Fight show kicks off

For some it is the sport of the future, pitching civil servants against soap stars, convicted criminals against students in an exhilarating mix of kickboxing and wrestling. For others it is no more than a brutal spectacle, demeaning to fighter and audience alike.

Whatever its merits Cage Combat, featuring two fighters facing each other in an octagonal cage, is the latest reality show to be screened on television. Carlton TV followed a number of cage fighters as they prepare to enter the arena.

In places such as Bracknell Sports Centre, The Fusion leisure centre in Elephant and Castle and York Hall in Bethnal Green, men and women face three five-minute rounds in which they can punch, kick, or grapple with the aim of striking a knock-out blow or forcing their opponent into submission.

Carlton has no inhibitions about the violent nature of the sport. While insisting that ringside doctors and paramedics enforce a strict code of conduct, its publicity for Cage Combat also talks about "a rowdy new spectator sport... no holds barred" and relishes "a brutal but intoxicating spectacle".

Kirsty Robson, production coordinator of Flame TV which films the fights, said: "It's brutal. I've filmed guys coming out covered in blood. As an all-female film crew we thought we'd never want to watch it, but it has the compelling fascination of a car crash."

However, some of those intimately involved with the sport are keen to play down the violence. Trainer Dave O'Donnell said: "It looks brutal because of the cage, but it's not really.

"There have never been any fatalities or serious injuries, unlike boxing. There aren't repeated blows to the head." Mr O'Donnell, a martial arts trainer who turned to cage combat after watching a Brazilian fighter beat eight men in a row, says the sport attracts a cross-section of society.

The Carlton show will feature Glen Appleby, a 32-year-old London civil servant with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, squaring up to Ross Pettifer, a Sheffield student. Mr Appleby said: "My colleagues think I'm mad."

Also competing are former Hollyoaks actor Alex Reid, twice World Thai Boxing champion Karen Ousey, and Jeremy Bailey, who served 10 months for actual bodily harm after a brawl with five men.

Mr Bailey, 27, who works in security and personal protection, said the sport should not be confused with street fighting: "You can submit whenever you want. On the street you are fighting for your life. I don't look on cage fighting as being violent, it's like a game of chess."

The British Board of Boxing Control is keen to distance itself from the phenomenon. As a source close to the board said: "Cage combat has nothing to do with us ... and thank Christ for that."