Christian Eckerlin helping Brighton with set-pieces and returning to Frankfurt for Oktagon 94

Christian Eckerlin, a 39-year-old MMA fighter with 18 wins from 26 professional fights, returns to Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank Park (the Waldstadion) on Saturday to face Czech David Kozma at Oktagon 94 after being enlisted by Brighton last season to assist with set-piece training.

Days before BBC Sport's interview, the Seagulls moved up to third in the Premier League after beating champions and set-piece kings Arsenal 3-0, and Eckerlin says his short spell with the squad helped open doors for the players.

Eckerlin was a professional footballer from 2005 to 2009, appearing for SV Darmstadt in the third tier of German football at the peak of his career, and he grew up in Erbach where football was his first passion; as a youngster he played against Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mats Hummels. He left the sport at 20 after a falling-out with coaches, saying "I got a little bit crazy and partied with friends. But my popularity went down with the coaches," and recalled their reaction: 'you cannot do this' followed by his reply, 'OK, I'm going.'

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler invited Eckerlin to the club after a mutual acquaintance from Munich put them in touch, and Eckerlin spent three days working with the players. He says he taught "wrestling, head control, hip control, and how to push back against opponents," adding, "Brighton sent me videos of how they defend, and they did nothing with their hips and arms. I taught them first in the weightlifting room, then the pitch, and it worked. This is what I did, I opened doors for them." He singled out Danny Welbeck, James Milner and Lewis Dunk as players who "had the feeling for it."

Eckerlin transitioned to MMA with European promotion Oktagon and fought Christian Jungwirth at Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank Park in 2024 in front of nearly 60,000 fans, an event described as the most-attended MMA event of the year. Organisers expect nearly 60,000 again for his return to the stadium, and Eckerlin reflected on the experience in personal terms: "It was my first dream, when I was in the Waldstadion when I was six or seven with my uncle. It was the dream for me to play there but I thought the fire went out," and added, "I cannot tell you in words what this means to me. The biggest thing in my career. And now for the second time... crazy."

On his place in the sport and the twilight of his career, Eckerlin said: "I'm at the end of my career, I'm 39, so this is maybe my last fight. There's no better way to stop fighting in my backyard, you know." He also told BBC Sport, "I love this sport, and I push the sport more than everybody or anybody before in this country," and added, "After my career, when I look back, I think then I will realise, what I do for the sport, or for MMA in Germany. But now I'm fully focused, and there's no time to think about the things in the past." The piece includes the statement 'My promise to my late son is what keeps me alive.'

Eckerlin has built a following through his YouTube channel and reports strong fan interest in Frankfurt, as well as recognition in Berlin and Hamburg. He goes into Oktagon 94 with a 26-fight career behind him and the prospect of fighting David Kozma on Saturday in front of nearly 60,000 people, an occasion he has described as possibly his final contest.