Father of teenage cage fighter defends home-schooling his son for only 10 hours a week so that he can focus on sport – insisting it’s saved his son, 14, from using drugs and ‘being arrested every night’
- Craig and Lindsey Sumner’s son Kyle,14, has been cage fighting since age of four
- The Preston-based teen is a champion in combat sport mixed martial arts (MMA)
- His dad says the sport saved his son from a life of drinking, smoking and crime
- Kyle is schooled for ten hours a week, enabling him to focus on MMA career
The father of a 14-year-old cage fighting champion has claimed the sport has saved his son from a life of drinking, smoking, using drugs and ‘being arrested every night’.
Kyle Sumner lives in Preston with his parents Craig and Lindsey and three siblings, and is home-schooled for ten hours a week, spending the rest of his time training in mixed martial arts (MMA) .
The fighter admitted that he didn’t cope well in mainstream education, and his father insisted that were it not for Kyle channeling his ‘inner anger’ into fighting, then he would have ended up ‘in jail’.
In the latest episode of documentary series Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over, which airs tonight on the W channel, Craig opened up about those who criticize MMA for being too violent, saying he sees ‘nothing wrong whatsoever’ with the combat sport.
Craig admitted: ‘Kyle would 100 per cent either be getting arrested every night on the streets, he would be drinking, he would be smoking, he would be smoking weed.
‘That is what Kyle would be doing if he didn’t put all his energy into this.’
The scaffolder went on to explain that a lack of activities for teens in the local areas means that, had it not been for the sport, Kyle would have been another young person ‘hanging round on the streets’.
He said: ‘The only thing you’ve got in this area is a gym, there’s no youth club.
The latest episode of documentary series Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over, follows the life of 14-year-old cage fighter Kyle Sumne, who lives in Preston with his parents Craig and Lindsey
The teen is a champion in combat sport mixed martial arts (MMA) and has been doing it since he was four-years-old
The documentary detailed Kyle’s many accomplishment in the fighting world, and showed winning after going head-to-head with a contender at a local competition
‘Walk round this street now, all you will see is kids hanging round on the streets and I’m not knocking them for it, I did the exact same thing. I just don’t want that for Kyle.’
When quizzed by Stacey on why he couldn’t get involved in a different sport, Craig explained that the physicality of MMA meant he was able to channel his aggression in the right way.
He said: ‘Kyle is brilliant at football, he’s done it. But do you know what happened? When Kyle did football he got fouled by someone, he felt the pain, he got back up and he punched him.
‘He reacted. The reaction of Kyle throughout his whole life is to punch, fight, kick. So what sport are you going to put him into, golf?
‘He needs to channel those punches and not into the wrong places or he’s going to end up in jail.’
Kyle trains for two hours for four or five days a week, allowing him ten hours to learn literacy and maths in his spare time, and he confessed that he ‘didn’t like’ going to school because he found it difficult to control his temper.
Craig opened up about those who criticize MMA for being too violent, saying he sees ‘nothing wrong whatsoever’ with the combat sport
Kyle’s dad Craig thinks the physicality of MMA means he is able to channel his aggression in the right way
He said: ‘My dad said he wanted me to focus on my career in MMA. Yeah, I didn’t like school I didn’t like being told what to do.
‘I just lose it. If someone starts shouting at me, I’ll shout back. That was probably the main reason.’
When asked whether he’d ever had to shed weight for a competition, he said: I’ve had to before.
Kyle and his parents travel up and down the UK to take part in mixed martial arts competitions. Pictured: Attending a competition with Stacey
Stacey admiring Kyle’s medals: His father believes that if it weren’t for sport, Kyle would definitely end up in jail
‘For the World Championships I was running round the car park trying to lose it that way or go into a saunas and sweat it out or hot bath, there’s lots of different ways.’
His mother Lindsey explained that it’s a ‘nightmare’ having to provide specific meals in a household with four children.
She said: ‘I’ve had to batch cook for him before. It’s a nightmare because he just lives on chicken, rice and salad, so that’s hard work.’
Stacey quizzed Craig on what he thought about those who are offended by young people undergoing such a violent sport, he insisted he didn’t see ‘anything wrong whatsoever’.
Kyle trains for two hours for four or five days a week, allowing him ten hours to learn literacy and maths in his spare time
Craig explained to Stacey that he thinks a ‘controlled environment’ is the best way for his son to express his aggression
He feels that the intense training his son has undergone has taught him a discipline that he wouldn’t have been able to provide, and thinks a ‘controlled environment’ is the best way for his son to express his aggression.
He said: ‘I couldn’t discipline him anywhere near as much as he’s been disciplined at the gym. I don’t see anything wrong whatsoever with what he’s doing at all.
‘There’s got to be some anger inside him. At least he’s doing it in a productive way, in a controlled environment, rather than on the streets where something bad could happen. I think it’s 100% positive.’
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