THE crowd roars as Thomas ‘The Juggernaut’ Paull steps into the ring — but for him, it's totally silent.
You might think that being deaf would give the fighter a disadvantage in mixed martial arts, but as his hand is raised by the referee as he's handed a championship belt, it’s clear this isn’t the case. 
He tells The Sun: “Being deaf is definitely my advantage, I’m not distracted by my opponent’s fans cheering him on, or anyone booing me so I focus solely on the fight and nothing else. 
“Because I’ve been deaf since birth, I don’t know what it’s like for other fighters, but noise has to be a factor.
“It also means my other senses are heightened – and I can see the tiniest movement before someone pulls the trigger. I see the smoke that comes out of the gun and I rely on that.”
Thomas has been working his way towards a professional career in UFC since he first joined an MMA gym at the age of 19, having failed to find his feet with a career in rugby or football. 
Now, just nine years later, the profoundly deaf fighter is on his way to becoming one of the sport’s best athletes, and he’s collecting the belts to prove it. 
He says: “When I saw MMA for the first time, I thought to myself, ‘this is for me’. 
“My family were worried at the start because I went all in – but now they trust I can handle it; so I’ve chased my dream to get here and now I’m trying to make my way to the UFC.
“I want to be known and recognised as a famous professional sportsman, especially for being deaf.”
The 28-year-old is just one of the stars of new Sky documentary The Good Fight Club, which follows the upcoming champs of MMA, all born from one south London gym, Team Underground. 
He joined the gym, headed up on Old Kent Road by grappling coach Steve Cooke, after local football and rugby teams saw him left out due to his disability. 
Thomas says: “In the teams, everyone else was having banter and chatting with each other, I’d be doing simple gestures – like giving them a thumbs up – but it was really limited communication so I didn’t feel like I fit in. 
“I wanted to be a key mover and it just wasn’t easy for me to progress in those sports. Communication was an issue.”
Discovering MMA saw Thomas find his passion, and the rising star soon bypassed the amateur ring to fight against professionals and, just two minutes into his first spar, he brought his opponent to the ground. 
He says: “Adrenaline was pumping through me and I thought, ‘This is it’; and I have really been accepted into the fighting community since then.”
Coach Steve, 40, has tried to accommodate Thomas as best as he can. 
Thomas explains: “Steve knows some basic fight signs and across a noisy stadium that can be an advantage too – but he needs to learn more because where I can’t hear him, I have to look at him and every head turn is vital.
“Despite this, fighting has given me confidence that there’s nothing to be afraid of and most of all, I’ve learnt dedication – when you’ve started something, you have to finish it no matter what.”
Thomas was crowned Golden Ticket featherweight champion in 2021, with a second title currently in the works, and is determined to become the next household name of MMA. 
If he can “get heavy enough”, he even hopes to spar with UFC champion Jon Jones. 
The only way is up for Steve, as Thomas is just one of the shots that the coach has of seeing his fighters hit the big time rings. 
The father-of-two used to train at Team Underground – which was founded in 2000 – but, knowing he “had little hopes of going professional” – took over as coach when he lost his job in 2018. 
He reveals in the Sky documentary: “A lot of people have come to me and said this gym has stopped them going down the wrong path, you know, life threatening situations, but it saved me just as much as it saved them.
“When I started running this MMA team fully, I was at the lowest point of my life, I was working as a security supervisor and I had lost my job. 
“Awful situation to be in… I had to borrow money out to take out loans to get my kids a couple of presents at Christmas. It was f**ing embarrassing. 
“But then I found this team and started to build something. It saved me. This gym saved me from the shame of letting my family down and my friends down.
“Fighting opens you up – it gives you something to focus on, really a goal to achieve.
“You think it’s just two people in the cage having a street fight, it’s nothing like that. These are skilled athletes that are trained in various martial arts. 
“It’s a battle of skills, it’s not a pub fight. It’s two athletes at the peak of their physical performance.”
The life-changing move to coaching is one that Steve hopes could see him go all the way with his team to the highest ranks of the UFC, and become a world-famous trainer. 
He adds: “I never thought I was going to be a great fighter, but I always thought I could be a great coach.
“To make my hobby my job after such a bad place, I feel lucky, but if I don’t get people onto the big shows, and if I don’t create regional and national champions, I’m just going to be looked at as a joke.
“There’s so much more to come, I’m just on the runway, we haven't even taken off yet.”
Aside from Thomas, Steve’s hopes also rest on Shanelle ‘The Nightmare’ Dyer to make it big time. 
Shanelle, 22, had already been awarded 32 Muay Thai titles before she started leaning into MMA. 
The youngster got into the sport after her dad – who works three jobs to provide for the family – encouraged her and her five siblings to channel their energy into something positive. 
She was attracted to the sport from her desperation to create a better life for her family, as MMA offers up attractive payouts – with top UFC fighter, controversial star Connor McGregor, now worth a reported £156million. 
She explains: “I want to be UFC champion so I can provide for my family, that’s why I’m in the gym every day to improve myself.
“The area I grew up, it’s not a nice area much like a lot of the estates in London. There’s knife crime and drug abuse, and it’s so easy to get down the wrong path.
“Fighting gives me the drive, that I don’t want to stay where I am. I want to get out, I want to make something of myself for me and for my family.
“Fighting has made me grow, it’s given me discipline and structure. It’s given me freedom. Everything is down to me and my choices.”
Steve chimes in: “It’s like she’s always got an itch to scratch, she’s always trying to improve herself.”
After being named number one in the UK for professional Muay Thai, Shanelle started “from the bottom” of MMA, winning her first fight four months into the sport. 
She was inspired by her friend and former sparring partner at Team Underground, Jahreau Shepherd.
The British champion also nicknamed ‘The Nightmare’ was tragically stabbed to death as he celebrated his 30th birthday in 2020, hours after heading to the gym with Shanelle to train. 
The pair had returned to Team Underground for an extra spar after the get-together, and when Shanelle left early – Jahreau sadly never made it home. 
Shanelle says: “He really inspired me, especially me being the young black girl, you don’t really see people like me. I looked up to him, I thought if he can do it, I can do it as well.
“He gave me advice on everything – from how to approach a fight to how to get a fan base, and giving me tips of my fighting –  he took me under his wing and made sure I got on the right path. 
“Before my fights, he would big me up and he was the biggest hype man. The words of encouragement meant so much coming from him because I know he believed in me. 
“We used to talk about dreams, that we were going to be the face of UFC together. So I’m carrying on his dream. When I’m UFC champ, he’s UFC champ because we had the same dream.”
With Jahreau’s legacy in mind, Shanelle is on her way to fighting stardom – having flown across the pond to find ads with Tom Holland and could soon to be signed by some of MMA’s biggest agencies. 
She’s already got her sights set on the UFC belt, in two weight classes – in “five years time” when she feels ready to face the world’s biggest fighting stage. 
Shanelle warns: “Whoever has the UFC straw weight belt, that’s my belt, and I’m coming whoever has it. That’s who I’m going to fight and that’s who I’m going to beat.
"Then whoever has the flyweight belt, I’ll beat her as well.”
The Good Fight Club launches today on Sky Documentaries. 
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