Lewis McGrillen found out about MMA by playing UFC video games, and is now signed to one of the biggest promotions in the world.
The Manchester Top Team prospect joined up with PFL last year, and is set to make his return to the cage on June 8 in Newcastle. The 23-year-old is one of the most exciting prospects in Europe, and has grand world title ambitions starting with his next outing.
But what isn’t well known is that his journey into the cage began not through watching an historic fight or joining a local gym. Instead, he found his way into MMA through playing video games with his friends while growing up.
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Lewis McGrillen details journey from playing UFC video games to fighting in front of thousands
In an exclusive chat with Bloody Elbow, McGrillen detailed how a chance day on the couch playing a UFC Undisputed game on Playstation made him think about a future in the sport. He had toyed with boxing, but fell in love with the fully immersive aspect of the cage and the mixture of all martial arts.
“We used to always grapple on the astro as kids,” he recalled. “I used to be obsessed with boxing and I used to always play that game Fight Night Champion. Then my friend was obsessed with UFC Undisputed 3 so we swapped games.
“So we swapped it and I was immediately like ‘yo, you can kick people in the head? You can batter them on the ground and choke them unconscious? This is sick!’ So I ended up going to an MMA gym.”
From there, he began training and fighting, quickly making a name for himself on the local circuit in Manchester. He turned pro in May of 2021 after coronavirus shutdowns cost him the final years of his amateur career.
In 2023 after going 6-0 in the paid ranks, he signed up with PFL and competed three times under their banner. His last fight was a losing effort to veteran Brazilian Weslley Maia, whom he is itching to rematch once he has gotten through Matiss Zaharovs on June 8.
Lewis McGrillen credits Conor McGregor as his inspiration for fighting.
A brash southpaw with a shock of orange hair, comparisons to Conor McGregor were always going to come for McGrillen. And he admits that it was watching the Irishman’s rise to the top that inspired him to push on with his career in the cage.
“So then the rise of Conor McGregor started,” he continued. “When I was a teenager the McGregor era was around so I saw that whole time period. He was my guy because I grew up watching that whole era.
“He’s a left-handed guy, I’ve got Irish heritage, stuff like that drew me to him. We’d never seen someone on this side of the pond do what he’s doing, he’s not English but he’s Irish and competing on the same regional circuit and it was f***ing inspiring.”
The Mancunian’s striking style and outlandish haircut history has also seen him likened to UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley. But he insists that he doesn’t want to be “the next” anyone, but the first Lewis McGrillen.
Lewis McGrillen heaps praise on PFL as he details plans to compete in European season
At just 23-years-old, the boisterous Brit still has plenty of time to develop as a professional athlete. Particularly after losing to a veteran like Maia last time out, he has no interest in jumping the gun and racing towards a spot in the PFL’s European tournament any time soon.
But he does plan to dominate worldwide, and eventually compete for the $100,000 and $1million prizes on offer in the European and Global seasons. “PFL must see something in me, I guess,” he explained. “There’s only a couple of us who are young in the promotion.
“But look at it this way, in the tournament at bantamweight how old are they? They’re all about 28, they’re all old and I’m still young. At the end of the day I feel like the tournaments are coming, but it’s pending.
“Some of these guys fighting in the tournament it’s their last bid to make a few grand and get a bag. Then there’s probably a few guys looking to go from there, hang them up or whatever, I’m still young so it’s all pending for me.”
Lewis McGrillen faces Matiss Zaharovs on June 8 in Newcastle. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.co.uk