Aidan Lambert Takes Home A Gold Medal for Fall River and Gillett's

by Zak Drapeau

Sportz Nation - 8/29/2026

Aidan Lambert will be the first to tell you he's not a normal fighter. In fact in his own words he's "nerdy." When the Fall River native traveled to Chile in August for the WAKO Pan American Championships, they weren't calling him a "nerd".

They called him "Gold Medal Champion".

Aidan with his Gold Medal and Team USA teammates

When he's not in school, in Massachusetts state police academy, or working on cars, Aidan Lambert is one of the best 140 pound kickboxers in the United States while still only 19-years old. Chosen to be part of the WAKO Team USA team when he was only 17, Aidan has been working his way through competition after competition in both youth and senior divisions for over 2 years now.

Aidan fights at 139 pounds in what's called K-1, a specific type of ruleset within kickboxing. In the last 3 years, Lambert earned Gold Medal in USA National Championships in 2024 and 2025 before advancing to the Senior division at 19 years old and winning another National Championship in March of 2026.

WAKO Pan American Kickboxing Championships

In between National Championship after National Championship.... after National Championship, Aidan competes for Team USA for the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations, (WAKO) in international and Pan American events. Having already competed in Canada, Hungary, and Abu Dhabi, Aidan represented the USA in Chile this August where he earned the Gold Medal at 139 pounds, (or K-1 63kg).

Leading up to Chile, Aidan had already won 3 of his 4 WAKO sanctioned fights in 2026 including a Gold Medal at the 2026 National Championships. The international tournament took place in Olmue, Chile from August 12th to the 16th.

Due to a mix up with WAKO and scheduling coordinators, Aidan and his team didn't even know when his first fight was going to be until about 20 MINUTES beforehand.

Thankfully, this dude is a badass.

Aidan would have great showings throughout, ultimately and soundly beating both of his first two opponents by cumulative points on his way to the final, Gold Medal match.

After his first fight, Aidan told me he heard the President of the WAKO Mexican Team go to the USA Team President and ask, "Where have you been hiding this kid?"

The final match was another story all together and the best competition Aidan had faced yet in this event. A good battle between himself and a much-more experienced boxer fully tested him. After the second round was over, he said he walked back to his corner knowing he was losing the fight.

"Aidan is a dark horse. He's a very talented kickboxer but he's also super humble with no ego. Then there's times where he just flips a switch and becomes a monster." - David Bybee, WAKO Team USA Director of Coaches and Aidan's Corner coach.

Aidan and coach David Bybee celebrating match win

When Aidan came back for the 3rd round, he flipped that switch. In the first 30 seconds of the 2-minute round, Aidan dropped his opponent with a front kick. From then on, there was no going back. After starting the 3rd round down on 2 judges' scorecards, he'd go on to win the fight unanimously, taking home the Gold Medal at 139 pounds for Team USA.

Aidan told me, "This is definitely a weight off my shoulders but it also makes me want more. I'm 5-0 this year with Canada coming up in a few months. I want to finish the year undefeated and win another World Championship."

After the event was over, Coach Bybee told me he told the entire team, "Courage can change fights, Heart can change outcomes, but Refusal to Quit can change everything. That's the difference between being average and being a champion."

One of the things I noticed most about Aidan when we sat down at Gillett's was his demeanor. "Everything that I've worked for this year has definitely made me more confident. I went to Budapest and Abu Dhabi in these huge events with 5-star hotels and fighting Europeans at the highest level. Now I just won a Gold Medal in Chile."

"I have experience now and with that I have confidence. I have confidence that if I go out there and do what I've worked on and trained for that I can beat anyone."

World Champion and Head Coach

David Bybee

Aidan is cornered in WAKO events by David Bybee. Bybee is a 3x World Champion himself who founded and has owned American Mixed Martial Arts gym in Pinellas Park, FL since 2003.

Bybee has been with WAKO since 2020 and cornered many fighters but has a special connection with Aidan.

"The difference when cornering Aidan is that he listens. He's like a remote control, when I tell him to do something he just does it,-" Coach Bybee told me. A lot of credit to his coaching at Gillett's because over the past year he's grown significantly, both as an athlete and as a wonderful person."

"Before his fight he wasn't even listed on the call sheet. We didn't know when he was fighting so he was just sitting on the sideline and was cheering on everyone for Team USA. They told us we had 2 minutes to report to the mat."

"I argued with the ref because he wasn't on the call sheet and finally got him about 20 minutes just so he could break a sweat and go to the bathroom before he had to compete for a World Championship."

Bybee's experience and chemistry with Aidan was one of the biggest factors that he was able to pull it together so well. As a 3-time World Champion himself, he knew exactly how to prepare both physically and mentally for the fight.

"I've been cornering Aidan since Nationals, and I can definitely say that he's gotten stronger mentally," Bybee explained. "He listens very well and he may look just like an average guy, but his work ethic and heart make him a champion and he went out and proved it."

Aidan told me, "Coach Bybee always instilled in me that 'Good is the enemy of Great' and over the past year I've really worked on my mentality with that in mind."

Gillett's MMA

Aidan and Sensei Tim Gillett training at Gillett's MMA

Aidan trains out of Gillett's MMA in Tiverton, RI with Sensei Tim Gillett. A gym legend already, Aidan has been training at Gillett's since he was just six years old, working his tail off for over a decade now, especially in the last year.

Aidan's always been a workhorse with unbelievable cardio and a leader's mentality, but a change in his mental preparation seems to have given him an extra gear.

"His mentality's changed. He's had a rise in confidence and maturity. Aidan's always had the physical tools and conditioning but this past year he's been soaking everything up and you can see the difference," Gillett's coach and 20 year Martial Artist Gill Rodriguez stated.

Gillett's conditioning coach and Head Trainer Mark Pavao told me, "We hold him accountable not to be mediocre but to be great. I might give him advice and work with him for 15 minutes but HE'S the one that takes that and trains for hours and hours every week."

Pavao would also add, "He has been much more easily-coached this past year. His mindset changed since [the 2025 Hungary World Cup], he's been changing his habits and balancing his life better and it's made his game that much better."

Coach Gil and Coach Mark, along with so many skilled fighters at Gillett's like professional MMA fighter Beebo Ortega and rising amateur kickboxer Anthony Crossland all have the same things to say about Aidan; he's one of the hardest working guys you'll ever meet. That all starts with Sensei Tim.

If you're from around the area you know about Tim Gillett. A Mixed Martial Artist of over 30 years and owner of Gillett's for almost 20, Gillett is an old-school, no-excuses kind of coach who only cares about helping his students both in and out of the ring.

Tim has been training Aidan since he was 6-years old and through it all has inspired incredible work ethic, a no-excuse mentality, an appreciation and respect for Mixed Martial Arts, and along with Aidan's parents Tom and Lori, has helped mentor this young man into an even better person than kickboxer.

Sensei Tim is fighting his own battle right now and wasn't available to take part in this article. Speaking as a very close friend of Sensei's myself, I know he'd say that he's so proud of Aidan and the fighter he's become.

He'd also say, get off your computer and go hit the bag.

-Z.D.