HEREFORD'S Mitchell Young has been awarded his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt.

Young, who trains at the Combat Academy, took gold at the Hereford BJJ Open in the adult -70kg division and has a comprehensive junior competition record.

These includes European champion, multiple time British champion and English and Welsh Open champion.

More recently, the 16-year-old has been excelling in the adult divisions, taking gold at the Welsh Open and silver at the British.

"Mitch often arrives early to class to complete his strength and conditioning, or to get in extra drilling/rolling with Ash Amos, who is working with Mitch and pushing him hard in preparation for his forthcoming MMA debut on the PainPit show on July 23," explained coach Ryan Young.

"Following his promotion on the podium at the event, Mitch's first question was to ask if he could compete in the blue belt absolute, where he proceeded to beat an -94 kg opponent to take the bronze medal.

"This pretty much sums up his fighting spirit."