FORMER Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme won the fight of his life when he battled back from leukaemia.
Now, the ex-Molineux star is flooring his opponents as a Mixed Martial Arts champion – and has even enjoyed some success in Europe.
The 36-year-old was always handy with his fists when he was clearing crosses from his penalty area, clocking up more than 200 appearances as Wolves' No1.
But his career was cruelly cut short when he was 32 after being diagnosed with leukaemia in 2017 and the popular goalie was forced to retire from the game a year later.
Ikeme spent 13 months undergoing gruelling treatment before docs told him he was in complete remission.
But with his football career over, the former Wolves hero swapped his goalie gloves for fingerless MMA gloves after building up his fitness participating in the Brazilian martial art of jiu-jitsu.
Read More in Football
I was left out of England squad so flew to Miami and got a £20,000 fine
Football free bets: Get £40 bonus when you stake £10 with William Hill
And Ikeme soon proved he is every bit as handy in a cage or ring as he was in a penalty box by becoming British open age champion.
The former goalie has also enjoyed success in Europe after picking up a bronze medal at the MMA European Championships.
Ikeme told local Wolverhampton paper the Express & Star: "I was just filling up my car at a petrol station near home and saw a sign for Gracie Barra, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu academy in Sutton Coldfield.
"I had always wanted to try that discipline, so I signed up for a taster session.
Most read in Football
Aguero suffers heart scare during live stream and suddenly stops talking
Kane 'over the moon' as England star reveals wife Kate's expecting fourth kid
English football set for biggest shake up since 1960s if DAZN win TV rights
Abramovich 'secretly bankrolled club' once branded 'Chelsea B' for £103m
"I was in really good shape at the time, it was around when I had done the 100-mile Velo cycle ride for charity.
"But I went along to the class, and I remember being absolutely gassed after a three-minute round.
"My legs were cramping, my back was in bits, and I suddenly realised that you don’t really know anything about fighting until you actually do it!"
Ikeme made his martial arts debut last year, beating fellow Brit Fuad Ahmed 4-0 in the first Raw Grappling World Championship at the IndigoO2 Arena in London, in a contest streamed on YouTube.
The former shot-stopper, who won ten international caps for Nigeria, confessed: "Competition really wasn’t in my mind at the start.
"I just wanted to learn a new art. I found it all a really humbling experience to be honest.
"It's about realising that nothing else matters when you are on the mat as it’s just two people concentrating on trying to get the better out of each other."
Source: Read Full Article
