EXCLUSIVE
I was told I was too young to die after life-threatening diagnosis – but I’m still here and ready for my PFL debut
Sammy-Jo Luxton has declared she's experienced ten years' worth of trauma in just six months — and she's absolutely correct.
The 26-year-old Devon fighter lost both her grandmother and father during a dark chapter of her life last year, which concluded with her lying in a hospital bed, being told she was 'too young' to die.
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"I was like, 'Oh my god, I'm about to die," she told marvelbet369.com, reflecting on the experience.
Nonetheless, Luxton has come back stronger than ever from her hellish 2024 and now has an exciting new opportunity ahead.
She makes her PFL debut on May 10 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as Irish star Paul Hughes makes his highly anticipated homecoming to fulfill a lifelong dream in the headline act.
Belfast's SSE Arena hosts the card that kicks off PFL Europe, before ex-footballer and Manchester United legend Patrice Evra fights at their subsequent card in Paris.
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Luxton made her professional MMA debut in December 2023, and things started to kick on when she made easy work of Agata Truskolaska three months later at UK promotion FCC to make it 2-0.
That victory came ten days after her grandmother had passed away, but six weeks later, 'The Ghetto Cinderella' got a call that changed her life forever, before things took an even more dramatic turn.
"I got a phone call to go back home because my dad had a heart attack and he was now in an induced coma," Luxton said.
"I drove six hours back home. I was with him for a couple of days, and then I fell ill and needed emergency surgery whilst my dad was in a coma.
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"I was in the ward directly below my dad in my hospital bed. The hospital staff in Exeter were really nice.
"They sorted me out. They got me in a wheelchair and then they wheeled me up to my dad.
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Sammy-Jo Luxton's pro MMA record
'The Ghetto Cinderella'
Upcoming - Gemma Auld, PFL Belfast on May 10, 2025
Win - Agata Truskolaska, FCC 37 on March 9, 2024
Win - Jodie Gormley, Fight KLB Series 1 on December 2, 2023
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"Then they helped me get into the bed and he passed away. I came back and I got offered the PFL Europe tournament.
"But unbeknownst to me, there was something that went wrong. "
Luxton detailed how she began experiencing 'tremors' in the build-up to what was suppose to be her PFL debut last June in Newcastle.
She thought it was typical bodily behaviour as her gruelling fight camp came to an end, but it was far worse.
The then 25-year-old was soon rushed to hospital, and her temperature went to 42 degrees, 'which is basically life and death.'
She had been diagnosed with was sepsis, a life-threatening reaction to an infection which had spread and attached to her ovaries and kidney.
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"I kept on having seizures," Luxton added. "[But] most of the time I was in hospital, it was pretty much a blur.
"I just remember certain things... I started having pains in my chest, and there was an apprentice nurse.
"She said, 'She's 25, she's too young.' I was like, 'Oh my god, I'm about to die.'
"That is all I thought. My partner had to rush out and phone my mum. My poor mum, she lost her mum. She lost my dad.
"Now she's had a phone call saying they've got the defibrillator out for me, ready to shock me if I go under."
After she eventually recovered, Luxton's MMA dreams were all but over, according to herself anyway.
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She told talkSPORT that she said 'an Irish goodbye to the sport,' because she believed her body would never be the same again.
But, training out of Manchester Top Team wth UFC stars like Lerone Murphy, Luxton is back feeling better than ever.
Growing up in Devon with limited access to gyms, Luxton had an early introduction to martial arts in Thai boxing through a family friend who had opened a gym.
She quickly impressed as a natural athlete and won her debut fight at the age of ten against a British champion at the time.
With the dream of becoming an MMA fighter slowly emerging, Luxton packed up her stuff and moved to Leeds to train full-time at Bad Company, balancing part-time admin work with Muay Thai training.
With little money in Thai boxing, Luxton gained attention online for her personality and social media posts, which led to an unexpected call from the PFL inviting her to join their development programme.
MMA star Paul Hughes on next opponent and pushing for Usman Nurmagomedov rematch ahead of PFL Belfast
Although she had no little prior MMA experience, Luxton embraced the opportunity, and began training in grappling, before relocating to Manchester.
Now, she’s set to make her PFL debut after jumping over almost every hurdle one could experience in an entire lifetime.
"I actually don't know anything about her," Luxton concluded, speaking on her opponent, Scotland's 34-year-old Gemma Auld.
"People say, 'Did you not watch her PFL fight?' I said, 'No.' I hate going and searching people anyway. I feel like people look into it too much...
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"I don't want to get myself in the mindset where I'm watching all these fights and I'm thinking, 'She's going to throw her right hand at me.'
"I'm just there to fight. If I don't know what's coming at me, then I'm going to be ready for anything."
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