Gibb, 33, won his Australian Fighting Championships’ middleweight bout in Melbourne on Friday night, two years after his most recent fight.

He didn’t need the allocated three five-minute rounds to win, instead recording a second-round knockout against his Sydney-based opponent, Mikey Vaotuua. 

“I was very happy. We had a game plan and stuck to it and it worked really well,” Gibb said.

“It couldn’t have gone any better.

“The guy was shorter and stockier, so we knew he was going to try and take me down to the ground.

“We worked on keeping off the ground and keeping my feet moving.

“A couple of minutes into the second round they stopped the fight. I was rapt. I am still on a high.”

Gibb moved back to the south-west two years ago to be closer to family.

“I used to live in Adelaide and fought professionally out of Adelaide,” he said.

“I didn’t realise how much I missed it (fighting).”

Gibb runs martial arts club Spartan Combat Systems part-time in Warrnambool and Port Fairy.

“I did 90 per cent of my preparation for this fight here in Warrnambool with the help of Dominance coach and long-time friend Traill Dowie, also a local Port Fairy person,” he said.

“Dominance is an MMA school in Melbourne which Spartan Fighting Systems has close ties with.

“Dominance also helped me prepare for this fight by tightening up my ground game with good sparring partners.”

Gibb’s fight was one of 11 bouts on the AFC fightcard. The main event was AFC, IKBF and K-OZ world heavyweight champion Soa ‘The Hulk’ Palelei against ex-UFC champion Sean ‘Big Sexy’ McCorkle. 

“It was a huge night with big local and international fighters on the card,” Gibb said.

Gibb is a supporter of cages around MMA rings, which are banned in Victoria.

He believes cages are in fighters’ best interests.

justine.mc@fairfaxmedia.com.au