A former Cumbrian rugby league star has won the vacant BAMMA heavyweight title.

Brett McDermott - nicknamed The Spartan - brutally dispatched German opponent Ruben ‘The Viking’ Wolf just 53 seconds into round two of their mixed martial arts clash.

The fight was the headline bout at BAMMA 29 staged at the Genting Arena, Birmingham, last night.

McDermott, 38, turned professional in 2013 and came out of retirement for the Wolf fight.

The younger opponent was unable to deal with McDermott's fearsome punches and was cut on his face about halfway through the first round.

Though he was patched up by his corner team and checked over by the doctor before the start of the second round, he had no answer to the speed and power of McDermott, who played RL for Workington Town, Whitehaven and Barrow.

The referee halted the bout after McDermott unleashed a savage flurry of punches while Wolf lay on the canvas, virtually unable to defend himself.

The victory echoed McDermott's pre-fight prediction when he said: “Ruben Wolf is renowned for being a big hard-hitting tough and very durable heavyweight, but this Spartan is going to make him huff and puff and then I’m going to knock him down and out.”

Wolf had claimed before the fight that McDermott was a great fighter but he was "in the way of my goals and will fall at my feet."

The fight was shown live on TV channel Dave.