Well-earned

PAUL CRAIG UFC RECORD

MARK PIRIE

UFC fighter, dad, and student – Paul ‘Bearjew’ Craig is back to reality with a bang.

Having put in a stunning performance at UFC ‘ Fight Night’ in Mexico City in front of thousands in the Octagon, the Monklands mixed- martial arts star is already having to face up to going back to his studies.

After 10 days off in preparation for his submission win over Vinicius Moreira, he said he had to “bite the bullet” and get back into his regular life on his sports course despite still suffering the affects of jet-lag.

However, as he waits to find out if he will be offered a new deal with the biggest combat sport company in the world, he is in an optimistic mood after the win put him on the edge of the top 20 rankings for his weight class.

“I’m looking forward to a bit of a break and I’ll bide my time and wait to see what the UFC come back to me with,” he told the Advertiser.

“That was the last fight of my Henrique da Silva (W) UFC on Fox 22, December 2016, Sacramento Submission (Armbar) Tyson Pedro (L) UFC 209, March 2017, Las Vegas TKO Khalil Rountree (L) UFC Fight Night, July 2017, Glasgow KO Magomed Ankalaev (W) UFC Fight Night, March 2018, London Submission (Triangle choke) Jim Crute (L) UFC Fight Night, December 2018, Adelaide Submission (Kimura) Kennedy Nzechukwu (W) UFC on ESPN2, March 2019, Philadelphia Submission (Triangle choke) Alonzo Menifield (L) UFC on ESPN 3, June 2019, Minneapolis KO Vinicius Moreira (W) UFC Fight Night, September 2019, Mexico City Submission (Rear Naked Choke)

Mexico City celebration Paul enjoys his big moment inside the cage for his last bout Champion Jon Jones is the current champion of the light-heavyweight division

Submission specialist All of Craig’s UFC wins have come via a tap out victory – like this win in Mexico