Charity night in memory of fallen soldiers

A FORMER soldier from Failsworth is hosting a charity fight night in memory of a “magnificent seven” fallen soldiers.

Organiser Paul Wadsworth stars in the main event of The Forces Combatant Championships — in honour of a band of brothers from the 2nd Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who died in Afghanistan.

This includes Mossley hero Joey Etchells (22), who was killed by an explosion while leading a foot patrol near Sangin, Northern Helmand province, on July 19, 2009.

Paul, who left the regiment in 2003, after three operational tours in Bosnia, Kosovo and Ireland, decided to set up the fundraising evening, in aid of three charities.

Twenty fighters will battle it out in 10 bouts of mixed martial arts action for The Forces Children’s Trust, Fallen Fusiliers and The Memorial Fund, at the TA Centre, Castle Armoury, in Bury, on Saturday, April 28.

All participants from across the country are either serving soldiers, territorial or ex-regular forces.

Paul (33), a married father of two, said: “We lost a lot of friends out in Afghanistan from the battalion, who all died within a short time of each other.

“I am not a soldier anymore, I’m a cage fighter, and I do a lot of fundraising for the three amazing charities, which help the families of those who have fallen and soldiers who have come back home injured.

“The families of the magnificent seven soldiers killed will be attending the charity night.”

The local businessman will hang up his gloves on the night — hoping to finish his four-year cage-fighting career with an undefeated record.

The fundraiser believes cage fighting has had a lot of “undeserved” bad press recently.

Paul said: “It is very disciplined and no-one has ever died in the history of regulated cage fighting.

“It involves a lot of skill and different martial arts — plus on the night the fights will be refereed by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) official Marc Goddard.

“Another special guest on the night will be the first Englishman to fight in the UFC, Ian Freeman.”

The event, screened live over the internet on Combat Sports TV, will also be aired at a later date on the Active Channel, on Sky.

Tickets for the night are available from £30, either by email at: forceschampionships@btconnect.com or calling 07966-021 395.