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Since its inception in 2012, British Challenge MMA has continuously evolved to produce increasingly dynamic cards, hosting fighters of all levels from amateur to professional. The milestone event of BCMMA 10 will take place on Saturday, March 28 at the Charter Hall in Colchester, and seasoned veteran/BCMMA co-owner Jack ‘The Stone’ Mason has drafted in former UFC welterweight contender Simeon Thoresen to take on none other than himself.

Both Mason and Thoresen had suffered a loss of competition due to the recent implosion of standout UKMMA promotion, Cage Warriors. On the hunt for a new fight, the BKK Fighters/Tsunami Gym product reached out to Norway’s Frontline Academy and Simeon Thoresen, a man he is already on good terms with having often trained with other Frontline Academy fighters such as Mohsen Bahari and Jack Hermansson.

“I’ve always been friendly with Simeon,” Mason told MMA PLUS, “the fight came about as a stroke of luck. I was actually trying to get the fight that I had on Cage Warriors on my show (BCMMA), but that guy picked up an injury or something and couldn’t make it. On the same day that I got told that, Simeon’s manager tweeted about him needing a fight.

“If you don’t ask, you don’t get, so I messaged his manager to see if Simeon would want to fight me, nothing personal, but we both needed a fight, and he said yes.”

With a vast MMA record of 28-14, Mason is one of the most experienced and perennial standouts in all of UKMMA. As a UFC veteran, Thoresen (17-5) will be one of Mason’s most notable opponents, and there may be a slight incentive for revenge with the Norwegian having previously beaten Mason’s team-mate, John Maguire, at BAMMA 3 in 2010.

“I’m just looking forward to getting in there with one of the top guys in Europe, that’s what I do it for, I just enjoy the competition and the training, and I’m looking forward to getting this win. It’s a fight that could have happened a long time ago, and I’m just excited that I get to fight Simeon, I’ve been a fan of his for a while and I’m really happy about it really.”

Boasting a ten-year career spanning 42 fights against some of the best that UKMMA has had to offer, Mason may have been ahead of curve with regards to ensuring his longevity, with a caution towards head trauma in both competitive fights and training. While there are no other responsibilities to make him think otherwise, Mason plans on adding to his record indefinitely, and furthermore, he will always be working among the numerous pies of which he has a finger in, whether it be fighting, coaching, or promoting.

“I don’t think I’ve ever taken much head trauma and in training I’m pretty smart as well so I don’t feel like my body is too beat up.

“I’ve invested so much time in all these guys and I love the sport of MMA, it’s my hobby so I’ll always be around it – coaching, cornering, putting on shows, etc, so I’ll always be around, I’m sure.”

From Manchester, to the Isle of Man, BCMMA 10 will host fighters from across the UK and well beyond. As a promoter, Mason feels privileged to be able to offer such a variety of fights. As a fighter, he will be stepping away from an uninterrupted stint of ten fights under the Cage Warriors banner when competing in BCMMA for the first time, but the card does not stop there, thanks to the friendships and contacts that Mason has acquired over his 15+ year career in MMA.

“I’m a 50/50 partner with a guy called Chris Cook, he started the promotion ten shows ago, and I think at show number five I came on board and things have gone from strength to strength. It’s really local, the venue we put it on is literally a five minute walk from BKK, so we can get the guys from BKK fighting, all the guys from the South East; loads of gyms are coming on board.

“We’ve got a lot of guys from UTC on this show and we’ve got tonnes of Scandinavians coming because Tsunami and BKK are Shooters MMA gyms, and there’s lots of Scandinavian gyms that are part of Shooters, we’ve got some good talent.

“I’ve been around for quite a while and I’ve had the opportunity to train in lots of gyms, so I stay in contact with those guys, and that just helps, at least they know they can trust me in terms of the match making. Obviously, BKK is a local gym to the show and it’s my gym, but we never match it so they’re always going to win. All the fights are 50/50, especially at the amateurs because that’s where you learn your trade and get ready for the pros so there’s no point in taking easy fights just to build up your record in the amateurs.”

An original product of the Tsunami Gym in Cambridge alongside UFC veterans such as John Maguire and Luke Barnatt, Mason later became a head MMA coach himself when he was offered the reigns of BKK Fighters in Colchester, Essex.

“I got a phone call one day from two guys, a guy called Tim Stokes and another guy called Steve May. They were talking about starting up a gym in Colchester, I live in Chelmsford so it was about half an hour from me. I was a little bit dubious, because you get messages from people about wanting to train and start gyms up and start promotions up, and none of that stuff comes through 99.9% of the time. I agreed to meet these guys, we got to this place in Colchester and it was just a crack den, and they said to me “We’re gonna have this place turned around, it’s gonna be gym ready in six weeks and we want you to come on board as an MMA coach.” I said yeah because it was a good opportunity, but I didn’t really believe it was going to come off. Six weeks time; the gym was beautiful, all the facilities were there like cage, ring, bags, matted areas; two floors of it. What they said to me is to bring in some coaching staff, ‘get whoever you want’. So I got in to contact with the best Jiu Jitsu, Thai boxing and boxing coaches that I could, they all agreed to come on board and that’s how it started, and we’ve gone from strength to strength.”

BKK Fighters have established themselves as one of the most promising and charismatic fight teams in UKMMA with the introduction of fresh, young newcomers such as 21-year-old Arnold Allen (9-1), a very highly touted featherweight prospect, and undefeated female hopeful, Cory McKenna, a 15-year-old who already boasts championships in Muay Thai and BJJ.

“It’s a brilliant team atmosphere, everyone’s pushing each other, no one is out for themselves. We’ve got so many stars coming through and that’s just because of everyone’s attitude there, everyone helps each other out.

“There’s tonnes of guys, but everyone else will say it, Arnold is the future, guaranteed, but we’ve got a young lady, Cory McKenna, she’s had two MMA fights now, she’s just turned 15 and she’s the most well rounded and fight savvy fighter out of the gym.”

Photo by Mark Blundell

BCMMA 10 Fight Card:

Main Event – Professional 155lbs Lightweight Title

Jason Cooledge vs Charlie Leary

Co Main Event – Professional 145lbs Featherweight Title
Steve Aimable vs Scott Hunt

Professional 170lbs Welterweight Contest
Mareks Belevics vs Martin Hudson

Professional 185lbs Middleweight Contest
Paul Byrne vs Damian Forgie

Professional 185lbs Middleweight Contest
Nathias Frederick vs Thomas Robertsen

Professional 175lbs Catchweight Contest
Jack Mason vs Simeon Thoresen

Amateur 265lbs Heavyweight Title
Jamie Willetts vs Jack Burton

Amateur 125lbs Flyweight Title
Marianee Eriksen vs Ameesha Bhudia-Patel

Amateur 185lbs Middleweight Title
Dom Harris vs Kristian Lapsley

Amateur 205lbs Light Heavyweight Contest
Charles Stephenson vs George Neagu

Amateur 170lbs Welterweight Contest
Darren Foster vs Luca Senatore

Amateur 125lbs Flyweight Contest
Mark Wade vs Jake Hadley

Amateur 145lbs Featherweight Contest
Lucas Cox vs Niayl Jones

Amateur 185lbs Middleweight Contest
John Sayers vs Espen Espenes

Amateur 170lbs Welterweight Contest
Darren Foster vs Luca Senatore

Amateur 170lbs Welterweight Contest
Oliver Paske vs Sean Flynn

Amateur 115lbs Strawweight Contest
Stephanie Quaile vs Wendy McKenna

Amateur 125lbs Flyweight Contest
Gareth Ingham vs Craig Powell

Amateur 155lbs Lightweight Contest
Vladimir Dvorak vs Alex Curcudel

Amateur 170lbs Welterweight Contest
Jason O’Dononvan vs Daniel Haynes

Amateur 205lbs Light Heavyweight Contest
Rafal Cejrowski vs Matthew Byfield

Amateur 170lbs Welterweight Contest
Karlos Kaminskas vs Jorgen Indsetviken

Amateur 145lbs Featherweight Contest
Laura Drayton vs Paula Donnelly

Amateur 155lbs Lightweight Contest
Adam Spalding vs Jack Wright

Amateur 135lbs Bantamweight Contest
Nikita Rancev vs Christoffer Darre

Amateur 185lbs Middleweight Contest
Matthew Bardsley vs Tom Mowle

Amateur 145lbs Featherweight Contest
Luke Butler vs Andreas Endrerud

Amateur 125lbs Flyweight Contest
Sam Diplock vs Dan Hunt

Amateur 155lbs Lightweight Contest
Bobby Bridgeman vs Rob McAdam