Lochaber Fight Team – a new force in mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is becoming ever more popular worldwide, with dedicated sports channels, a huge online following, mainstream programming, documentaries and even dramas, writes Iain Ferguson.

A few clubs have come and gone over the years, mainly dealing with a single type of action, but the newly formed Lochaber Fight Team, covering a wide range of disciplines is already a force to be reckoned with.

Describing themselves as “a welcoming martial art community”, training is already building up over three nights a week and some weekends in MMA, Muay Thai and

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), which is coached by Eddie Lopez of Fort William BJJ.

Even at this early stage, demand has been so high that numbers have been limited, allowing the coach to get round the group and give advice.

To accommodate those who may just be starting out on their martial arts adventure, an eight-week “boot camp” was organised under the direction of Coogie Potter, who runs a very successful MMA School in Oban. Many of the Fight Team organisers have been regular visitors to the Oban gym, which also offers instruction in cage fighting.

MMA enthusiasts Dean Cameron and Stewart MacMaster, who is also the Muay Thai coach, were the main protagonists in setting up the team, adding many years of experience in a range of disciplines to their keenness to pass on knowledge, while honing their own skills and further developing local interest.

Dean said: “I really enjoy many types of martial arts and have been a member of the various clubs over the years, but finding a permanent home to set up the equipment and leave it was always a problem, which hopefully has now been solved with the assistance of Wolfhouse Gym.”

The MMA team has set up its classes in a large space on the Annat Point Industrial Estate, next door to Lochaber Phoenix

Boxing Club, making the area a centre of sports and fitness.

Open to male and females aged 14 years upwards, more information can be found on the Lochaber Fight Team Facebook page.

Photographs: Iain Ferguson, alba.photos. Ready for kickboxing practice.

Photograph: Iain Ferguson, alba.photos. Oban MMA expert Coogie Potter (left) with Lochaber Fight Team organisers Dean Cameron (centre) and Muay Thai coach, Stewart MacMaster.