I’m a former rugby league star now making my own way in totally different sport after being inspired by iconic TV show
MMA star Tom Crosby was convinced to pack up Rugby League for a career in the cage after watching iconic episodes of The Ultimate Fighter.
Crosby played at semi-professional level before taking up MMA at 23 as a way to gain a fitness edge.
He got the bug for it after watching reality TV show TUF, where competitors lived, trained and fought each other for a UFC contract.
After two years of fantasising over the sport, Crosby made the decision to swap the pitch for punches by moving into MMA full time.
He said: “I was a semi-pro Rugby League player, and I was just looking for extra ways to get fit and I had also just started to watch the Ultimate Fighter at this time.
“At the age of 23, I used to go to HMV when I could afford it and get the boxsets for the Ultimate Fighter and I remember thinking, ‘These guys are sound, and I could see myself having a go at this’.
“From there, I found a gym near me called Caged Steel and I did a bit of training on and off, without ever really fully committing.
“I went off to Australia for a year to play rugby and didn’t really do much MMA when I was out there, and then when I came back in 2012, I just fully focused on MMA.
“I tried to do a bit of rugby and MMA when I came back to the UK, but I kept getting injured and so I put a full stop to rugby and kickstarted my MMA career at the age of 25.”
Crosby, 36, made his amateur debut in 2013 before turning professional five years later.
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He now stands 8-3-1 and recently signed for European promotion Oktagon MMA, losing a tight decision to Miroslav Broz in February.
But his return was delayed after he suffered a freak thumb injury so Crosby is eyeing a June 8 comeback in Prague.
He said: “In surgery, they said I wouldn’t be able to punch at all for 12 weeks, but I am guessing that is the worst case scenario and I am hoping it will be much sooner than that.
“I’ve got my eye on that Prague card at the moment, but I just can’t commit until the pin comes out of my thumb and the splint comes off, so I just have to be patient with it.”