Razvan Boast admitted it "meant the world" for him to win his first professional Mixed Martial Arts event staged at Hyndburn Sports Centre.
The Accrington battler is 20-years-old and has been competing in Mixed Martial Arts for two years after starting his career with kickboxing and boxing.
"I got into martial arts at a young age when I was 12 and have not stopped since, I have all different kind of styles like Ju Jitsu, karate, kickboxing and now I train in mixed martial arts," said ‘Raz’.
"I have three wins out of three fights in semi-pro boxing, four wins out of four in amateur MMA and now one win out of one in professional MMA.
"I'm currently not with any club, I am an independent fighter and so it meant the world for me to win.
"I trained hard and managed to do things right all the way up to the fight.
"This was my professional MMA debut and I couldn't see me losing at all.
"I have worked very hard for this, I visited America where I got to train with some of the worlds best fighters, like former UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk and Nick Thompson who fights over in Japan.
"I did go into this fight with too much adrenaline and got caught with a shot that rocked me and dropped me for a split second. Thanks to my conditioning, though, I managed to recover quite quickly.
"I am not taking anything from my opponent Ian James, he is a great fighter and I have a lot of respect for him, even before fighting him, as he is a local lad.
"He stepped up and fought on short notice after my original opponent got injured. The crowd was amazing and a lot of locals were there to enjoy the show.
"I believe that this is a start of a bright fighting future for me. I have a lot of potential, learn fast and love to train.
"I look to get back into the cage at least one more time before Christmas and stretching my pro fight record, then hopefully it will be a long year of fights next year."
