Freeman and his wife, Angela, appeared at Durham Crown Court and she admitted making a false application for tax credit.

Judge Bryan Forster QC said Angela Freeman would receive a suspended sentence, but he warned Ian Freeman that the court would be "considering custody" in his case.

Prosecutor Angela Wrottesley said: "In summary, the case against Mrs Freeman is she filled in applications for tax credit without declaring her husband's income.

"The case against Mr Freeman is he failed to declare income from cage fighting and other activities.

"He also overstated his income to a building society in order to get a mortgage."

Ian Freeman, 41, of Badger's Wood, Stanley, admitted three charges of making a false statement, one charge of fraudulently evading income tax, and one charge of making a false statement to obtain a mortgage.

Angela Freeman, 33, admitted three charges of making a false statement.

The offences took place between January 2003 and July 2006, and involve £12,352 in tax credit and £21,826 of unpaid income tax, the court heard.

Barristers for the couple applied for pre-sentence reports.

Judge Forster granted the application for reports and bailed the Freemans to return to court be sentenced on March 3.

Ian Freeman grew up in Town End Farm, Sunderland, and is a father-of-three.

He was a familiar figure on the doors of Sunderland's pubs and clubs until he began concentrating on cage fighting about six years ago.

He won cage fighting titles in 2001 and 2002, and his book, A Cage Fighter: The True Story of Ian Freeman, sold well locally.

Freeman is retired from fighting, but still works as a master of ceremonies at cage fighting events.