Reality star Jake Quickenden set for fight debut after major body transformation
Reality TV star Jake Quickenden will kickstart a brand new era in celebrity fights when he makes the rare move into the MMA cage from his life on-screen.
The singer and media personality has impressed audiences with his singing on X Factor and his fortitude on I'm A Celebrity, as well as wowing audiences with his Dancing on Ice skills. But it's his most dangerous ask yet when he steps into the cage at OKTAGON 48 on Saturday night in Manchester.
Quickenden will face comedian Paul Smith after a 10-month build-up, which has included the Channel 4 docuseries 'Stage to Cage'. The bout is being cheekily marketed as Jake vs Paul, with the pair both shedding massive amounts of weight in order to get down to welterweight for this weekend's bout.
"It's been very humbling to see how hard these guys train day in and day out," Quickenden told Mirror Fighting in an exclusive chat. "I've always been a big fan of the sport so to see how much work goes into it and what you have to put your body through has made me respect it even more.
"I'm not saying I'm an MMA fighter now it's something I can tick off the box and I'm not going to be like Jake Paul and start calling out Jake Paul, calling out Jon Jones or all of that.
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"But I'm putting my all into the work I've done and it's been a really amazing experience learning from James Webb and that at Combat Institute and being part of a team again."
Jake Quickenden has lost a lot of weight but is looking ripped ahead of his fight debut (Instagram/jakequickenden)Are you excited for Jake Quickenden's fight with Paul Smith this weekend? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
A former top football prospect, Quickenden's playing days were cut short when he broke his leg while on the youth team at Scunthorpe United. He eventually played in Australia and had offers to return, but instead turned to music where he became one of the UK's most recognisable names as a star of the 2014 season of X Factor, leading to a lengthy media career.
But he has admitted that struggles with his mental health from his footballing days to now have still at times overcome him. Joining a fight team to work on Saturday's show at the AO Arena has helped him to make some significant improvements mentally, adding: "Since I quit playing football I missed that changing room aspect.
"Now I'm back in that with all the boys and I feel like MMA gyms are very, very supportive. At the end of the day when you're playing football you might get nutmegged, but when you're fighting you might get your nose broken so everybody is much more supportive and asking how you're doing and how you're feeling.
"You could go in there on a bad day and not feel up to it and get hurt. I've got so much respect to anyone who gets in any kind of ring with any kind of fight or martial arts, it's been an humbling experience definitely."
However, that respect could go out the window if he receives the call to fight any of the social media stars who have stepped into the ring as part of Misfits Boxing or Kingpyn in recent months. "They're all s****," he joked when asked if he would get in the ring for an event on KSI's promotion.
"There's only a few of them that are any good, if they want to pay me £20,000 I'll jump on and fight any one of those idiots. But this is real fighting, this is everything, not just boxing. I'm sure if it all goes well on the night I might be buzzing off my head and be like 'right, who's next?' Maybe I will call out Jon Jones, you never know!"
Remaining tickets are available on Ticketmaster for OKTAGON 48 at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday night. The fight will be shown live on DAZN.
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