Ben “The Problem” Woolliss

Ben “The Problem” Woolliss was destined to compete. The only question was in which arena.

Born and raised in Grimsby, England, Woolliss showed early promise as a 1,500-meter runner with genuine Olympic ambitions. Those dreams took a sharp turn at age 13, when a coach at his school invited students – particularly the ones who were fighting and settling scores in the schoolyard – to try martial arts. The young Brit walked through the gym doors and never really left.

By 2017, he had moved to Hertfordshire to study for a Bachelor of Science in Sports Coaching, and he threw himself into training with the kind of obsessive dedication that defines future World Champions. He essentially lived inside the gym for two years, honing a dynamic, entertaining style that would later make him a standout on the UK circuit, where he collected titles and built a reputation as one of the country’s most exciting kickboxers.

Then, Crohn’s disease arrived and nearly took everything away.

The autoimmune condition ravaged Woolliss from the inside, triggering debilitating flares that left him unable to stand. At 26, he relocated to Bali, Indonesia, in pursuit of recovery, only to be hospitalized and forced to return home to Grimsby. He lost 15 kilograms and was reduced to depending on his parents for basic care. Doctors told him surgery was the only option, a procedure that would have ended his combat sports career permanently. Woolliss refused.

What followed was one of combat sports’ most remarkable rebuilds. The Englishman learned to manage his illness through relentless discipline and lifestyle changes, and he took his first cautious steps back into competition as an amateur mixed martial artist. His professional debut came in 2023, and he wasted no time making an emphatic statement, as he won his first four bouts via first-round stoppage.

Woolliss returned to Bali in May 2025, fully fit and focused. The Grimsby native trained and competed around the region, but his biggest opportunity came in early 2026, when he signed with ONE Championship to face former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion John Lineker on short notice. That evening, Woolliss did what no other man has been able to do: he stopped the Brazilian hard-hitter with leg kicks in less than two minutes.

For a man who clawed his way back from the edge, every moment under the lights is hard-earned – and “The Problem” intends to make every single one count.