WORCESTER K-1 fighter Piotr Ptasinski has clinched the Ultimate Impact Championships’ middleweight title after a unanimous decision in Gloucester.

Ptasinski returned to the sport after a two-year break, defeating Exeter’s Craig White after five hard-fought rounds on Saturday night.

Ptasinski, who hails from Zarki in southern Poland and is nicknamed Iron, was backed by around 40 of his friends at the GL1 Leisure Centre.

Now 33-year-old Ptasinski is resuming training tomorrow for Ultimate Gladiators, Nottingham’s premier professional kickboxing competition, on December 5.

“I knew my opponent had the sport of taekwondo in his background and had good kicks, so we prepared for the challenge for eight weeks,” said Ptasinski, who has built up a big following after attending Trojan Free Fighters gyms in Shrub Hill, Worcester, and in Cheltenham.

“The fight went the distance and I got a unanimous decision.

“In the second round, if it had gone on for five more seconds I could have finished it.

“I struck him with a spinning fist and a left knee to the body but the bell saved him.

“I had a few moments when I rocked him, but he was tough.

“He got me with a kick to the head but my coach Paul Sutherland said it would happen so it made me smile when it did.

“I exacted our game-plan which was landing low kicks to the legs and keeping him on the back-foot and pushing him to the fence.”

Ptasinski, who has lived in Worcester for the past 10 years and works at Mazak, won his first K-1 contest in Spain a few years ago.

He previously competed in MMA (mixed martial arts), including the popular Cage Warriors promotion and has fought in Jordan and Ireland.

“I had been away from the sport for two years after I had two slipped discs and it has been nice to spend more time with my family,” he said.

“The injury meant I lost a bit of motivation and I wanted to be 100 per cent healed from the injury and 100 per cent motivated before I returned.

“The opponent I fought on Saturday was orginally scheduled to fight one of my friends but I started to get ready for it in case something happened. Unfortunately, my friend pulled out through injury, so I jumped in.”

Ptasinski trained six days a week for the challenge with head coach and mentor Paul Sutherland, the owner of Trojan Cheltenham.

He was overwhelmed by his support on the night.

"It was my biggest-ever support for a fight and the first time my wife had seen me in a big fight,” he said. “It was amazing and I want to thank them all for their backing.”

Ptasinski plans to defend his title but is now focusing on next month’s Ultimate Gladiators in Nottingham.

“This will be a premier K1 tournament with two fights in one night and it’s one of the biggest K1 shows in the UK,” he said.

“This will be much tougher than I have experienced so far. The three people in the bracket are very high-level strikers and very dangerous opponents and are multi-champions in K1.”