Tegan Taylor and Jack Lambert rise to the occasion at Muay Thai Nationals

Tegan Taylor and Jack Lambert fought in the women's Under 67kg A and men's Under 67kg A junior divisions respectively, which Sullivan described as two of the toughest in the tournament, which ran from Friday January 24 to Monday January 27.

"When I saw the divisions they were going in, I wanted them to get in there and do their best and see what happened," Sullivan said.

"I didn't expect them to do so well, so in my eyes it was a victory."

The reason for Sullivan's low expectations was the calibre of his students' opponents. Both fought against world-champion Muay Thai fighters, who were both looking for quick finishes.

"You don't want to get hurt, because you know you're going to fight again later, possibly again that day," Sullivan said.

"So you're really trying to get the fight over with as quickly as possible.

"[Both Taylor and Lambert's] opponents were looking for the kill. For them to not allow that to happen, and still do as well as they did, it was absolutely awesome."

Both MMT fighters finished with decision losses, though Lambert had led on the judges' scorecards for much of his bout.

Despite the result, the youngster knows the experience he took away from the fight will be invaluable.

"Straight after the fight I was fairly disappointed, but after I watched it back I was happy with myself," Lambert said.

"I saw it as a win, because I got in there and gave it 100%."

Sullivan added that "we would've been happy if he had just made it through the first round.

"To get through the whole three rounds, be up most of the fight, we were absolutely stoked."

Meanwhile, Sullivan believes Taylor's bout was the toughest of her 21-fight career, against a junior world champion who he described as "an absolute weapon".

"She's a current junior world champion, and she's a very forward fighter, which isn't my style," Taylor said.

"I came out with no injuries, I was able to fight again [last Saturday night]."

Sullivan lauded the pair and said "they took on the challenge and rose to the occasion."

As both divisions were fairly small, Taylor and Lambert were both awarded third place for their efforts.

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