IT all began on an icy football pitch in Coatbridge.

Paul Craig hasn’t taken the conventional route to the top, but a burning desire for self-improvement has seen him rise through the ranks of mixed martial arts, an ascendancy that will reach a new peak next month when he appears at UFC 209 in Las Vegas.

It is a journey that the 29-year-old hopes will culminate in him being crowned the first Scottish UFC champion – a target he is making huge inroads towards achieving.

In December, Craig made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in Sacramento, California, defeating the previously unbeaten Brazilian Henrique da Silva to make an instant impression and extend his own unbeaten streak in MMA to nine bouts.

The magic of a debut triumph during the festive period was not lost on the Airdrie-born fighter.

“It was like one of these American movies – it was a Christmas miracle,” he told Sport Times.

After becoming the first Scot ever to win a four-fight UFC contract, Craig begins his 2017 campaign in Vegas on March 4, where he is set to face Tyson Pedro. Not that glitz and glamour of the city will be a distraction.

“I don’t get to do any of the fun stuff,” Craig said.

“Don’t get me wrong, I will go see some sights, the Grand Canyon, but in terms of experiencing Vegas as it’s supposed to be experienced I don’t get to do that.”

But will a spin of the roulette table not be a temptation should things go well?

“You don’t want to mess about with your luck, do you?” he replied.

“I’ll keep my luck on my side and then we’ll celebrate after. There’s about 25 people from the gym loads of people from Scotland going so there’s going to be a big support for us.”

He won’t be short of company then. But back to that frozen football pitch.

In his teens Craig was a promising footballer who spent time as a Hearts youth player, but it was the bitter winters he experienced as a coach that pushed him towards the warm embrace of the gym and mixed martial arts.

“I had no aspirations to fight in the UFC when I was younger,” he explains.

“At the age of 19 I stopped playing football and started coaching a youth team in my local community.

“It was freezing cold and icy one Sunday afternoon and I thought ‘I’m not happy doing this’ and started going to a local gym my friend invited me to in Coatbridge.

“I was always competing against the guys at the gym, wanting to learn the next move, and I never missed a session because I wanted to show something. I always thought if you show something and the other guy doesn’t know it, then maybe you’ll beat him.

“That’s always been my attitude, it’s always been the same. I then took my first fight six or seven months into training and it just went on from that.

“Now I’m just riding this wave and it doesn’t seem to stop.”

Tyson Pedro could be the next man to feel the tidal force of that wave when he steps into the Octagon with Craig next month.

But overcoming the Australian will be no easy feat, as he holds an unbeaten 5-0-0 MMA record. Not that Craig is concerned.

The Scot shows little interest in analysing the dangers his next opponent could face, preferring to focus on his own abilities.

“I’m a big believer that you don’t need to research the other fighter,” said Craig.

“If you constantly look at what the opponent’s doing, you spend maybe two hours looking at what he’s done in his last fights, and then if he never does that, you’ve wasted two hours.

“That two hours could be spent in the gym, learning a new technique or increasing your cardio, doing something that’s going to benefit your training, so I never research any of my opponents.”

Although the antics of Conor McGregor have propelled the UFC into the public consciousness in recent years, Craig insists that his dedication to the sport has never been motivated by a large pay day.

In fact, Craig believes that anybody going into MMA would be naïve to think they were going to be bringing in the big bucks.

“Think about how big the UFC roster is- - if you’re in it for money then you’re in the wrong sport,” he said.

“You could ask Joe Public in the street to name five MMA fighters and they wouldn’t be able to do it.

“So if you’re looking for fame and fortune you’re in the wrong sport. But if you’re looking to have some sort of legacy, then you’re in the right sport.”

Home comforts have been crucial to Craig’s rise, as the fighter still lives around the corner from the Airdrie house he grew up in and works with the same team.

“Loyalty is one of the main things,” he explained. “I see some people who as soon as they get the opportunity to fight in the UFC, they jump and they go straight to America, they go to Canada, they want to train in these big gyms. But you don’t need it.”

Don’t mistake a love of familiar surroundings for a lack of ambition, though. Craig intends to be fighting for the UFC Light Heavyweight title by the end of the year and become the first Scottish champion.

But while he is willing to speak of targets for the future, the thought of those humble beginnings will always ensure Craig is capable of appreciating where all the hard graft has taken him.

“There’s about 50 or 60 people in my division,” he explained.

“Out of the whole world they’ve picked 50 or 60 people and I’m one of them. And I’m in the top 20, so for me I’ve sort of made it already.

“I’ve fought in the UFC, had a great debut, and I’m just trying to push myself to this next part where I’m going to be fighting bigger fights against more high profile opponents. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Watch Paul in action on the Early Prelims of UFC 209: Woodley vs. Thompson 2 from 11.30pm GMT on Saturday, March 4th exclusively on UFC Fight Pass