Cage fighter’s strong debut (From This Is Lancashire)

Cage fighter’s strong debut

5:56am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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A ROOKIE martial arts fighter stunned ringside fans when he battled fast and furious on his combat debut.

Brave Mark Stevens signed up for yesterday’s cage-fighting bout, at Bolton’s Ikon nightclub, five weeks ago — after calling to buy ringside seats as a treat for his fiancee.

And though the 39-year-old rank outsider gave a good account of himself in his first outing in front of the 200-strong crowd, he was ultimately beaten by experienced opponent Lee Whitehead.

Mark, of Ellesmere Road, Bolton won the first of three rounds, connecting with a combination of punches to the chest.

He started the second round well, but was undone just 29 seconds in when Lee executed the dreaded guillotine choke move.

After the contest Mark said: “It was really tough, but I put 100 per cent commitment into it. You try to ignore the crowd and stay in the zone but they were absolutely fantastic. It was a great experience.”

As reported in The Bolton News last week, Mark opted to take part after spotting a gap in the fight programme.