Bringing the Heat: Matthew Camilleri versus Azi Thomas

Words by Harry Williams

FCC is back for another night of sizzling summer action with a main event that packs all the heat you could ever desire.

Fortunes are on the line tonight as the dark horse of FCC, Matthew Camilleri (6-1) returns to defend his featherweight championship against UK MMA veteran Azi ‘One Bomb’ Thomas (9-4-1).

The FCC faithful will be more than familiar with Camilleri’s rise through the FCC ranks since the champion’s debut in 2020. The Malta native, now Next Gen Liverpool representative, started off on the wrong foot in Bolton, but has since surprised many onlookers and turned plenty of heads with recent performances; having finished two of his last three fights inside the distance.

Last time around, Camilleri took on his toughest test yet in the highly touted prospect Shoaib Yousaf, managing to silence all of his doubters as he outwrestled and controlled his well-versed adversary on his way to championship gold.

Since finding his feet at Next Generation Liverpool, training with former FCC standouts such as Ellis Hampson, Adam Ventre and our former bantamweight champion-turned-UFC sensation Paddy Pimblett, Matthew is displaying all the skills of a much more diverse and developed battler inside the FCC battleground. Becoming more and more confident with every fight, Matthew now finds himself on a three-fight winning streak and will be eager to defend his gold for the very first time in this new chapter.

His adversary, however, is no stranger to turning up the heat and changing the dynamics of a fight.

Azi ‘One Bomb’ Thomas doesn’t just rep the nickname for the sake of it. With five first round knockouts to his name, Azi is no stranger to stopping an opponent in their tracks. The featherweight recently returned to action after a slight hiatus away from the cage, but nonetheless has been around the professional circuit now for a decade, and with that has earned the title of the ‘grizzled veteran’ upon his name – but that is not the only title he plans to leave with this evening.

Thomas is no stranger to the Next Gen camp himself, either, having fought both the aforementioned Adam Ventre and Ellis Hampson, claiming the win against Hampson and a no contest against Ventre due to a fight-ending brawl. If there’s to be any element of heat picking up tonight, it is in this very bout.

It’s a tale of a fighter prevailing against the odds versus the old show stopper.

Our main event has all the makings of a classic FCC battle and a combustible one at that. It is undoubtedly our fight of the summer and one you will not want to miss!