About Simon

After spending the majority of his first 20 years playing sport, Simon spent the 20+ years that followed watching and writing about it instead.

During that time, he has run the digital sports desks of two UK national newspapers, helped launch a major UK sports broadcaster, and written words for a plethora of national and international sports outlets from the UK to the US to the UAE.

During his career, he has covered Olympic Games, World Cups, European Championships, FA Cup Finals, Formula 1 and MotoGP, and has (possibly) burned more midnight oil than any other UK journalist covering the sport of mixed martial arts, a sport whose corner he fought hard for during a time when many decision-makers in the mainstream sports media were disinterested, misinformed and, in some cases, outright opposed to “cage fighting”.

Earlier in his career, Simon helped launch the UK’s first dot-com sportsbook and managed the content for UK sports betting giants Ladbrokes, project-managed online sportsbook and casino launches for English Premier League football clubs, and co-wrote a bestselling football book for the Premier League. He even dabbled in a bit of radio back in the day, both as a presenter and a producer. But his professional sporting focus is now on the world of combat sports, and for the last 15 years he has been covering the sport of MMA for major outlets around the world.

During that time, he has travelled the globe reporting on some of the biggest events in mixed martial arts. From the rise of Conor McGregor to the crowning of Michael Bisping as the UK’s first UFC champion, Simon has had a cageside seat for some of the most unforgettable moments in MMA history.

He has produced coverage of the sport for a host of major outlets across the world, including BBC Sport, BBC Three, MMA Junkie/USA Today, BT Sport, Daily Mirror, The Sun and The National UAE, as well as providing content to a host of the world’s top MMA organisations, including UFC, ONE Championship, Cage Warriors and the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF).

Simon now runs his own sports media freelancing and consultancy business focusing primarily on combat sports, and is available for editorial and consultancy projects.