One of Britain's top martial arts fighters went toe-to-toe with some of Cromer's up-and-coming stars as he passed on some top tips during a visit on Saturday.

Ross 'The Real Deal' Pearson, the UK's number one UFC lightweight fighter, conducted a three-hour mixed martial arts seminar at Cromer's Fighting Fit Martial Arts Academy (FFMA) on Louden Road.

Pearson started with wrestling and Jiu Jitsu warm ups before covering takedowns and takedown defence as well as stand-up fighting techniques incorporating Muay Thai and kickboxing. He finished with some sparring with some of FFMA's fighters and junior members.

Gym owner and senior instructor John Mezzetti said: 'The seminar was a huge success, and having a world class fighter take time out from his hectic schedule to come and instruct for three hours was awesome. Every single person enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and all took away new techniques and drills to practise.'

Many of FFMA's fighters attended, including Jack Mezzetti, Brett Stanforth, Ollie Denton, Terry West and Steven Palmer, who have all recently competed and won their bouts. Also attending the seminar were FFMA Pro Muay Thai title holder Ian Goldie, K1 champion Jurij Krivenko and a junior, Charlie Verrier, who won a silver medal in his first NO-GI grappling competition in February.

Mezzetti said: 'The club is going from strength to strength with all active fighters winning regularly and having Ross help them, they can only get better.'

? For more information on classes or FFMA gym, please contact John Mezzetti on 07900 580866 or email mezzettijohn@aol.com.