Bywater won his division at the fitness expo in 2017 and will compete in the 85kg and open weight divisions in the 2018 event.

The 25-year-old will compete in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition, after an intense training camp.

“Because I am having to cut weight, I do a lot more strength and cardio training in the last few weeks,” he said.

“I would say at the moment I am spending a minimum of 20 weeks doing some type of training.”

Bywater trains at the Infinite MMA gym in Ballarat under the watchful eye of John Campbell.

He said he started doing Tae-Kwon-do before changing to the more challenging martial arts discipline.

“You have to really want it, jiu-jitsu compared to other martial arts has the highest drop out rate,” he said.

“The training is very intense which can be too much for a lot of people.”

The martial artist said he is hoping to increase the amount of events he competes at this year.

“There are specific times of the year the big competitions are on,” he said.

“From February until October but I am hoping to compete as much as I can.

The world championships are in October, so depending how I go in the smaller competitions, I may compete there.”