Chalmers shouldn’t give it up

CAL Browning admits former reality TV star Aaron Chalmers was tougher than he expected and has urged the Geordie fighter to continue his mixed martial arts career.

Chalmers’ switch to the caged sport was big news owing to his previous fame on Geordie Shore.

But Tennessee native Browning crashed the party at Bellator Newcastle, condemning Chalmers to his first loss.

A defiant Chalmers said he will not quit the sport despite the setback, and his conqueror hopes he keeps going too.

Browning said: “Aaron is a lot tougher than I thought he would be.

“The holes are there in his game technically, but he is a lot tougher than I expected.

“I really hope he does bounce back. I told him that in the cage after. I said, ‘don’t stop, you’re tough enough so keep going’.

“I mean, he’s really new to the sport. He only started about 18 months ago and because of all the fans he brought to the table he’s got a lot of pressure on him.

“It helps me out too because everyone tunes in to watch him, and then I win. That helps me and my exposure. So yeah, I enjoy crashing the party.”

It’s not the first time Browning has ripped up the script and caused an upset.

Last weekend’s fight only came to be because he defeated Kevin ‘Baby Slice’ Ferguson Jr, who Chalmers had been hoping to fight.

Chalmers knocked Browning down with a big shot but instead of capitalising, the Geordie turned his back believing it was over, giving Browning time to recover.

The American added: “I think overall it was a pretty dominant win. He hit me with a good shot in the first, and it was a good shot, but I wasn’t out. I can take heavy shots.

“We recovered and we got the win so let’s see what Bellator have next for us. 2-0 in Bellator, so not bad!”