt and now he’s going for the South Pacific with only two weeks between fights, so straight into it.”

Tyrell Thomas also fought in what was his first in-ring fight and produced a dominant showing.