Deaf MMA fighter Thomas Paull is still eyeing up the UFC as he looks to return to winning ways tomorrow night.
The Brit travelled to Vegas back in August for an opportunity at the big show when he competed on Dana White's Contender Series. But his trip ended up in disaster when he was knocked out in the first round by the unbeaten Esteban Ribovics, who ended up signing with the promotion that very night.
Paull has since returned to the drawing board, and is keen to make his way to the top of the sport and use his platform to spread the message that deaf people can achieve whatever they set out to do. The first step on that path is tomorrow's bout with Bailey Gilbert in Wolverhampton on a Golden Ticket Fight Promotions event.
An exciting fighter who is now down at featherweight, Paull has gone as high as welterweight during his career and has never gone to the judges in his 15 professional bouts, holding a record of 11-4. And he believes that his power will translate for even more knockouts going forward.
"I feel really good, it's really good to be back," he told Mirror Fighting ahead of his return to action. "That loss on Dana White's Contender Series was a bitter one to take. But I'm looking forward to tomorrow, I like to get into it nice and quickly and I want to see what opportunities are next for me.
"This weight cut was tough, I can't remember being at 145lb, maybe I was a teenager, it's so light! To be this weight now, I'm not going to lie, it's f***ing hard. This guy may be on point with everything but he hasn't tasted the power of the juggernaut yet, and he's in for a surprise."
Paull's road to the sport began in his teens when he was a rugby player, after being bullied in his youth for his disability. And particularly with his upcoming fight taking place on the International Day of Disabled Persons, he wants to let young deaf people know that they can get through anything to accomplish their dreams.
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"I've kind of proved to myself that you can go through anything," he explained. "If you're determined and you've got ambition you're always going to have struggle. This [fight camp] was a big struggle, but I just changed my tactics and worked with my team to make sure I did it properly.
"In regards to deafness, our potential inside is no different to anybody else, but people don't see that. They see us as not being able to hear and there's a perception that we're kind of weak minded because we've got different language skills, different communication skills, but I'd just like to prove and show to people like myself and to the hearing world that we can achieve just the same.
"Yeah, it's hard, you have struggles and barriers, being deaf. But we break through those barriers all the time. And I think it's good to have a positive ambassador and role model to show that if I can do it, they can do it. Deaf people are told their whole like 'you can't do that' because of communication or whatever, we face those barriers and adversity our whole lives.
"I want them to look at me and then look at themselves and change their perspective on their ability and their skills, whatever it may be. They can achieve whatever they want; deafness is not going to to stop them, they just have to alter the ways they get there to achieve what they're destined to do."
MMA Fighter Thomas Paull is an Another Round athlete ambassador
