How bullying led Britain's Campbell to the UFC

Kurtis Campbell was only seven years old when his parents decided something drastically needed to change.During his time at primary school in Liverpool, Campbell was targeted by bullies. His parents, Jay and Michelle, could see the effect it was having.It was then that they signed him up for Muay Thai classes to help him learn how to defend himself."From there, I've never looked back," Briton Campbell told BBC Sport. "I've been in love with the sport ever since."Without his parents' influence and support, the 24-year-old would not be chasing his dream of becoming a UFC champion.Seventeen years later Campbell is preparing for his second fight in the promotion against American Trevor Peek at UFC Paris on Saturday."I'm not going to stop until my mum and dad are on a beach somewhere, sipping cocktails and doing nothing else for the rest of their lives," Campbell said."They can enjoy it, knowing that they've created this monster. That's my plan."Initially, it seemed Campbell's time in the gym would serve the sole purpose of learning self-defence before moving to secondary school a couple of years later.That was until he started competing in amateur competitions, slowly but surely becoming obsessed with his newfound escape from the difficulties he faced at school."I was quite a soft kid, in the sense that I didn't really like the violence or the fighting," Campbell said."I felt like when I did fight, and when I really did go into it, everything changed and I never looked back."Aged 15, he won his first international Muay Thai title and started to realise that, with the blessing of his parents, combat sports could become more than just a pastime."I was never the cleverest kid. I was always in the bottom sets at school, so I wasn't really focused," Campbell said."All of the teachers told me, 'you need to do something else. You have to have a plan B.'"But for Campbell, who was beginning to attract attention across Merseyside, his unwavering commitment to the sport meant there was no need for a back-up plan.That included regularly running almost five miles to and from school. There was even one occasion when he missed school while studying for his GCSEs to attend a coaching seminar in Liverpool hosted by John Kavanagh - the coach of former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor.After completing his GCSE exams at the age of 16, Campbell enrolled on a college course that combined studying for a qualification in sport with playing football.Or at least that was what he was supposed to be doing.Campbell struck an arrangement with the course leads that allowed him to attend classes before leaving to train in combat sports, while his peers were on the football pitch."I was always avoiding anything just for fighting," Campbell said."I really didn't like school. It wasn't me. But I made a good few mates there, so you've got to take the pros with the cons."When Campbell suffered a TKO defeat by Danny Silva on his UFC debut in March, it was the first time in almost seven and a half years that he had lost.Not since December 2018, when he lost to fellow Liverpudlian Liam McCracken on the local amateur circuit, had featherweight Campbell failed to get his hand raised.He won five titles across three different weight classes with the Full Contact Contender (FCC) promotion before earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in September 2025.It means that when he steps into the Accor Arena to fight Peek, he will face the unfamiliar feeling of trying to bounce back from defeat."Fighting in the UFC was just the goal and the dream when I was younger," Campbell said."So I feel like that fat kid looking back at me would be proud of me. I would be proud of myself, no matter how the debut went, just because of where I am now."I think he'd be happy with me. But I know he'd not be happy with just the story. I've still got a lot of legacy to build."That's one thing I would say is good and bad about me - as soon as I get something, I want more of it."I don't think I'll ever stop having that feeling."