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Tom Crosby exclusive: 'I quit rugby league to follow MMA dream after watching UFC clips'

Tom Crosby exclusive: 'I quit rugby league to follow MMA dream after watching UFC clips'

OKTAGON MMA's Tom Crosby discovered MMA after watching The Ultimate Fighter.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

OKTAGON MMA star Tom Crosby is eyeing a return to action in June, having lost his promotional debut in his last outing.

Crosby, who quit rugby league to pursue his MMA dream after watching clips from The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), made his OKTAGON MMA debut earlier this year.

But he came up short, losing a razor-thin split-decision to Miroslav Broz at OKTAGON 53.

The Leeds fighter is looking to kick-start his MMA career under the OKTAGON banner after swapping sports.

Crosby was an aspiring rugby league star before watching TUF videos. Looking for extra ways to stay fit turned out to be a career change after becoming invested in the UFC reality television series.

"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," he said.

"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, now finds himself in one of the biggest MMA stages in Europe following years of toil.

Having made his OKTAGON debut last February, he's itching to return to the cage - eyeing the promotion's blockbuster June event in Prague.

"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," he added.

"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."

Crosby is on a two-fight losing skid as he looks to return to winning ways in his next outing.

Featured Image Credit: OKTAGON MMA

Topics: UFC, Spotlight

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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@NasJabbar