Brighton & Hove Albion manager Fabian Hurzeler has revealed an unexpected secret weapon in the team's quest to shed their "nice" reputation: a mixed martial arts fighter.
The Seagulls have been struggling with set-piece defense this season, conceding 13 goals from dead-ball situations—a full third of their total goals against. To address this weakness, the club brought in an unnamed MMA specialist earlier this season to teach players new techniques for winning physical battles in the box.
"We brought him in because we spoke a lot about set-pieces, blocking, new trends in the Premier League," Hurzeler explained. "An MMA fighter always has one-against-one duels. They always need to find a way to beat an opponent. We try to get ideas from other sports."
Midfielder Jack Hinshelwood first revealed the unconventional training method in a BBC Radio 5 Live interview, saying the fighter helped players learn to "block from corners better." The approach fits Hurzeler's philosophy of refusing to accept Brighton's traditional underdog status.
"I don't always want to be known as a club that is nice," the manager said. "In certain moments you need to be quite resilient in personal duels."
The timing is crucial. Brighton travel to Newcastle United on Saturday—a team that ranks fourth in the Premier League for set-piece goals and boasts one of the tallest squads in the competition. With only four teams having scored fewer set-piece goals than Brighton's 13 this season, the Seagulls need every edge they can get.
"As a club we're not known as being so dominant in set-pieces," Hurzeler acknowledged. "We need to find ways to be innovative, that we can't be beaten that easily against taller teams."
The MMA training isn't the only crossover sports experiment at Brighton. Hurzeler himself has previously trained with British boxer Harlem Eubank, showing the club's willingness to look beyond football for competitive advantages.
As Brighton prepare to face a physical Newcastle side, the question remains: will MMA techniques help the Seagulls finally turn their set-piece weakness into a strength? Saturday's match will provide the first real test of this unconventional strategy.