HE only wanted to lose some weight, now Stanlee Wilson feels right at home walks into the cage. Three years ago he built the foundations for a successful career in Mixed Martial Arts and now he has been crowned the British Light Heavyweight champion.

Wilson has admitted he would never have become the new K1 Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) British Light Heavyweight title without the support of his family.

Wilson overcame a previous defeat against Shwan Bradosti to stop the ex-champion in the first round at London’s Troxy Arena.

Wilson, 28, only took up the sport to help lose some weight, but he became hooked on the ‘buzz, aura and adrenaline’.

He was always confident of victory and forced Bradosti to concede with a right-footed kick to the shin at the end of the first round.

Speaking exclusively to the Observer, Wilson has dedicated the victory to his wife, Clare, and their children, Nathan (9), Bobby (7), Annie (3) and Elsie (2).

He beamed: “My kids mean the world to me, and there’s nothing better than coming home and telling them that their dad has won a belt.

“This time around I’ve come home with a shinny belt for them, and the cuddles and kisses I got made it all worthwhile.

“My wife Clare supports me in everything I do. If I need to train six times a week she finds the time for me to do so.” He added: “I ran out of the cage to find Clare, but obviously with 5,000 people there I couldn’t see her. I had to run back in to be awarded the belt, and it was obviously a big relief after losing the first one to Shwan.” Wilson was confident he could defeat Bradosti having learnt from their previous clash, and with the benefit of better preparation.

He insists there were no pre-fight nerves, and he got the crowd on their feet by entering the cage to the sound of the national anthem.

“I came out to the national anthem and there was uproar, absolutely everybody was standing and cheering, my fans and his,” recalled Wilson.

“It was something that me and a friend were talking about. He said wouldn’t it be funny if someone did it, so I did. I sort of knew that people would like it, but I didn’t realise how much.” Wilson also admitted his preparation for the fight was far better than his first contest, which he took at short notice.

“I wouldn’t say it was the easiest fight camp that I’ve had, but I didn’t worry about my opponent,” explained Wilson. “He likes to come in and kick so my training was based on what I knew. I learnt how to counter a bit better and how to get out of the way quicker.

“I didn’t think about the fight, I just wanted to get on with it. I was beaten by the better guy first time around, but I knew that I could beat him this time.

“I took the first fight at 12 hours notice, so knew that with a training camp behind me I could beat him, and I proved that.

“I’m a confident guy, but I’ve never been so confident for any of my other fights. I was just glowing.

“It wasn’t like I was going to the gym to train, I was going there because I knew what the result would be. In my head I knew that there wasn’t a way that I was going to lose that fight.” Wilson has paid tribute to his coach, Gary Banks, and is now preparing for the first defence of his title at Troxy Arena on December 6.

He added: “Gary has been in the fighting game as a trainer for as many years as I can remember.

“He’s one of the best that I can say I’ve ever worked with. I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for Gary.

“You take one look at him and think he’s a scary dude, but he’s such a down to earth guy it’s unreal.” Wilson added: “I’m in this game to be the best in my division. At the moment I am so long may it continue. I don’t know my next opponent yet, but I welcome the challenge and will definitely fight again this year.

“I won’t step up a weight division, if anything I will end up going down. I want to try and get two or three defences of this title, and then step up into Ultimate Challenge MMA.” **POST your message of congratulations and support to Stanlee Wilson below or e-mail them to rstevens@berksmedia.co.uk** **PICK up a copy of the Observer, out every Friday, for all the latest sports news and action including more from Wilson** **FOLLOW the Observer on Twitter at @Observer_sports**