A YOUNG York philosopher has harnessed his fine brain to the business of brawn.

While Alan Johns, 22, of South Bank, was doing his dissertation for an MA in political philosophy at the University of York, he had a brainwave - to create a new spectator sport which showed wrestling at its best.

Now his new venture, The Ultimate Fighting Organisation (UFO), will be up and scrapping in a two-day ring drama involving 15 wrestlers - total weight 1.25 tonnes - at The Corn Exchange in Leeds, starting on March 14.

He is looking for a venue in York for the second in a series of choreographed bouts which, he hopes, will eventually allow him to have "a stranglehold on the Yorkshire wrestling scene".

Alan, a keen wrestling fan, had to limber up to become fighting fit as a promoter, by seeking help and advice from the York, Selby & Malton Business Advice Centre, which delivers a range of objective services on behalf of Business Link York and North Yorkshire.

After attending the Business Advice Centre's Fit For Business programme, and receiving ongoing help from business adviser Peter Dale, the UFO was born.

A £5,000 bank loan allowed him to buy his own wrestling ring, and to pay for venue hire, sound equipment, public liability insurance and wages for the self-employed wrestlers.

But it was philosophy which led John to devise his new rules wrestling.

The main difference between traditional pro-wrestling and the UFO style of fighting is that instead of the wrestler being able to win a match by one pin fall to the count of three, matches can be won by a knockout, a submission, or two pin falls to a count of two. He said: "I was reading the work of Austrian philosopher Friedrich von Hayek, who argued that the best way to create a prosperous society was not to interfere with the particulars of every situation, but to create a set of rules under which society would naturally prosper.

"This gave me an idea for wrestling - I wouldn't try and specify the particulars of a certain style, I would create a set of rules under which a hard-hitting athletic style of wrestling would prosper."

There is another philosophical tenet that Alan will follow to ensure survival for his new venture. "I'll avoid the business going into brain-buster mode."

For those of you who are not familiar with the term, a wrestling "brain-buster" is the process of turning your opponent upside down and dropping him on his head.

Updated: 11:06 Wednesday, February 11, 2004