| Tom Watson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 July 1982 Southampton, England |
| Other names | Kong |
| Nationality | English |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st) |
| Division | Middleweight |
| Style | Boxing, Muay Thai |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Fighting out of | Southampton, Hampshire, England |
| Team | Zahabi MMA Jackson's Submission Fighting |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 18 |
| Wins | 14 |
| By knockout | 6 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 7 |
| Losses | 4 |
| By submission | 2 |
| By decision | 2 |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Tom "Kong" Watson (born 13 July 1982 in Southampton) is an English mixed martial artist, currently fighting at middleweight and training at Tristar Gym in Montreal, Canada and Jackson's Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is known for his unorthodox entrances, dancing to the ring in a gorilla mask. 'Kong' holds notable victories over Murilo 'Ninja' Rua, Alex Reid and Matt Horwich. Tom is the current BAMMA World Middleweight Champion.
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Watson held a 1-0-1 amateur record before going pro in 2006. He won his first two fights and was then given the chance to fight in the UK's top MMA promotion, Cage Rage. His first fight was against Daijiro Matsui in February 2007 at Cage Rage 20: Born 2 Fight, and he lost via an armbar in the first round. He returned to the cage a month later and impressively defeated Dorlan O'Malley via KO after slamming him.
After this, he was given another chance against a big-name opponent. He took on Xavier Foupa-Pokam at CageRage 21: Judgement Day in April, 2007, but was submitted again. He fought a further two times that year, and recorded a win and a loss. In 2008, he began to climb the ladder again by beating Pierre Guillet and John Phillips, but Cage Rage went bankrupt and he then went to Ultimate Challenge.
Watson's first Ultimate Challenge bout came against Daniel Cubitt at Ultimate Challenge UK: Bad Breed in December 2008. He won the fight by knocking his opponent out less than two minutes into the first round. He returned at Ultimate Challenge UK: Dynamite in October 2009 to take on Denniston Sutherland, and defeated him via split decision.
On June 27, 2009, Watson fought at the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts' first event, BAMMA 1: The Fighting Premiership, after a hard fought battle, Watson defeated John Maguire via TKO at 2:47 of round 3. It was confirmed that Maguire had broken his arm during the fight after a takedown.
He was then scheduled to fight Celebrity Big Brother winner Alex Reid for the vacant Middleweight Championship at BAMMA 3 in May 2010.[1] However, Reid injured his knee while filming his documentary TV series Alex Reid: The Fight of His Life and was forced to pull out of the fight. This angered Watson, who claimed Reid was disrespecting him.[2] Watson also called him a "clown" and said that it was likely Reid pulled out to avoid an embarrassing defeat.[3] Reid was then replaced by UFC and IFL veteran Matt Horwich. After miraculously freeing himself from a rear-naked choke in the first round, Watson went on to dominate the fight and won via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-47, 49-46) to become the first BAMMA Middleweight Champion.[4]
Initially, Watson maintained that he did not want to waste any more time training for and fighting such a low-level opponent as Reid[5] but the Reid vs. Watson fight was rescheduled for BAMMA 4 on 25 September 2010.[5] Watson won by unanimous decision, as the judges scored the fight 49-46 49-46 49-47.[6]
On 21st May 2011, he faced Murilo Rua at Wembley Arena in London, England, defeating the PRIDE FC veteran by KO, due to head kick and punches, in the third round, defending his BAMMA Middleweight Title in the process. [7]
Watson was set to fight former UFC Welterweight contender and current Middleweight, Frank Trigg, for Kong's BAMMA Middleweight Title. However, Tom has suffered a back injury and will be replaced on the card by Jim Wallhead.[8]
As Wallhead won the bout against Trigg, it is likely that Watson and Wallhead will meet up in a title bout at some point in 2012 in Kong's return fight.
On 10 January 2010, Watson signed a three fight deal with the Maximum Fighting Championship, a Canadian promotion.[9] His first fight was on 26 February 2010, where he took on Travis Galbraith on MFC 24: Heat XC. In the second minute of the first round, Kong knocked his opponent out with a head kick. This won him knock out of the night and put him at the top of the list for knock out of the year.
His second fight for the Canadian promotion took place on the main card of MFC 26 card against Jesse Taylor.[10] Watson lost via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after being deducted a point for repeatedly grabbing the ropes.
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 18 matches | 14 wins | 4 losses |
| By knockout | 6 | 0 |
| By submission | 1 | 2 |
| By decision | 7 | 2 |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 14-4 | Murilo Rua | KO (head kick and punches) | BAMMA 6 | May 21, 2011 | 3 | 2:06 | London, England | Retained the BAMMA World Middleweight Championship. |
| Win | 13-4 | Alex Reid | Decision (unanimous) | BAMMA 4 | September 25, 2010 | 5 | 5:00 | Birmingham, England | Retained the BAMMA World Middleweight Championship. |
| Loss | 12-4 | Jesse Taylor | Decision (unanimous) | MFC 26 | September 10, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Brandon, Manitoba, Canada | |
| Win | 12-3 | Matt Horwich | Decision (unanimous) | BAMMA 3 | May 15, 2010 | 5 | 5:00 | Birmingham, England | Won the BAMMA World Middleweight Championship |
| Win | 11-3 | Travis Galbraith | KO (head kick) | MFC 24 | February 26, 2010 | 1 | 1:56 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | MFC 24 Knockout of the Night & MFC Knockout of the Year 2010 |
| Win | 10-3 | Denniston Sutherland | Decision (split) | UCMMA 8 - Dynamite | October 24, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | London, England | |
| Win | 9-3 | John Maguire | TKO (punches) | BAMMA 1 | June 27, 2009 | 2 | 3:47 | London, England | |
| Win | 8-3 | Daniel Cubitt | TKO (punches) | Ultimate Challenge MMA - Bad Breed | December 6, 2008 | 1 | 1:57 | London, England | Won UCMMA World Middleweight Championship |
| Win | 7-3 | Lloyd Clarkson | Decision (unanimous) | Atlas Fighting Challenge | August 9, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | England | |
| Win | 6-3 | John Phillips | Decision (unanimous) | Cage Rage 27 | July 12, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | London, England | |
| Win | 5-3 | Pierre Guillet | KO (upkick) | Cage Rage 25 | March 8, 2008 | 1 | 1:05 | London, England | |
| Loss | 4-3 | Mark Epstein | Decision (split) | Cage Rage 24 | December 1, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | London, England | |
| Win | 4-2 | Ed Smith | Decision (unanimous) | Cage Rage 22 | July 14, 2007 | 1 | 3:04 | London, England | |
| Loss | 3-2 | Xavier Foupa-Pokam | Submission (triangle kimura) | Cage Rage 21 | April 21, 2007 | 2 | 2:27 | London, England | |
| Win | 3-1 | Dorlan O'Malley | KO (slam and punches) | Cage Rage Championships | March 3, 2007 | 1 | 2:21 | London, England | |
| Loss | 2-1 | Daijiro Matsui | Submission (armbar) | Cage Rage 20 | February 10, 2007 | 1 | 0:59 | London, England | |
| Win | 2-0 | Tulio Palhares | Decision | ZT Fight Night 2 | June 25, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | London, England | |
| Win | 1-0 | Michael Watson | Submission (guillotine choke) | ZT Fight Night 1 | February 19, 2006 | 1 | 1:11 | London, England |