A mixed martial arts fighter with 40 bouts and 38 wins under his belt is tackling the ancient Burmese fighting style of Lethwei in a no holds barred grapple.

Gaz Corran from Darwen will take on three-time world champion Kickboxer, Shaun Lomas, for the British middle-weight title of the newly-legalised fighting style next week.

A film crew from Manchester have been following Mr Corran's training journey for a documentary on Lethwei, and will be filming the fight, with a view to airing the completed project on either Amazon Prime or Netflix.

Mr Corran said: "Lethwei is a 2,000-year-old fighting style from Myanmar (formally Burma) that's just been made legal over here.

"It's known as 'The Art of Nine Limbs' and the rules are mad - bare-knuckle punches, kicks, knees, elbows, headbutts and throws/slams are all allowed, with only eye gouging, groin strikes and biting not prohibited.

"It's six three-minute rounds, and if a fighter is knocked unconscious their team have a two minute interval to get them ready to fight again.

"At the end of the fight, if both men are still standing it's a draw.

"To win you must make the fighter quit or the referee must see fit to stop it.

"It's massive in Myanmar but is rapidly growing thanks to a Canadian guy called David Leduc who is a Lethwei world champion."

Manchester-based filmmaker, Joshua Leo Dorfman Film and Photography, will detail all the training and diet aspects Mr Corran has been using in preparation for the fight, delving into the history of Lethwei too.

The 38-year-old added: "He's basically been following me around for the last eight weeks and is filming on fight night with his crew, so it should be fun.

"If I win this I'll have to defend my bare knuckle boxing world title in May, then hopefully go on to fight for the Lethwei European title in the summer.

"It's made for me this style to be honest. It's all just a mindset and I'm cool with it."

Mr Corran has been fighting for more than 20 years, and in July he won a world bare knuckle boxing title, pledging to donate his prize money to the son of Ryan Hammond, a close friend who was found dead in his Darwen home in March.

The Lethwei title fight will take place at Turton Leisure Centre on Saturday February 22.

For more information and tickets visit Bare Fist Boxing Association on Facebook.