Martial arts pensioner swaps lamb chops for karate chops

A Glasgow restaurateur has cooked up the perfect antidote to old age, by teaching fellow pensioners mixed martial arts.

When Marco Giannasi, 65, who has run Italian eateries in the Scottish hotspot for 48 years, was notified in October 2018 that his state pension would start in 12 months' time, the very thought of being an OAP put him in a terrible stew.

Retirement was not on the menu for Marco - whose dad, Luigi lost his life to bowel cancer at just 47 - and rather than hanging up his apron, he signed up at his local Korean club, Kuk Sool Won, to learn mixed martial arts (MMA).

But that was just the aperitif in his quest to stay young, as when Marco is not running his restaurant, Battlefield Rest, with his business partner wife, Yellena, 51, he now plans to help over 50s learn MMA at the same venue.

The dad-of-two said: "When I got the letter about my pension, I looked around and thought to myself, 'This can't be real.'

"I knew I had to do something to prove to myself I was still alive.

It felt like a close call - like my time was up."