DEAN Stevens enjoyed a debut fight night to remember – despite a daunting last minute change of plan.

The 26-year-old’s original opponent, on the UWC bill at Talk Nightclub, pulled out just a few hours before he was due to do battle in the cage.

And that led to the Southend based Stevens having to fight an opponent two weight categories higher than him.

“It was far from ideal but I had sold 110 tickets and there was just no way I wasn’t going to fight,” said Stevens.

“Dan Burzotta put the night together and when he told me the guy I was due to fight had pulled out I couldn’t believe it.

“I told him I would fight anyone, no matter who they were or what weight, and thankfully I was still able to get out there.

“The change meant I fought under different rules as it was a semi-pro fight rather than I professional one which did make it challenging.

“But thankfully I was still able to get the win and it was such a fantastic feeling when it happened.”

Stevens has been training at the TSG gym in Westcliff for the past eight years but had previously never been tempted to fight.

However, he was eventually persuaded to get into the cage to raise money for a dog rescue home in Maldon, where his partner works.

“I had always played football in the past and never really wanted to actually fight for real,” said Stevens.

“Dan kept on trying to get me into it and told me to give up football because I kept on getting injured.

“I never really took that advice on board but I’m glad I did in the end because Saturday was great.

“I had friends and family come down to watch from all over and it was really special to have them all cheering me on.”

Stevens also woke up to more than 200 notifications on his Facebook page on Sunday morning.

And he is now already planning to get back into the cage.

“I think the next fight night is in July at Garons and I would definitely like to be part of it,” said Stevens.

“Lots of people have mentioned they would like to see me back out there again so I’ll get back to training soon and start cracking on with it.

“Hearing everyone chanting my name like that was just incredible but hopefully my opponent won’t be more than 12 kilos heavier than me again next time!”