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South Leeds lad Josh Emms had always admired MMA fighters who \u201chave the courage to give it their all in the cage\u201d and decided that he wouldn\u2019t let anything stand in the way of experiencing his own bout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started going over to Morley to train at AVT when I turned 18,\u201d said Josh. \u201cI\u2019d been there for about six months and then found out about Ultra MMA which arranges training and then puts on a show where each novice fights a fellow novice from their training group. There\u2019s no charge but you must sell ten tickets for the show and fundraise for a charity of your choice. I raised funds for the British Heart Foundation who do great work combatting the biggest killer in the UK and which affects everyone directly or indirectly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWin or lose I wanted to be on that show. Prove to an audience including my family and friends but mainly myself that I could do this. Perhaps taste just for a day how it might feel to be an MMA star. I enjoyed every step of the process including the often-gruelling training. The atmosphere at the show was exciting and the bouts exhilarating and enthralling. I felt supported having experienced AVT fighters Tom Crosby and Ocean Davies in my corner and I was delighted to get the win against a tough opponent in Tyler Gage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone in the group got on well and it became tight knit. But that didn\u2019t stop us from giving the opponent what for. That\u2019s what we wanted and what the audience expected. That said, don\u2019t expect to see professional MMA. As an example, although we could hit in the face when standing there was no punching to the head of a grounded opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe show was just fantastic and a fitting end to challenging training. You need to make taking part your personal priority for a couple of months but for me at 19 this was an excellent entry to adult life. I\u2019d encourage any young person to get into combat sports whether it\u2019s for fitness or competition as you learn transferable skills while developing confidence. The next Leeds Ultra event is in November, so volunteers have got the summer to get fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josh, Tyler and 32 others raised \u00a311,700 for their charities. Ultra MMA returns to the Village Hotel Leeds North on 28 November with training beginning in September. Competitors must be aged 18 or older on the date training starts. Sign up at https:\/\/www.ultra-mma.co.uk<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This post was written by James Bovington<\/strong><\/p>\n Photo L-R: Josh and Tyler<\/p>\n We encourage anyone living or working in South Leeds to use this website to tell their news. You can either use the Create an article for South Leeds Life<\/strong><\/a> page, or email us at: info@southleedslife.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n While you\u2019re here, can we ask a favour?<\/strong><\/p>\n South Leeds Life is published by a not-for-profit social enterprise. We keep our costs as low as possible but we\u2019ve been hit by increases in the print costs for our monthly newspaper which have doubled in the last two years.<\/p>\n Could you help support local community news by making a one off donation, or even better taking out a supporters subscription?<\/p>\n