While fans today know and love Tom Crosby for his wacky mullet and brutal performances on fight night, before he ever set foot in the cage, he was making waves in rugby league.
That’s right. It turns out the part-time childminder, part-time sporting phenomenon, is a multi-talented athlete, capable of turning his hand to whatever he sets his mind to.
In an astonishing career, the Leeds titan has competed all over the world, representing his country at IMMAF Championships in Las Vegas, USA, and more recently going toe-to-toe with Miroslav Broz at Oktagon 53 in front of a packed house at the Rudolf-Weber Arena in Oberhausen, Germany.
But while many start their martial arts journeys as children, Crosby’s road to superstardom came later, with the natural-born warrior only falling in love with the sport after becoming captivated by The Ultimate Fighter.
The Englishman revealed: “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.
“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.”
After arriving home from his year in the Australian sun, Crosby’s combat sports career grew from strength, with the man, who now fights at lightweight, somehow ploughing a path at heavyweight.
He confessed: “I was a prop forward when I played in Rugby League, and I made the switch. I was 104 kilos (230lbs) at the time, and I was like a ball!
“With the difference in volume of training, the weight just dropped off, and I managed to get myself right the way down the weight categories, all the way down to welterweight eventually (77 kilos).
“My first fight was at heavyweight, but I couldn’t go as low as Volkanovski even though we played in the same position.”
After losing via a very controversial decision in his last outing, Crosby can’t wait to make his grand return, with fans across Europe chomping at the bit to see what the charismatic brawler does next.
