A man who coached UFC legend Michael Bisping has been recognised by the King with a British Empire Medal.

Allan Clarkin, who set up Black Knights in Burnley 40 years ago, has been included in the King’s New Year’s honours list.

Allan walked onto his first judo mat at the age of two and hasn’t looked back since.

He also trained as a boy in karate and jujitsu and since owning Black Knights has travelled across the country learning other disciplines.

The sensei set up Black Knights on February 1, 1982, where a selection of MMA is available including kick-boxing, grapple and strike and ju-jitsu.

He also runs another club, Burnley CombatSombo.

The club, based at Pentridge Mill, Holmes Street, is open to people above five from all backgrounds.

In 2015, at the Burnley Community Sports Awards, Allan was presented with a lifetime achievement award for his dedication to martial arts in the town.

Allan has also been featured in the documentary BISPING: The Michael Bisping Story.

He famously is credited with being the man who spotted Michael Bisping's potential as a teenager, encouraging him to get back into training after Bisping had quit MMA to pursue a normal life.

After fighting in minor competitions, he successfully appeared on The Ultimate Fighter TV series, winning the light heavyweight series and securing a pathway into the Ultimate Fighting Championship - UFC.

After moving down to middleweight, Bisping, from Clitheroe, missed out on two title eliminators but - in his 22nd UFC bout won the middleweight title by knock out, becoming the first British UFC Champion.

He successfully defended the title before losing it 17 months later to Georges St Pierre.

While fighting he began an acting career which continued after his retirement in 2017, and in 2019 he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame having set a record for most fights, and finishing with a 30-9 record.