One of Britain’s top martial arts experts has weighed in on how to fight off an American XL Bully dog, should you ever find yourself in a situation like those people in Birmingham did last weekend.

Matt Fiddes, who has a black belt in taekwondo, kickboxing and kung-fu and was a former bodyguard to Michael Jackson, offered the following advice: you’re screwed no matter what and your best bet is to run away as fast as you can.

44-year-old Matt, from Swindon, Wiltshire, says it’s “impossible” for a human to fight off an XL Bully as the breed are “like tigers.” In fact, he says that “even if you’re Bruce Lee, you’re screwed.”

Matt, who backs calls to ban the breed in the UK, says (via Joe):

“The trouble with a breed like that is that honestly, even if you’re Bruce Lee, you’re screwed.”

If you’re fighting them with your bare hands, you lose. They’re so tenacious, they’ll fight you like a tiger.”

Matt says the only option is to “run or call for help”. However, if you’ve got no choice but to fight back, then by all means give it a go:

”It’s not worth the risk going anywhere near them. If you ever are confronted by one of them and you cannot escape, you can try and fight the animal with items in your surroundings.

Sometimes even larger animals like this get scared off if you actually fight back. You can use objects like a table to block it, or a chair, or even a handbag.”

Matt said people under attack from the dog needed to “maintain self awareness.”

”You’ve got to be aware of your surroundings, recognise a danger well in advance and avoid it.

That is always the best option for other threats, whether it’s a gun, a knife or just someone acting strangely on a train – you should just avoid the situation.

The kids we teach at my martial arts school are taught to be aware of their surroundings. If you see these animals, or someone suspicious, you should get out of their way.”

Matt says that the XL Bully and other dangerous dogs should be treated like wild animals under law.

“Since the lockdown it just seems like the latest status symbol. Men want to own these dangerous dogs, the latest bulldog, as an ego trip.

When I was younger it was all about Pitbull’s, this is just the latest in a long line of dangerous breeds that we should ban.

The Government desperately needs to change the rules to protect people from these breeds.”

So there you have it. Personally, I’d have a little more faith in Bruce Lee taking on an XL Bully but I guess Matt knows more about this sort of thing than I do. At the very least, there should be a law in place that requires XL Bully dogs to be on lead and wear muzzles when out in public, but then you just know there’s dog owners out there who will ignore these rules completely. And what about XL Bully attacks that take place inside someone’s home – as was the case with 10-year-old Jack Whitfield in Caerphilly, south Wales?

Hard to argue against the banning of the XL Bully at this point – I’m sure we’ll be hearing both sides of the debate for weeks to come.