Kurtis Campbell is one of the most highly regarded young MMA pros out of England. He’s built his name off a strong successful amateur career, and continues to impress.
Campbell went 8-1 as an amateur. Across those eight wins, Campbell won five different titles at featherweight, bantamweight, and lightweight.
“I learned to enjoy every walk and process with a smile on my face and always enjoying the moment,” Campbell told Cageside Press recently regarding his amateur career.
Like a lot of fighters getting into MMA, they do it due to bullying. It was the same for Campbell when he was younger so he took up muay thai to help defend himself.
When Campbell decided to go pro it was because he couldn’t find an opponent to fight him. They tried to find guys to fight him at both featherweight and lightweight but had trouble getting anything. Even tried to go internationally but nobody would accept.
Campbell trains out of KC Fight Base, The MMA Academy, and Liverpool Combat Academy. KC Fight Base was the first gym he went to and he hasn’t moved since.
“I come off crying the first time I went trying to get out of it and my mum told me to stop being a bitch and get on with it. It was the best advice she could have ever given me,” he said, recapping his first day in an MMA gym.
Campbell is clearly pretty good at this MMA thing. He has a great amateur career and is unbeaten at 2-0 as a pro. Campbell himself knew he was a special talent ever since he was at a young age.
“I sat down with my dad after winning my first world title in muay thai, and I said to him I think I have a shot to make it big in this sport and I want to go all the way. I think I was 15 at the time.”
Dating back to Campbell’s amateur career he suffered his first and only career loss. It came at the end of 2018 and he lost a decision. Since then he’s never lost and is on a current nine-fight win streak.
“My amateur career loss was the best thing that happened to me in my career as it set a new fire in me and I have been on a winning streak ever since.”
For the casual fans Campbell may not look all that threatening. He’s not this jacked fighter and you’ll see him always fighting in the cage in hot pink.
“I got given it to me on a podcast and it went really well with the pink theme I had going and I really liked the idea so just stuck with it and made my own logo,” he said regarding his nickname “The Pink Panther”.
Some bonus questions to get to know Campbell:
Are there any fighters/athlets that inspired you any?
“Joanna Jędrzejczyk is my favorite fighter in MMA and has been since I was a little kid.”
What’s a long-term and a short-term goal you have?
“Short-term is to break the top ten in the UFC and long-term is when I die for my name to be remembered as a great.”
What do you like to do outside of MMA?
“Besides training, I just like to chill and play on the game taking time to just chill and relax from the crazy sport I participate in.”
What makes you different than any other fighter that stepped into the cage?
“When they fight me it’s like fighting a ghost.”
