A former sports blogger who graduated from university said it is “very surreal” to have secured a job at a national newspaper.

Cage fighting fan Harry Davies, from Ely is working for the Daily Mirror as a boxing and MMA cage fighting writer after applying for the role this summer.

Harry set up his own Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) blog called The UFC Updates while he was learning at school, before studying a Multimedia Sports Journalism course at the University of Northampton.

“The degree massively helped me for work in the real world,” he said.

It was on the degree course where Harry enhanced and improved his sports writing skills in a bid to reach industry level standard.

He was also able to put his studies into practice by combining his university work with writing for MMA cage fighting website Bloody Elbow.

It is a sport Harry has developed into a career pathway, something which he hopes to take forward with him.

“My knowledge of MMA has come from my passion for the sport, but the ins and outs of presenting, writing and reporting was something I learned thanks to the help and guidance of my lecturers,” he said.

“The time and support they gave me throughout my three years at the university was invaluable.

“I highly recommend the course to anyone who is considering a career in journalism.”

Harry, who has started his role at the Mirror while working from home due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, is currently writing about the biggest bouts in boxing and MMA.

He is due to cover live events from later this year for the newspaper.

Having tried to find summer work after the academic year had finished, the role is one that perhaps came unexpected to him, but one he was unable to resist.

“It’s all very surreal,” Harry said.

“I had originally planned to find a summer job to save up some money and move to London for full-time work later this year.

“However, when this role came to my attention, I couldn’t pass it up.

“To be writing for an internationally recognised paper so shortly after university, is a great achievement and I am very proud.”