19-year-old Regis ‘The First’ Sugden went 3-0 last night at BAMMA 20 with a first round TKO victory over Ant Phillips at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.
Despite the Sugden family boasting high level success in top flight kickboxing, Regis opted to break the mould and venture into the world of MMA where he has since achieved near perfect success in professional competition with three consecutive stoppage wins; two knockouts and one submission.
“My left hook is gonna turn into a bit of a trademark, I guarantee you that, so people better watch out for it or start learning how to defend it,” Sugden told members of the media.
Sugden has swiftly shaken off his newcomer/rookie MMA status in just three outings to become one of the most dangerous contenders in the BAMMA bantamweight division. Clinical striking is of course his greatest weapon and he wouldn’t be out of place in top kickboxing promotion Glory, but the young contender’s ground game has no doubt shown commendable progression and it has served him well so far.
“There is some top class strikers in MMA, but in my opinion there isn’t that many,” Sugden explained. “As an MMA fan I can understand why some people consider good strikers, but as a K-1 professional; I had 11 pro K-1 fights, these guys aren’t that good. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve got good striking but I believe mine is one of the best and I’m going to continue to prove that.”
Sugden may only be three fights in but there is already discussion of him taking on the newly crowned BAMMA Bantamweight Champion Ed Arthur.
Photo by Jorden Curran
