MMA fighter ‘tossed spherical like a rag-doll’ throughout 20-minute mauling from XL Bully

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT Joseph Bennett was looking after the beast for a pal when it turned on him, putting him in a fight for his life. Joseph said his MMA skills probably saved his life

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An amateur MMA fighter used his training to “miraculously” survive a 20-minute mauling from an XL Bully. Joseph Bennett, 21, was tossed around “like a rag-doll” and repeatedly bitten.

He also had his bicep torn out by the supersized “double” XL dog while looking after it for a friend. Police later destroyed the 65kg dog called Hunter after it also mauled one of their officers.

Joseph admitted that he doesn’t blame the XL Bully for attacking him as he says it was just doing what it was bred for. He also said he credits his fight training for surviving such a lengthy attack.

Joseph of Peacehaven, Sussex, said: “I just went into survival mode and my MMA training kicked in. You don’t have to be big just know what to do. I treated it like a fight.

“I knew if it got my throat I was a goner. So every time he lunged for my throat I just sacrificed every other body part to stay alive.

“I don’t know anyone else who managed to survive a 20-minute fight with a bully. The dog changed in the blink of an eye to a killing machine.

“These dogs are so powerful but it’s how they are bred. It’s not their fault.

“If you’re in a life and death situation like me with a Bully or similar dog you need to be prepared to sacrifice other body parts just to stay alive like I did. I can still live with a damaged arm and am still here.

“It’s a miracle that I am here today though, I am lucky to survive. I should be dead.”

Talented artist Joseph was studying computer game art at college and was enjoying playing rugby and doing MMA sessions socially with friends at the time of the attack. Joseph said he agreed to dogsit Hunter – a heavily muscled double XL – in his then Peacehaven, East Sussex home in February 2024 as a favour for a friend.

He added: “I had known Hunter for a year and never seen him be violent before. Every time I had been with him before I would stroke him and play and we got on well and he had a great character so I assumed this would be the same but it wasn’t.”

Joseph had been in his garden playing kick-about with Hunter with an old football when its muzzle fell off. He then began a terrifying fight to save his life.

He dropped his phone and instinctively put up his arm to protect his neck and face as the hulking dog clamped its jaws on his arm and threw him to the ground. Joseph recalled: “It was so fast he changed in the blink of an eye and wanted to kill me.

“I was on the phone to my parents at the time and they heard my screams that probably saved my life. It was just a case of trying to stay alive.

“There was no heroics. I had to defend as all the dog wanted to do was to rip out my throat and I knew if that happened, it was game over.”

Joseph said the dog would bite his arm or shoulder then let go and lunge for his face again and again. Joseph had to use different part of his body every time to block the attack.

He added: “Hunter kept coming for me. I was running on pure adrenaline and instinct and my martial arts training kicked in.

“I knew I needed to defend and sacrifice some body parts just to stay alive. The dog was chewing on my arms, shoulder and raking my chest and bit through my bicep and was throwing me around like a rag doll but I kept wrestling him away from my face.

“I tried kicking him in his face and body whenever it let go but it made no difference. I even managed to trap its head between my legs for 10 seconds a few times but it was too strong and got away every time.”

Just as he was losing conscious through extensive blood loss and exhaustion, Joseph’s sister and brother-in-law arrived after being alerted by their parents. Joseph added: “I was about to pass out when my brother-in-law bashed the dog with a metal shelving unit until it let me go and my sister dragged me in the house and managed to shut the door.”

Joseph was rushed to Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital where he had the first of three ops to re attach his bicep and blood vessels. Doctors also had to stitch up Joseph’s shredded arms, shoulders, and chest.

The victim spent the next few months having skin grafts. He also had to undergo rehab.

Nevertheless, Joseph continues to suffer nightmares and panic attacks. Joseph, who has since moved house to Seaford, added: “The nightmares are horrific and I have to do things more slowly.

“I also have flashbacks as whenever I have shooting pains it takes me back there. I can no longer draw the same now due to my damaged arm so my dream career as a video game artist is over which makes me sad.”

He has had to give up sport and playing his guitar and now works part-time in hospitality. He added: “Sometimes I just don’t want to leave the house.

“Whereas before I was always keeping fit or out doing something now I am limited to what I can do. I used to enjoy playing the guitar but now I can’t even pick it up without it hurting.

“Hunter turned in a second and if I hadn’t sacrificed my arm repeatedly I would have been a goner.” Joseph is now taking legal action over his ordeal with injurylawyers4u.

Associate Solicitor Victoria Collins said: “These injuries are totally horrific and life changing. Joseph had his whole life ahead of him and a future career in video games and now that has gone.

“People need to think twice before bringing dangerous dogs into their homes as pets.” A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “Police were called to an address in Peacehaven, to reports of a man having been bitten by a dog.

“The victim was taken to hospital with serious injuries and a police officer also sustained injuries and received treatment at hospital. The dog, an XL bully, was seized by police and destroyed by a vet.”

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