Tom "Kong" Watson (born 13 July 1982) is an English

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

currently competing in the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

division of

Cage Warriors Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish owned mixed martial arts promotion, based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Many MMA stars have made their names under the Cage Warrio ...

. A professional competitor since 2006, he is the former BAMMA Middleweight Champion, the former UCMMA Middleweight Champion, and has also competed for the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Cage Rage Cage Rage Championships, also known as Cage Rage, was a United Kingdom-based, mixed martial arts promotion that premiered on 7 September 2002 in London. Cage Rage went into liquidation and is now no longer trading. Cage Rage had been owned and ma ...

and the MFC.

Background

Watson began training when he was 16 years old and has an extensive

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

background, winning two awards, Amateur Boxing Standout 2006, a three-time ABA Southern Counties Champion, and Full Contact Unlicensed Boxing Champion. Watson's nickname comes from his famous ring walks, featuring Watson wearing a gorilla mask.

Mixed martial arts career

Cage Rage and early career

Watson held a 1-0-1 amateur record before turning professional in 1991. He won his first two fights and was then given the chance to fight in the UK's top MMA promotion,

. His first fight was against

Daijiro Matsui is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. A professional MMA competitor since 1998, he has competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, DEEP, Pancrase, and King of the Cage. Professional wrestling career Afte ...

in February 2007 at Cage Rage 20, and he lost via an

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, pr ...

in the first round. He returned to the cage a month later and impressively defeated Dorlan O'Malley via KO after a slam. After this, he was given another chance against a higher profile opponent. He took on UFC veteran Xavier Foupa-Pokam at ''CageRage 21: Judgement Day'' in April, 2007, but was submitted again. He fought a further two times that year, and recorded a win and a loss. In 2008, he began to climb the ladder again by beating Pierre Guillet and John Phillips, but Cage Rage went into liquidation and he then went to

Ultimate Challenge MMA Ultimate Challenge MMA (also referred to as UCMMA) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It is shown live on London Live in the UK, Fight Now TV in the US and on Viewster in several other countries. History The collapse ...

Ultimate Challenge MMA

Watson's first Ultimate Challenge MMA bout came against Daniel Cubitt at ''Ultimate Challenge UK: Bad Breed'' in December 2008. He won the fight by knocking his opponent out less than two minutes into the first round to win the inaugural Ultimate Challenge UK title. He returned at ''Ultimate Challenge UK: Dynamite'' in October 2009 to take on Denniston Sutherland, and defeated him via split decision.

Maximum Fighting Championship

On 10 January 2010, Watson signed a three-fight deal with the

Maximum Fighting Championship Maximum Fighting Championship is a Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Edmonton, Alberta. MFC’s former home, in Canada, is the River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alberta, located just outside Edmonton, Alberta, but has also ...

, a Canadian promotion. His first fight was on 26 February 2010, where he took on Travis Galbraith on '' MFC 24: Heat XC''. In the second minute of the first round, Kong knocked his opponent out with a vicious right head kick. This won him knockout of the night and put him at the top of the list for knockout of the year. His second fight for the Canadian promotion took place on the main card of

MFC 26 ''MFC 26: Retribution'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) on September 10, 2010 at the River Cree Casino in Enoch, Alberta. The event was aired live on HDNet with commentators Michael Schiavello, Fran ...

card against

Jesse Taylor Jesse Marcus Taylor (born January 2, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) and 10th Planet Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt fighter currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he was ...

. Watson lost via unanimous decision (30-26, 30–26, 30-26) after being deducted a point for repeatedly grabbing the ropes.

BAMMA

On 27 June 2009, Watson fought at the

British Association of Mixed Martial Arts BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo (UK TV channel), Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ...

' first event, '' BAMMA 1: The Fighting Premiership'', after a hard-fought battle, Watson defeated John Maguire via TKO at 2:47 of round 3. It was confirmed that Maguire had broken his arm during the fight after a takedown. He was then scheduled to fight

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

winner Alex Reid for the vacant Middleweight Championship at ''

BAMMA 3 This is a listing of event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. BAMMA 1: The Fighting Premiership ''BAMMA 1'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts on 27 June 2009 at the Room ...

'' in May 2010. However, Reid injured his knee while filming his documentary TV series ''Alex Reid: The Fight of His Life'' and was forced to pull out of the fight. This angered Watson, who claimed Reid was disrespecting him. Watson also called him a "clown" and said that it was likely Reid pulled out to avoid an embarrassing defeat. Reid was then replaced by UFC and IFL veteran

Matt Horwich Matthew Peter Horwich (born October 2, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Horwich has fought in BAMMA, Strikeforce, Bellator, the UFC, and for ...

. After miraculously freeing himself from a rear-naked choke in the first round, Watson went on to dominate the fight with his superior striking and won via unanimous decision (48-47, 49–47, 49-46) to become the first BAMMA Middleweight Champion. Initially, Watson maintained that he did not want to waste any more time training for and fighting such a low-level opponent as Reid but the Reid vs. Watson fight was rescheduled for ''

BAMMA 4 This is a listing of event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. BAMMA 1: The Fighting Premiership ''BAMMA 1'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts on 27 June 2009 at the Room ...

'' on 25 September 2010. Watson won by unanimous decision, as the judges scored the fight 49-46 49-46 49–47. On 21 May 2011, he faced former EliteXC Middleweight Champion

Murilo Rua Murilo Milani Rua (; born May 22, 1980), also known as Ninja, is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who fought in Pride Fighting Championships. He is the older brother of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He is ...

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

in London, England, defeating the PRIDE FC veteran by KO due to head kick followed up by punches in the third round, and defending his BAMMA Middleweight Title in the process. Watson was set to fight former UFC

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

contender and current BAMMA Middleweight,

Frank Trigg Dewey Franklin Trigg III (born May 7, 1972) is an American retired mixed martial artist, color commentator, pro wrestler, MMA referee and TV host. Trigg is a veteran of the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, Rumble on the Rock, Icon Sport-(Icon ...

, for Kong's BAMMA Middleweight Championship. However, Tom has suffered a back injury and was replaced by

Jim Wallhead Jim Wallhead (born 14 March 1984) is an English professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. He has competed for BAMMA, Bellator, and M-1 Challenge and the UFC . Wallhead is a member of Team Rough House and Le ...

. Watson defended his title at BAMMA 9 against BAMMA British Middleweight Champion Jack Marshman, winning via TKO in the second round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After successfully defending his BAMMA Middleweight Championship title three times, Watson signed a contract with the UFC in July 2012. In his debut, Watson fought

Brad Tavares Bradley Kaipo Sarbida Tavares (born December 21, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Tavares currently competes in the middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2007, Tavares foug ...

on 29 September 2012 at

UFC on Fuel TV 5 ''UFC on Fuel TV: Struve vs. Miocic'' (also known as ''UFC on Fuel TV 5'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 29, 2012, at Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, United Kingdom. Background Jörgen K ...

. He lost the fight via split decision. Watson next faced undefeated

Stanislav Nedkov Stanislav Nedkov ( bg, Станислав Недков, born December 9, 1981) is a Bulgarian professional mixed martial artist who last competed in 2015. A professional since 2006, he has formerly competed for the UFC, World Victory Road, and ...

on 16 February 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald. He won the back-and-forth fight via TKO in the second round. Both participants earned ''Fight of the Night'' honors for their performance, while Watson also earned a ''Knockout of the Night'' bonus. For his third fight with the promotion, Watson faced

Thales Leites Thales Leites Lourenço (; born 6 September 1981) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist best known for competing in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career Early career Leites made his ...

on 3 August 2013 at

UFC 163 ''UFC 163: Aldo vs. Korean Zombie'' was a mixed martial arts event held on August 3, 2013, at the HSBC Arena (Rio de Janeiro), HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Background The main event was expected to feature current UFC Featherweight Champ ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Watson was expected to face Alessio Sakara on 26 October 2013 at UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz. However, he was forced out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by

Magnus Cedenblad Magnus Cedenblad (born April 10, 1982) is a retired Swedish mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, among others. Mixed martial arts career Early career Cedenblad has said that he ...

. Watson fought

Nick Catone Nicholas Catone (born September 1, 1981) is a retired American mixed martial artist. Catone competed most recently in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in their Middleweight division. Mixed martial arts career Wrestling Catone began wrestling ...

on 1 February 2014 at

UFC 169 ''UFC 169: Barão vs. Faber 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held on February 1, 2014, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event was released on DVD on May 6, 2014. The DVD was distributed by the label ''Anchor Bay Entertainment ...

. He lost the fight via split decision. Watson faced promotional newcomer

Sam Alvey Samuel William Alvey (born May 6, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Alvey has also formerly com ...

on 16 August 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 47 ''UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Saint Preux'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 47'') was a mixed martial arts event held on August 16, 2014, at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine. Background The event was headlined by top ten light heavyw ...

. He won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. Watson faced

Rafael Natal Rafael Natal Diniz Franca () is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional from 2005 until 2017, he is best known for his 17-fight stint competing for the UFC. Mixed martial arts career Background Natal started Brazilian Jiu-Jits ...

on 31 January 2015 at

UFC 183 ''UFC 183: Silva vs. Diaz'' was a mixed martial arts event held on January 31, 2015, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was headlined by a middleweight bout between former UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silv ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Watson faced

Chris Camozzi Christopher Allen Camozzi (born November 20, 1986) is an American professional Glory kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Camozzi has formerly competed in th ...

on 8 August 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 73 ''UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs. Saint Preux'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 73'') was a mixed martial arts event held on August 8, 2015, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Background The event was headlined by a light heavyweight bo ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Return to BAMMA

On 25 July 2018 it was announced that after a three-year hiatus from fighting, Watson had signed a multi-fight contract with BAMMA. Due to complete lack of events in BAMMA, Watson was announced to have signed with Cage Warriors and will be moving down to welterweight division. Watson was expected to face Aaron Khalid at Cage Warriors 104, but on the fight day he was not medically cleared and was forced off the card.

Championships and accomplishments

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and Ire ...

**BAMMA World Middleweight Championship (One Time) **Three successful title defenses **Fight of the Night (Five Times) **Knockout of the Night (Three Times) *

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

** Fight of the Night (One Time) ** Knockout of the Night (One Time) *

**Knockout of the Night (One Time) **Knockout of the Year 2010 *

**UCMMA World Middleweight Championship (One Time) **One successful title defense

Mixed martial arts record

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Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

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Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

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, TKO (knees and punches) , UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:42 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

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Jack Marshman Jack Robert Marshman (born December 19, 1989) is a retired Welsh professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he has competed for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), BAMMA a ...

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Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

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MFC 24 ''MFC 24: HeatXC'' was a mixed martial arts event to be held by the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) on February 26, 2010 at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alberta. The main event featured Yves Edwards taking on Derrick Noble in a l ...

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Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

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BAMMA 1 This is a listing of event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. BAMMA 1: The Fighting Premiership ''BAMMA 1'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts on 27 June 2009 at the Room ...

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Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

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References

External links

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Cage Rage and early career

Ultimate Challenge MMA

Maximum Fighting Championship

BAMMA

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Return to BAMMA

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References

External links