Grindhouse Burton MMA

I started training in Karate with childhood friend and fellow coach Matt, and then at the age of 14 we started doing Ninjitsu. During this time we discovered the UFC via video. This led me to search for somewhere to train this no holds barred style while at University in Leicester in 1999. Unlike a lot of early MMA enthusiasts, it wasn't Jiu-Jitsu that I was looking for but Wrestling.

At that time in the late 90's it was the wrestlers who were dominating competition with their athletic take-downs and ground and pound, nullifying the early success of the jiu-jitsu submission attempts off their backs.

What I found was a University club and Organisation called the KSBO, which ran amateur MMA tournaments in Nottingham. In these competitions future MMA stars such as Michel Bisping and Paul Daley first cut their teeth. Within weeks Matt and I were having little trouble with the top students and instructor whilst rolling. So we entered our 1st competition.