{"id":485130,"date":"2026-02-19T11:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/485130\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:04:08","slug":"ufc-ace-chris-duncans-dream-to-transform-scotlands-mma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/485130\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC ace Chris Duncan’s dream to transform Scotland’s MMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Duncan has taken this into his own hands, and is ready to rectify it.\n<\/p>\n

\n This weekend, ‘The Problem Promotions’ will put on its first show.\n<\/p>\n

\n It\u2019ll take place in Duncan\u2019s home town of Alloa<\/a> on Saturday and will, hopes the the 32-year-old, be the first of many shows as the promotion grows into one of the biggest in the sport.\n<\/p>\n

\n Duncan, alongside his business partner, Lewis Simpson, founded The Problem Promotions, with the name emanating from Duncan\u2019s fighting nickname, \u2018The Problem\u2019. The pair’s reasoning behind forming the promotion was simple; as an up-and-coming fighter, Duncan had plenty of opportunities to fight in his home country but nowadays, opportunities for aspiring Scottish fighters are so rare, they\u2019re often non-existent.\n<\/p>\n

\n Duncan is not interested in merely making this a small, Scottish-based venture, though, with his and Simpson\u2019s ambitions high. Indeed, Duncan is adamant that he wants nothing less than to become one of the best promotions in the sport.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWhat Lewis and I are looking to do with The Problem Promotions is to become one of the biggest and best promotions in Europe,\u201d he says without hesitation.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI want to be able to pay these fighters good money and give them good opportunities. Cage Warriors is currently the top promotion in Europe and I know how much they pay their fighters so my goal is to beat them on that.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI’m always looking for new revenue streams and I want to make this a profitable business – and I feel like if you do what you love and I can give back to the sport too, then that’s perfect.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Duncan knows what it takes to both upset the odds, and reach the top of his sport.\n<\/p>\n

\n Chris Duncan (Image: Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n

\n Just over a decade ago, the Stirlingshire native was a shepherd in the Scottish Highlands<\/a> with a dream of becoming an MMA fighter. Despite the tragic murder of his mum the day before he made his amateur debut, Duncan has battled his way to become one of the best MMA fighters win the planet. And since joining the world\u2019s top promotion, the UFC in 2021, he’s racked up seven wins and only two losses, with his most recent victory a fast and impressive win over experienced America fighter, Terrance McKinney in December.\n<\/p>\n

\n Read more: Should athletes be considered brave for pushing through pain, or very stupid?<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n How University of Stirling are taking high-performance to the next level<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n It\u2019s his experience as a top-level fighter that Duncan plans to put to good use as The Problem Promotions develops. However, he admits it\u2019s not been easy to be the guy outside of the octagon for a change, with much of Duncan\u2019s frustration stemming from other fighters\u2019 unwillingness to accept challenging fights, which is something he\u2019s never shied away from.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think there’s not many Scottish promotions because people lack the knowledge and the understanding of how fighting works and how the fighter works. And so I, as a fighter myself, can use my experience to try and help the fighters,\u201d he says.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cBut it’s been an absolute nightmare setting it up. It\u2019s very time consuming, but I\u2019ve had so much local support.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAs we\u2019ve been getting ready for this first show, I\u2019ve been trying to put myself in the fighter’s position but a lot of fighters want to take the easy option which I find frustrating because I’ve never been that guy.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cOften guys are looking for the safe bet and they’re not always ready to try and prove a point whereas I was always ready and willing to take any fight.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo Lewis is the matchmaker and what I can bring is doing the day-to-day stuff and help make the fighters more comfortable. With fighting, I\u2019ve been there, done that and bought the t-shirt twice over.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAnd with the fighters who are not ready or willing to take the risk, I think it’s good for me to occasionally express to them that they need to be willing to put themselves out there.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n As the first The Problem Promotions show approaches, the second has already been announced, taking place in May in Fort William<\/a>, chosen because it\u2019s the home town of co-founder, Simpson.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"pastedGraphic.png\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Duncan may be accustomed to fighting on the world\u2019s biggest and best promotion, the UFC, but knows his own venture will have to begin small before, he hopes, setting off on an upwards trajectory. And similarly to his own fighting career, Duncan has no shortage of ambition as to how he can transform the sport in Scotland which, as it stands, remains relatively niche despite having produced some of the world\u2019s top MMA fighters, including Duncan himself.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe biggest thing for us right now is finances and so we\u2019ve got amateur fighters on our first card,\u201d he says.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s baby steps initially but I really think we can give opportunities to fighters in Scotland and put finance into the sport.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI want to get to the point financially that fighters can’t refuse a fight with us and I\u2019d love to get to the stage where we\u2019re holding shows at the Braehead Arena, which has a capacity of over 5000. That\u2019s the goal, and I think we can do it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n This Saturday\u2019s card may not include any headline names but there will be, insists Duncan, no shortage of talent on display. One fighter in particular that Duncan believes is worth looking out for is his training partner, Adam Thomson. With Duncan\u2019s guidance, there\u2019s the hope that Thomson, plus any number of the other fighters, may be at the start of their journey to the very top of this sport.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWith Adam Thomson, it’s not like there’s one thing in particular that’s special about him. But to be a good fighter you don’t need necessarily to have spectacular qualities. You just need to fill the gaps,\u201d says Duncan.\n<\/p>\n

\n Look at me, I was never a super-talented guy or a super-explosive guy and I didn’t have masses of natural ability. But what I would not do is cut any corners or skip training or turn down an opportunity. I was consistent. And I’ve explained to Adam that, sometimes, it’s about doing the basic things right.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI want to give guys like him the opportunity to make careers in this sport. And it would be fantastic if we can set someone on the path towards UFC.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The first-ever ‘The Problem Promotions’ show will take place on Saturday 21st February 2026 and is supported by Limitless gym; Staked supps; Reject weakness clothing; Lowland cooperage; TBJP nutrition; Kingdom coatings; Rira development; Sterling Sinclair removals and storage; Rock n roll tattoo studio; Fubar nightclub; Prime Trading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Duncan has taken this into his own hands, and is ready to rectify it. This weekend, ‘The Problem…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":["post-485130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}