Leigh started learning martial arts and self defense from his dad when he was a young boy. At the age of 8 he went to his first official martial arts class and started learning and competing in Judo, where he won his first trophy.
As a teenager, Leigh started to cross train seriously and trained in a few different styles of wrestling and striking arts, competing in amateur martial arts competitions to test his training. He also believed heavily in the value of athleticism and trained in a variety of sports, representing his home town of Ashford in competitions.
At the age of 20, Leigh moved to Canada and was awarded his black belt in both Kickboxing and Tae Kwon Do. He started training full time for MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and had his first professional competition in July 1997 at the age of 21. Leigh pursued his fight career and after 7 fights, returned to the UK to finish his university studies.
Once back home, Leigh opened AVT (Ashford Vale Tudo) and started teaching MMA along side his studies. He continued to compete and worked his way up the ranks, winning numerous British and International titles and eventually a shot at competing in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships), whilst also using the perseverance and dedication he had learned from training to graduate with a First Class Degree.
Leigh has competed on some of the UK's, America's and the World's top Mixed Martial Arts events and is well known for being a pioneer of MMA in the UK, traveling to Prague to compete when MMA was in its infancy and competing without gloves and with minimal rules. He is currently the House of Pain British Champion at Bantamweight.