Issue 221
September 2025
Paul Craig reflects on his remarkable journey from teaching to the UFC and whether the classroom might call him back.
When Paul Craig announced his retirement recently, it marked the end of one of the most extraordinary chapters in Scottish sporting history. The 37-year-old from Airdrie competed 21 times inside the UFC between 2016 and 2025, earning a reputation as a thrilling submission specialist and fierce competitor. His UFC career was characterized by memorable wins over legendary champions such as Jamahal Hill, Magomed Ankalaev, and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. But unlike many fighters who knew only combat sports from a young age, Craig’s story began far from the bright lights of fight night. Before he ever pulled on a pair of gloves, Craig was chalking lessons on a whiteboard as a high school teacher. It’s a background that still shapes how he sees the world, and as he steps away from competition, it’s one he admits could shape his future again.
A TEACHER AT HEART
“I loved teaching, it was amazing,” Craig told Fighters Only with a smile. “I was dealing with kids in high school, so they were a good age. Seeing a mix of kids coming from good homes, bad homes, kids who have no issues, kids who have loads of issues. I believe I have something even now, as an older guy, I believe I have something to offer these kids. I'm a positive adult male role model, which quite a lot of young guys are missing. I'm using young guys as an example here because I've been in the world where young guys sometimes need a positive male role model, and there's not a lot of them out there. Not to shit on any MMA fighters, but there are guys out there who are doing all the wrong things and inspiring the next generation of MMA guys, the next generation of kids to live that sort of life: drugs, women, spending loads of money on stuff that you can't afford for these young guys. So, I believe yes, there is a draw that would bring me back to teaching, but for me, I'd like to work with kids who I feel I can make a difference with. If you're dealing with nice kids every single day of your life, that's very rewarding, but the most rewarding work is with the kids who actually need the support. So, working with young guys who maybe don't have a stable background, or young girls who don't have the stable life that I had growing up, those are the kids that I’d love to help.”
Craig’s words are delivered with the same sincerity and conviction that made him a fan favorite during his career. It’s clear that, for him, teaching was never just a job. It was a calling.
A LEAP INTO THE UNKNOWN
Craig’s decision to leave the classroom behind was anything but conventional. It was a leap of faith that few would have dared to take.
“I’d been teaching for seven years, and I loved it,” he remembers. “Every day was like I woke up on a Monday morning happy, and for me, that's a measure of how good your life is. Not in a financial sense, that’s not a metric I would use to measure success. I loved to fight because I would get to wake up in the morning and go train, and my advice for any young person out there is: do something that you love. I was driving to the airport this morning, and I was watching these people in cars all around me on their way to work, a lot of them probably going to jobs that they hate. And I was just so happy that I was going to the airport to get on a plane and go do something that I’m obsessed with.
I was 24 or 25 years old when I made the transition from teaching into MMA. I had no previous base at all. I hadn’t done karate as a kid. I had no boxing or judo experience. I just went in there hungry. I fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu, I picked up a lot of the skills I needed there, and that was the best experience of my life. I signed with BAMMA, and I got the opportunity to fight on amazing shows. All of those memories stick in my head. Did I think I’d make it all the way to the UFC? Probably not. It seemed a very far-fetched idea at that stage of my career. “But the UFC called, and they gave me an opportunity. I had my first fight, got a victory, got a bonus, it was amazing.
SHARING THE PASSION
His achievements carried an energy that he’s always been willing to share, even if the consequences don’t always come easily.
“I remember going into classes every day, telling kids to follow their dreams and do the best they can to be happy, but all that time I was thinking: am I doing that? No, I’m not. If I give 50% of myself to teaching and 50% to the fight game, then something’s going to give. I was probably going to be a mediocre teacher or a mediocre fighter. Maybe both. And I thought to myself: I can always go back to teaching, but I can’t go back to fighting. Once your fight career is over, it’s over. So, I said, ‘Ok, I’ll run with this and see what happens.’ Within three weeks, I was fighting Tyson Pedro in Las Vegas. I lost that fight, and all of a sudden, I didn’t know where I was going in life. I had always been the guy who had a plan: working as a teacher and doing all of the things I was supposed to at that age, and all of a sudden, I was a fighter with zero steady income. It was a very difficult transition! At the time, my partner (now my wife) asked me: ‘Are you sure this is what you want to do? Your UFC career could be over in one or two fights.’ We’ve seen that happen with so many fighters, so we were very mindful of that throughout my journey. But all of a sudden, it’s 21 fights further down that road and I’ve carved out a legacy that I can be proud of.”
WHAT COMES NEXT
Craig walks away from MMA with a résumé that commands respect. Victories over top contenders. A stack of performance bonuses. A legacy as one of Scotland’s most accomplished fighters. But as the adrenaline fades and the daily grind of training recedes, the question lingers: could the classroom call him back? From the way he speaks about teaching and shaping young lives, especially those who need it most, it seems less a matter of if than when. If he does return, it won’t be as someone chasing stability or a paycheck. It will be as a man who has lived his dream, proven himself on the world stage, and wants to pass that same spark of belief to the next generation. As Craig himself proved, sometimes all it takes is one person to believe in you. Even if that person is you.
