Latest news with #ManchesterTopTeam
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
British MMA star reveals 'life or death' health situation which made her 'body shut down' - as she prepares to make long-awaited return to the cage
British MMA prospect Sammy-Jo Luxton detailed a harrowing medical emergency that left her fearing for her life and almost ended her career. The Manchester Top Team-trained fighter is set to make her long-awaited PFL debut on Saturday night when the promotion travels to the SSE Arena in Belfast for the first time. Luxton had been scheduled to make her promotional debut in June of last year before undergoing a significant ordeal that threatened to put paid to a promising start to her professional MMA career. After undergoing emergency surgery for a cysts in her ovaries, the former kickboxer developed sepsis following complications with the operation. The 26-year-old was forced to into an extended hospital stay after her body temperature rose to 42C. 'My body completely shut down, everything was a blur by that point,' Luxton told BBC Sport. Luxton has amassed nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram and counts PFL star Dakota Ditcheva as an inspiration 'That completely wiped my year out so it was about trying to build my strength up slowly but surely afterwards. 'I took that as spending time with my friends and family and getting myself better, mentally and physically.' Despite forcing her to temporarily put her ambitions of becoming a world champion on hold, the undefeated flyweight explained that the ordeal has only served to strengthen her determination to become a success in MMA. She continued: 'It's taught me that I can come through anything. It was just me getting hit and I was standing up and then getting hit again and I was standing back up. 'I looked at it like a fight – if someone knocks me down eight times I'm going to get back up nine. 'Now I'm going to bring that into a fight. Nothing can touch me mentally or physically now because I've been through that.' Despite being just two fights into her burgeoning career inside the cage, Luxton has amassed a significant following on social media, with over 97,000 followers on Instagram. Speaking on her ambitions in MMA, Luxton revealed that she hopes to emulate PFL star Dakota Ditcheva who became Britain's first MMA world champion when she knocked out Talia Santos in November. 'Me and Dakota grew up together and fought on the same shows,' she added. 'Dakota has set the path. You've seen the money she can make, she's set her family up for life now and that's what I want to do - give back and give my family a good life.'
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'I didn't think he'd show up': Inside Paddy Pimblett's viral gym fight with Denis Frimpong ahead of UFC 314
Paddy Pimblett and Denis Frimpong went viral for their extra curricular activities ahead of UFC 314. (Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC) (Mike Roach via Getty Images) In late December, a month before he arrived at Manchester Top Team to settle his inherited beef with Oktagon lightweight Denis Frimpong in a soon-to-be viral gym fight, Paddy Pimblett was already hinting at the biggest fight of his life against Michael Chandler at UFC 314. Advertisement 'I've said yeah, the opponent said yeah, just need to get stuff signed. So you know the score, everyone — like, comment, subscribe, and I'll see you at the top,' he told his abundant YouTube audience, signing off with one of Chandler's signature catchphrases. Six months hadn't even passed since Pimblett's star-making moment at Manchester's Co-op Live, when, in the middle of the night, 'The Baddy' electrified spectators on the soil of his beloved Liverpool Football Club's bitter rivals, Manchester United, by choking King Green to sleep in just three minutes at UFC 304. Pockets of the fan base continue to criticize the Next Generation fighter, claiming he's been given preferential treatment by the powers that be. His unique look, headline-grabbing patter and unbeaten UFC record have underlined his status as a superstar in the making. Yet, with so much to lose, there he was on a cold January morning, standing on business in enemy territory. Although he's the same age as the 30-year-old Pimblett, Frimpong's start in the sport came nearly a decade later. Advertisement When the U.K. regional scene was getting its first glimpses of 'The Baddy,' Frimpong was making a name for himself on the Irish track and field beat. A self-confessed 'scrapper,' his future calling may not have come as a surprise to those in the athletics community, as his propensity to pop off got him removed from several track meets. The pandemic brought a shift in his training focus. From the famed mats of East Coast Jiu-Jitsu, he moved into the striking realm with the celebrated Dublin Combat Academy. Eventually, successful sparring sessions with notable dance partners guided him toward MMA as a career. A job opportunity in Manchester forced Frimpong across the Irish Sea in 2022. With two amateur fights already to his name, he looked to find a permanent home for his training. He imagined he would split his training across multiple facilities, but after dipping his toe in several, he realized it wouldn't fly. 'The reality was, with a full-time job, I didn't really have time to be running up and down the country for training,' Frimpong says. 'And of course, I soon found out that none of the gyms really get along.' Advertisement Manchester Top Team emerged as an option when Frimpong lost a split decision to one of their top amateur prospects, Callum Conner. Carl Prince's team was one of the few gyms in the area that remained legitimately open during the pandemic, with Lerone Murphy's UFC contract granting the facility elite training status within the country. After edging a win over another top Irish prospect in Solomon Simon, Frimpong knew he was on the right track. He'd barely been an amateur a year before he turned professional, then he split his first two pro fights before an opportunity presented itself to represent Ireland on the reality program "Oktagon Challenge: England vs. Ireland" in 2023. The same opportunity also provided the catalyst for his unsanctioned gym fight with Pimblett. Next Generation's George Staines and Jake McHugh represented Team England on the reality show. If 32 seasons of "The Ultimate Fighter" have shown us anything, it's that controversy is the lifeblood of the platform. Oktagon's version was much the same. Advertisement Producers celebrated every prank and argument that took place between the teams, and for the three and a half weeks the shoot lasted, Frimpong survived on fumes as he stayed close to fighting weight. Frimpong has never shied away from being an agitator. However, when he brought up Staines' grandmother in the lead-up to their clash on the show's finale, Pimblett and his Next Generation stablemates took exception to it. 'I'm not going to defend the stuff I said to George. It was out of order, it was below the belt,' Frimpong admits. 'It was compounded by a number of things, but it was kind of a domino effect towards what happened in January.' After losing to Staines in the finale, Frimpong took two more wins under the Oktagon banner before he made light work of an unknown fighter on the regional scene by the name of Dylan Mitchin, whose profile would later be flagged by Tapology. When Paul Reed, Pimblett's strength and conditioning coach, got into a back and forth with Frimpong on a post the Irishman made regarding the bout, Pimblett was incensed. Advertisement 'He commented on it saying this is embarrassing,' Pimblett revealed later in a video posted to his YouTube channel. 'And Denis put back to him, 'You stick to S and C, old man. Leave the fighters to fight.' That was it. I went at him, I couldn't help it. We kept going back and forth, I ended up saying, come on, let's get a spar on. Let's do it.' It didn't take long to settle on a date, but shortly after agreeing to it, Frimpong was contacted by Oktagon. 'Two days before we were meant to have this gym fight, I get a contract sent out for Robin Frank,' he says. 'I've got a baby on the way too, so I can't afford to miss out on an actual pay check. Things got hectic. I didn't know if they were going to land up and things would just descend into a 60-man brawl. I had no idea what would happen.' Advertisement Admittedly reluctant to sacrifice income, Frimpong still agreed to settle the score. That Saturday morning, his thoughts of a mass brawl weren't put to bed as scores of Scousers arrived ahead of time to make sure they had a good view of the unsanctioned bout. 'There were probably 60 or 70 Scousers in there," Frimpong says. "The place was rammed!' Soon the golden-haired wonder boy of the U.K. scene arrived. With no rules ironed out just yet, Frimpong surveyed his adversary to get an idea of the field of play. Pimblett put on six-ounce gloves, so he did the same. Pimblett put on shin guards, so Frimpong put on shin guards. Just before the action began, a fair-play man was issued for each side of the bout. There would be no elbows or knees allowed. Both agreed that they would fight until someone either quit or was knocked out. Advertisement 'In my head, honestly, I was thinking, 'He has way more to lose than I do. If I go and knock this guy out, this thing is going viral.' That's what I was thinking,' says Frimpong. 'And to be fair, I knew even if I lost, I would be testing myself against a ranked UFC fighter.' The ordeal lasted a little over five minutes. After three minutes of trading strikes, Pimblett shot for a takedown. Two minutes later he secured a rear-naked choke. Frimpong tapped, and when Pimblett failed to let go of his fully locked lion-tamer, the fair-play men stepped in to pry his arms apart. Soon after, screens were lighting up across the world with images of the prolonged choke and the commotion of the aftermath. For the diehard fan base, it harkened back to the days of Rickson Gracie's gym smokers and Kimbo Slice's illicit meeting with Boston police officer Sean Gannon. For others, Pimblett's failure to let go of the choke was the subject of outrage. Frimpong, however, had no issue with it. 'It's not like he choked me out and then stomped on my head!' he says with a launch. 'People were talking as if he bottled me after that choke. Honestly, I have way less of an issue with going out to a choke rather than suffering an injury that would cost me my upcoming fight … and besides, I didn't even go out!' Advertisement To add to that, the confrontation seems to have ended the beef between the two fighters. 'Me and Denis have shook hands, it's done,' Pimblett said in the aftermath. Frimpong agrees: 'It needed to happen to resolve the situation. It did change my opinion of Paddy, I can't lie. I didn't think he'd show up because he had so much to lose. I thought he was calling my bluff, so you've got to respect that.' Seven weeks later, Frimpong handed undefeated German prospect Denis Frank his first career defeat. He noted a huge upsurge in eyeballs ahead of his win, and he's sure there will be even more intrigue surrounding his next bout at Oktagon 71, when he faces Arijan Topallaj. Advertisement And while it may be for selfish reasons, he will be hoping for a Pimblett win at UFC 314. 'It reflects a lot better on me if he goes in there and he finishes Chandler in the first round, so yeah, maybe I do want him to win,' he says. 'Maybe I want him to win the belt, clear out the division and they can bring me in like they did with Alex Pereira! Let's be honest, the UFC love a storyline, don't they?'
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'We started from nothing': UFC's Lerone Murphy is spearheading an emerging Manchester superpower
Lerone Murphy (center) and Carl Prince (right) are leading the charge in Manchester. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) (Chris Unger via Getty Images) 'Yesterday, we were in the casino and a group of guys shouted, 'Wow, that's the African guy that got the big knockout in the UFC last night!' 'That kind of thing never gets old for me,' Carl Prince tells me from a hotel room in Las Vegas, the scene of his fighter Lerone Murphy's biggest test to date Saturday against Josh Emmett in the main event of UFC Vegas 105 at the UFC APEX. Advertisement The knockout artist that elicited such a reaction from the group of gamblers is Adeba Gautier, a Cameroonian who found his home at Prince's Manchester Top Team, a gym which is rapidly emerging as a new U.K. powerhouse. 'It's crazy to me, they should see where this guy came from," Prince says, "he's been living in the back of the gym!' It's become a common occurrence for Prince's charges to be recognized in public. Not only Murphy and Gautier, but Dakota Ditcheva — the most mercurial presence in today's women's MMA scene — took her fledgling steps in the mixed code at MTT before moving over to the U.S. Advertisement PFL's European arm has been pumped by the presence of her old teammates Lewis McGrillen and Ibragim Ibragimov, both of whom are considered among the brightest prospects on the promotion's books and represent the Manchester team's bumble-bee banner. Like most Mancunians involved in MMA for a number or decades, Prince is a disciple of the late Karl Tanswell — a U.K. MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu pioneer. 'Karl is really the inspiration behind the gym,' he explains. 'He always wanted to have a super gym in Manchester that attracted talent from far and wide. I feel like I've inherited those goals from him.' While names likes Gautier highlight the international expansion of his gym, Prince found the nucleus of his project on his doorstep. Advertisement He first met Murphy and McGrillen at Brendan Loughnane's All Powers gym in Stockport. Soon, he got word of Dagestan wrestler, Magomed Shikhshabekov, training a small group in the area and they joined forces. That initial amalgam sprouted the bud that would eventually become Manchester Top Team, which formally opened in 2019, the same year Murphy made his first walk to the Octagon. While many businesses suffered when the pandemic hit in 2020, Murphy's UFC signing allowed the premises to achieve 'elite status,' permitting the gym to keep the doors open amid the national lockdown and making it one of the few mats that remained busy throughout England. The likes of McGrillen, Ibragimov and Ditcheva were adding to the buzz created around the gym at a regional level, while 'The Miracle' flew the flag on the international stage. Advertisement Notably, none of the aforementioned fighters cut their teeth with Cage Warriors, the most trodden path from the European ranks to the Octagon. 'We wanted to make our own path and it's worked out well,' explains Prince. 'With McGrillen, we put on local shows in his hometown to build up local interest and then we looked to build up interest in Manchester. I think that helped him to become a national star when he arrived in the PFL.' A soccer enthusiast, Prince sees the African link with Gautier as a nod to the beautiful game. A Manchester City diehard, he spent time coaching in the U.S. before steering his life back towards MMA. Advertisement The idea to have a feeder team in Cameroon was cooked up in a V.I.P. area in Dubai after coaching Murphy to a win over Makwan Amirkhani the night before. 'I got chatting to this guy who was an advisor to the government of four or five African nations. He told me he had a friend who ran a gym in Cameron with four or five promising fighters. I chatted to him for about five hours and I decided to follow it up,' Prince recalls. 'A lot of these big football clubs have feeder clubs dotted around the world. I wanted to see if we could make that work, and from there we got Maxwell Djantou Nana, who's coming off a big win in his PFL debut, and Ateba. So it's gone quite well, we sorted some accommodation for them — right now Ateba is living at my dad's old house!' When the UFC came to Manchester in 2024, most people were sure that Murphy's presence would be facilitated despite his career-high win over Edson Barbosa coming just two months before that. Advertisement When that never came to fruition, he had to be a dead cert for the UFC London card in March, right? Wrong. Instead, potentially assisted by an opponent's refusal to meet him on U.K. soil, Murphy was booked to face Josh Emmett at the much more anticlimactic UFC APEX two weeks later. 'I think we could've had a massive impact on that card, and it would've worked for the UFC too as they would have been building a new guy in a prominent spot for that audience," Prince says. "With a win over Josh, he can be the next contender at 145 and we're very confident we can make that happen. But I certainly think a fight like this could've given the fans something to cheer about in London.' Advertisement Prince sees Murphy as the captain of his burgeoning Manchester superpower. Nothing ever came easy to Murphy, but by embracing discipline he has risen above the many sinister snares of his city. Not only has he improved his own life, but he also provides an example for those further down the ladder. 'He sets the standard in the gym. He's there 30 minutes before training starts, does everything he needs to do and then stays late to help the younger fighters. He's been such a great mentor for so many kids in there in the midst of having this massive moment in his own career,' says Prince. Like Tanswell before him, Prince revels in seeing his fighters gain international recognition built on the hard work his hometown is famed for. Advertisement After McGrillen's PFL Europe championship-winning knockout in December, it's seemingly only a matter of time before more accredited honors find their way to Manchester Top Team. Prince has no doubt about that either, but if it all ended tomorrow, he would be proud of the transformational journeys he's brought his fighters on — with no better shining example than the captain himself. 'We started from nothing. It was pretty much the three of us — me, Lerone and Lewis," Prince says. "Lerone never had anything to prove. He'll walk into a room and even though he's not a very loud or boisterous guy, people can feel his presence as soon he's there. He just carries himself in a different way and he always has,' says Prince. 'The biggest thrill I get is seeing my lads get the credit they deserve for the hard work they've put in. I know where these guys come from, so to see them in big spots, headlining cards, it just makes me so proud to see them reaching massive milestones like this.'
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Philpott to face McGrillen in PFL Belfast co-main event
Alan Philpott will face Lewis McGrillen in the co-main event at the PFL Europe fight night in Belfast on 10 Ballymena native will fight on the same card as Paul Hughes, who takes on Bruno Miranda at SSE 32-year-old believes he is ready for Manchester's McGrillen, who has lost just once in his 12 professional fights."I've got the perfect style I believe to counter McGrillen. He's a tough fighter, he's going to come and push the pace from the start, I've got to be fit, smart and switched on at all times," Philpott said."He has got the power, the left hand that could put me away at any time, but whenever I face someone like that it excites me, and I will excel and show the best performance of my career."Philpott has a professional record of 21-16 and last fought in February, when he defeated Tomoya Hirakawa in training in Ballymena alongside Norman Parke, Greg Loughran and the UFC's Rhys McKee, he moved to Liverpool to work with Dean was the 2024 PFL Europe Bantamweight champion, knocking out Alexander Luster in the second round to win the title in Lyon, France in of the 24-year-old's 11professional wins have come by KO/TKO, including stopping Garnett in a thrilling semi-final of the PFL trains under Carl Prince at Manchester Top Team alongside UFC's Lerone Murphy.
