Kickboxing champ hoping to give fighters "better opportunities" through London o2 event

A former kickboxing world champion from Moray hopes his London event will give fighters a well deserved breakthrough.

Damon Sansum co-founded 'Total Kombat,' a show aimed at creating the next generation of fighters and athletes.

It's now the second time the 38-year-old from Elgin helped organise the event, with Saturday's spectacle being held at London's Indigo at the o2 and streamed live on ITVX.

Damon, who won two world kickboxing titles before claiming world silver and bronze medals in taekwondo, says he's determined to give others like him "better opportunities."

Streamed o2 event "surreal"

Since retiring from taekwondo in 2019, Damon now helps with running Sansum Martial Arts which provides classes for children across the North of Scotland and beyond.

During his time in the sport, Damon often found many were unable to have a career after years of training and hard work.

He said: "Some parents these days are paying something like £20,000 a year for their child to go to all these tournaments to get the experience to become the best. 

"At the end of your career, often you're left with not a lot of money or exposure, and quite a lot of injuries for your time."

Alongside Lee Matthews and Andy Cleeves, Damon organsied Total Kombat, a fighting experience which promises to "revolutionise combat sports."

The stage is a 6m x 7m oval shape, aimed at maintaining a "packed" fighting area.

Damon explained his determination in improving pathways for others wanting a career in the sport.

He added "I suppose at the moment, it's a lot of giving back from myself, but I just feel it is a privileged position where I can use all my knowledge, information and life experiences to help others. 

"I know with all the energy, positivity, dream and vision we have, this is just going to grow. 

"It's very important we're not driven by the money, which when you've got a start up like this it's very much the opposite. 

"But what we're driven by is giving fighters an opportunity a lot of us didn't have ourselves.

"It's quite surreal, but often if you truly want something (it''ll happen) and I've always manifested something like this. 

"I was a fighter in tournaments, then I wanted to become a promoter to create events and better opportunities than I was given."

This weekend's Total Kombat comes just five months after the sudden passing of Damon's father Lee, who died at the age of 63.

Lee Sansum was once Princess Diana's bodyguard and also helped protect a number of other high profile celebrities before setting up family run Sansum Martial Arts in 1999.

Despite the first Total Kombat event coming just a month after his dad's death, Damon outlined why he was determined to get through it.

He said: "It was a big shock and something I never thought would happen at this stage.

"It's nice to make him proud and continue the legacy of the family name and successful in different avenues in life. 

"Being the best we can be as well as serving the community which is what we're all about as a family."

Damon is set to become a father himself in December, as his girlfriend is expecting a boy on Christmas Day.

The dad-to-be hopes his son will be "subconsciously downloading all the information" needed to become a champion in the future.