Essex fighter Steve Aimable takes to the ring at the O2 tomorrow planning a performance which will earn him some December sun in Dubai.

Aimable (8-4) faces Chase Morton in a lightweight MMA clash at Phoenix Fighting Championships 3 and, with the next instalment of the show set for the desert paradise, he’s got some added motivation to shine.

“I know Phoenix have got their next show in Dubai in December,” the 30-year-old said. “So my plan is to go out there, finish Chase, put on a show and book my ticket to Dubai!”

This will be Aimable’s first fight since February 2016, when he lost the BCMMA featherweight title he’d held for two years, and decided to get surgery on a long-standing knee injury.

Now with a fully reconstructed ACL and injury rehab behind him, he’s in confident mood.

“I feel victory,” Aimable, who trains and fights out of BKK Fighters Gym in Chelmsford, said. “I’m really looking forward to it, it’s been a long time since my last fight, so I can’t wait to get in there.”

He’s facing Morton (6-4) at lightweight, ten pounds higher than his usual division but, as he explained, he’s not worried by the higher weight division – or the fact that the bout will be in a boxing ring, rather than the MMA cage.

“Chase does a lot of singing and he’s got a lot of gigs coming up so he didn’t want to cut to featherweight,” he said.

“I’m not worried, neither of us are natural lightweights, but I’m looking forward to not having to cut!

“I like mixing stand-up with lots of big takedowns so Chase presents a challenge in that he’s six foot tall and I’m only 5ft 7ins – he’s from a Karate and Taekwondo background so he likes throwing flashy kicks and having his hands down.

“I want to close that range up but being in a boxing ring is an advantage for him as I can’t press him against the cage. I’ll have to close the range with strikes to set up the takedowns.

“I’m confident I can do that, I’ve been working with guys like Joe Harding and Dalius Sulga who can do what he does, so I’m ready.

“I just want to say thanks to all my training partners, my new sponsor GNS Communications and especially (BKK head coach) Jack Mason for getting me this fight on a very good show.”