Champion proposes to girlfriend in the ring

A mixed martial arts champion celebrated his Scottish title victory by proposing to his girlfriend in front of hundreds of ecstatic fans.

Paul Craig popped the question after taking just 63 seconds to beat opponent Carlos Dunbar and add the Scottish light-heavyweight championship belt to the British title he won in October.

The Moffat Mills man grabbed the microphone and invited girlfriend Cheryl Arbuckle into the ring at Strathclyde Park’s Alona Hotel on Saturday night.

And it was there – with a sparkler around the top of his index finger – Paul asked primary school teacher Cheryl to marry him.

“I was totally shocked and gobsmacked,” said Cheryl as she reflected on one of the most amazing nights of her life.

“I think for the first time ever I was actually speechless!”

The couple have been together for three years but have known each other for a decade.

Paul enlisted the help of friend Stephen Hamilton, who battled his way through the 500-strong crowd, to shake his pal’s hand and secretly hand over Cheryl’s engagement ring.

“I was trying to stall it for as long as possible as it was taking a while for Stephen to get to me,” the 25-year-old said.

“He eventually got through the fans and shook hands with me so nobody could see the ring.”

All eyes were then on Allanton Primary teacher Cheryl as she was asked to join her partner in the spotlight.

She said: “He started thanking his team-mates and coaches then asked me to come and join him. I’d no inkling that this was coming at all! Everybody was cheering me on.

“He said ‘I think this is long overdue’ and was standing there with a ring around his finger.”

Cheryl, 25, thinks she said yes before fight fans burst into applause and cheered.

“I go to all of Paul’s fights and this was something very special,” she said.

The couple’s song – Delicate by Damien Rice – was played over the sound system.

Incredibly, Paul kept the whole thing a secret from a BBC camera crew filming for a documentary about his life as a mixed martial arts fighter.

“There was only a couple of people who knew what was going to be happening,” added Paul, a SkillForce teacher at Clyde Valley High School near Overtown.

“I made sure that our families were going to be at the show and I got them to attend on the back of this being my first fight in Scotland.

“I just thought that the time was right and that this would be a great way to mark my first fight up here.”

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