Aberdeenshire kickboxer, 17, eyes world title after European championship win

An Aberdeenshire kickboxing star says she’s excited about bringing a world title fight to Fraserburgh.

Eilidh Craib, 17, from Strichen is now setting her sights on the global stage after capturing a European title.

The teenager has collected many titles across her career despite only being in the game for a short time.

Eilidh has come a long way from her early days which started with mock fights.

She told STV News: “As I got a bit older, it was a lot more competitive, I took it a lot more seriously.

“I had my first ring fight at 15 and that kind of turned it round for me to be honest. I just preferred that so much more, it was just a lot more intense.”

She is now a European champion after enduring her most challenging fight yet.

At the Apex Fight Series in April, Eilidh was up against 21-year-old French fighter Camille Oukoukes, who came into the fight with a 14-bout undefeated winning streak.

“It was a lot of training going into that fight and it was really hard. I’m not going to stand here and say it was easy,” she said.

Eilidh with her coach Shane Weir STV News

“She was really good and she was strong, I’ve probably never been hit that hard to be honest in a fight but it made it so much more worth it.”

Eilidh’s coach Shane Weir is sure that she will not back away from her upcoming world title challenge.

He said: “European was a tough one, the girl she fought was so strong, stronger than we ever expected. I think it’s shown that it doesn’t matter who she is up against, she can get the job done.

“I think if she needs to, she will do the same on August 31 again.”

This will be the first world title bout that Fraserburgh will host.

“I’m really excited, it’s a massive deal for me, it’s like something in history. It’s not actually been done in Fraserburgh,” Eilidh said.

“Training’s been going well. There are different game plans and different ways I suppose for each fight, so it’s all different, but I feel like I’ve started to get it.”

Eilidh hopes to finish the summer as a world champion as she goes head to head with Irish challenger Kady Shaw in the K-1 fight on August 31.