1. Early Life

2. Powerlifting

3. MMA Fighting

4. Support and Ambitions

5. References

Alex Simon (born 11th December 1992) is a former Australia’s strongest man. He has been married to Mary Simon since the 1st of October 2017. At his powerlifting prime, Simon was "tipping the scales at 180KG, 6 foot 3 inches, and 24 years of age".^[1] . His powerlifting total was 1077.5KG. During this period, Simon was also working as a personal trainer in Base Gym, North Sydney. However, the lack of money and following for the sport of powerlifting ultimately saw his career come to an unfortunate end.

This, together with the various health risks of maintaining such an enormous lifestyle to compete, Simon’s powerlifting career was cut short when retired from the sport on October 15th 2017, at the conclusion of the "Big Dogs 2" powerlifting competition. This was where he claimed the title of "Australia’s Strongest Man"^[2]. Simon’s performances have seen him be recognized as "The God" and "Godly Strong". Simon’s powerlifting total was overtaken by Odell Manuel on the 17th of March 2018^[3] at the 2018 Arnold Classic in Melbourne. Manuel totalled 1090KG to earn the crown of "Australia’s Strongest Man"^[4]

Alex Simon "had always been a massive fight fan"^[5]. He previously trained in fighting as a passion and was also surrounded by UFC stars Tai Tuivasa and Tyson Pedro. Shortly after becoming Australia’s strongest powerlifter, Simon decided that he would "relaunch his fight career"^[1]. Simon has now lost over 30KG and made a transition into Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). He is currently an undefeated professional MMA fighter and has had two knockout victories. His ambition is to enter into the UFC and become the World Heavyweight Champion^[6].

Early Life

Alex Simon grew up in Bankstown, NSW, Australia. He began powerlifting on the 15th of November 2014. He was coached by Sebastian Oreb, also known as "The Australian Strength Coach". Oreb has coached the likes of professional NRL players including Manly Sea Eagles enforcer, Martin Taupau. It didn’t take long for Simon, as well as others, to realize that he had potential in the sport. His first major powerlifting training sessions featured him bench pressing 200KG for two repetitions, deadlifting 300kg for 2 repetitions, and bench pressing 100kg for 50 repetitions, as well as 220kg for 1 repetition. This was a mammoth effort, especially for someone who had only just begun powerlifting. Sebastian Oreb, among others, saw huge potential in Simon and went on to sponsor him for the following 3 years. Oreb trained and mentored Simon daily, free of charge, and shared his knowledge and wisdom with him, while teaching him the art of powerlifting. Simon has always been a passionate fighter and fight fan and worked also as a personal trainer during his power lifting training days. Oreb even permitted Simon to train his clients in his Base Gym, using his equipment and facilities. This allowed Simon to maintain his powerlifting ambitions, while still being able to support his desires and his lifestyle.

Powerlifting

Simon began his powerlifting career in November, 2014, with coach Sebastian Oreb. He trained with Sebastian in his Base Gym, in North Sydney. They worked tirelessly on Simon’s powerlifting, focusing mainly on his squat lift, bench press, and dead lift. After 6 months of training, Alex had managed to achieve a 280kg squat lift for 2 repetitions, a 240kg bench press, and a 350kg dead lift. In late August of 2016, Simon suffered a complete tear to the front and back of the labrum in his right shoulder. This delayed his powerlifting progress, but was nonetheless only a small obstacle for Simon. He maintained isolated training that avoided the use of his injured shoulder, and within 6 months, Simon was back to bench pressing. At the prime of his powerlifting career, Simon "Produc[ed] a staggering 400kg dead lift, 260kg bench-press and 435kg squat"^[1]. Simon competed at the "Big Dogs" Powerlifting competition on October 15th, 2017, where he came equal 3rd. Here, Alex "became Australia’s strongest powerlifter and broke into the world’s top 10"^[5]. His results from the competition were as follows:

• Squat= 435KG
• Bench-press= 260KG
• Deadlift= 382.5KG
• Total= 1077.5KG^[7]

Big Dog’s Competition Results:^[7]

1. Andrey Malanichev- 1105KG
2. Shawn Doyle- 1090KG
3. Daniel Bell- 1077.5KG
4. Eric Lilliebridge- 1077.5KG
5. Alex Simon- 1077.5KG

Simon’s aforementioned results in powerlifting placed him in an elite group of the top 10 strongest powerlifters ever^[5]. Less than 2 months later, on the 15th of December 2017, Simon announced his retirement from the sport of powerlifting via a post he shared to his fans on Instagram. The health and injury risks associated with maintaining such a large weight and immense lifestyle had taken its toll on Simon. He had become Australia’s Strongest Man less than 3 years after being introduced to the sport by his coach, Sebastian Oreb. Factoring in injuries, Simon had approximately 2 years of pure training before claiming this title. Nonetheless, soon after, Simon began his transition into MMA^[8], where he endeavours to become the UFC World Heavyweight Champion.

MMA Fighting

Alex Simon made his professional kick boxing debut on the 22nd of July 2017 and won in a 21 second knock-out against Jovanovic. At this time, Simon was training with the Prodigy Martial Arts Team from Castle Hill, NSW, as well as the Bodyfit team in Miranda, NSW. Soon after, on April 7th, 2018, at the Melbourne Pavilion, Simon made his professional MMA cage fighting debut in the octagon, against Lio Ilalio. Here, Simon achieved an 11-second knock-out victory. Alex currently trains mostly in the Bulldog Gym in Castle Hill with coach David Millward. Millward is a well renowned MMA and boxing coach who has also trained the likes of World Champion Boxer Manny Pacquiao and Australian professional rugby league player and boxer, John Hopoate^[9]. Simon’s potential has been acknowledged by many highly acclaimed athletes, notably UFC two-class Champion, Conor McGregor. McGregor shared a commendable article focusing on Simon and his ambitions of becoming UFC World Heavyweight Champion. He is one of the many people captivated by the journey of Alex Simon.

Support and Ambitions

So far in his MMA journey, Simon has had the support of major sponsor Pain Away Australia, as well as other sponsors including, but not limited to; Brute Force Kennels, Minicrete Concrete, Asset Finance Shop, and Sandhub. With the difficulties associated with attaining a career in powerlifting, Simon now strives to succeed in MMA and eventually progress into the UFC. With the assistance of his team, coaches, and sponsors, Alex endeavours to make this dream a reality.{{cn}}

References

• Draft:Union Academy (Florida)
• Draft:Union Academy (Gainesville, Florida)
• Draft:Union Building (Bucharest)
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• Draft:Union County Jail (Blairsville, Georgia)
• Draft:Union Dubuque F.C.
• Draft:Union Medical Healthcare Limited
• Draft:Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea
• Draft:Union of Bukovina with Romania
• Draft:Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers
• Draft:Union of Jewish Women
• Draft:Union postale universelle
• Draft:Union Rotoiti
• Draft:Union Rotorua
• Draft:Union Station (Clinton Massachusetts)
• Draft:Union Sulphur Company
• Draft:Union Twist Drill Company
• Draft:UNIPETROL DOPRAVA
• Draft:Uniquegodx
• Draft:Unique Group of Institutions
• Draft:Unique Minds Greece
• Draft:Unique (musician)
• Draft:Unit 7
• Draft:Unit 7 (jazz composition)