PFL Europe: Sammy-Jo Luxton to debut after recovering from life-threatening sepsis

The Devon-born Luxton took up Thai boxing around the age of 10.

After briefly switching to boxing, she later moved to Manchester and into the world of MMA, in which she now trains full-time.

After winning the first two fights of her professional career – with her most recent victory in March, 2024 – Luxton signed a contract with the PFL.

But her debut fight in June never happened.

The chain of events which led to the bout getting cancelled started when her father Adam was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack.

With Luxton needing an emergency operation at the same time, she ended up in a hospital bed in the ward below him.

After surgery, she was able to spend two days with her father before he passed away in April – two months after her grandmother’s death.

“When my dad passed away I thought I was going to do this PFL tournament then hang up my gloves – I can’t go on now,” recalls Luxton.

“But he would be rolling in his grave if I didn’t carry on. He spent hours following me everywhere, he’s prepped my meals, helped me cut weight – he would have done all of that for nothing.

“I am going to do it now for his legacy.”

When Luxton returned to training, she found herself feeling more tired than usual but put the fatigue down to being in a “tough fight camp”.

Inside two weeks, however, Luxton’s condition had deteriorated and she found herself bent over in pain at the gym while cold, sweating and shaking uncontrollably.

Luxton’s partner covered her in blankets before taking her to hospital where, after discovering she had sepsis, her body temperature rose to 42C in a “life or death situation”.

“My body completely shut down, everything was a blur by that point,” she says.

“That completely wiped my year out so it was about trying to build my strength up slowly but surely afterwards.

“I took that as spending time with my friends and family and getting myself better, mentally and physically.”