The ups and downs of Irish MMA

As my first eat my point post I thought it would be fitting to talk about the
fastest growing sport in the world. Mixed Martial Arts has exploded in Ireland
(although possibly not as much as Joe Rogan would have you believe) off the
back of the Ultimate Fighting Championship success of the Straight Blast Gym
crew and in particular Conor The Notorious McGregor.
Its hard to go anywhere on the internet these days without seeing McGregor
glaring at you through a pair of shades..and I must say Im a huge fan. Some
of his bravado and outfit choices may not be for everyone but his enthusiasm
and confidence is infectious. I love this new breed of confident Irish sports star
whether its Cian Healy saying that he hates the term All Blacks and showing the
New Zealanders no respect on the field, Derval ORourke producing PBs at major
championships..or Ronan OGara saying that he wanted to be the second best
out half in the world(?). It is so refreshing that our athletes no longer feel the
need to constantly talk themselves down. The way McGregor speaks about
obsessively striving to improve and training harder than his opponents makes it
hard to doubt him and so far hes backed up his words in the Octagon.
Theres just something different about him (as hes so keen to point out), the way
he moves, his striking, the way he reacts to whats happening in the cage make
him great to watch. The doubters out there point to the fact that he hasnt been
tested yet and its hard to refute, even his hugely impressive win over number 5
ranked Dustin Piorier does not necessarily prove that he should be number 1
contender. It appears there is a huge step up to the very top guys with the likes
of Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Cub Swanson, Ricardo Lamas and Frankie Edgar
seemingly to be a cut above the rest. The speed of his rise to potentially getting
the next title shot must be frustrating to these guys who have so many more
fights in the UFC than he does but you must commend him for hyping himself
and making the UFC top brass fall in love with him. I for one am an absolute
believer and I cant wait for his next fight but if its the winner of Aldo and
Mendes itll be a huge step up in competition for him.

Fight Night Dublin was one of the best Irish sports events Ive ever seen. The
crowd lived up to their reputation and the atmosphere was incredible. I was not
expecting a clean sweep for the Irish, when Patrick The Holligan Holohan
sprinted around the cage like a maniac and his opponent Josh Sampos wrestling
pedigree was highlighted by the commentators I feared the worst. I should not
have worried however with The Holligan dropping the American with a solid
upper-cut and submitting him by Rear-Naked Choke after only 3 minutes of the
first round.
In the co-main event adopted Irish son Gunnar Gunni Nelson took his time in
defeating the Ultimate Fighter 17 competitor Zak Cummings. Gunni eventually
sprung into life late in the second round to submit the lumbering American also
by Rear-Naked Choke. Nelsons pedigree is undoubtable with what he has
achieved at such a young age, in particular his accomplishments in Brazilian JiuJitsu and unlike McGregore no-one is questioning his hype. His Karate style
stance and accurate striking is similar to McGregors and make him an exciting
prospect, however when watching him I find myself wishing he would who show
more of McGregors aggressive style and push the pace a bit more. SBG coach
John Kavanagh has stated how well McGregor and Nelson work together
hopefully, much like David St. Hubbins and Nigel Tufnel, their fire and ice
personalities can continue to help both men continue to grow..with Kavanagh
filling the role of Derek Smalls/luke warm water.

Cathal Pendred really stole the show in his war with Ultimate Fighter 19
teammate Mike King. King put a hell of a beating on Pendred throughout the first
round. When watching TUF 19 I was not hugely impressed with Pendred,
although obviously a big strong athletic dude it doesnt seem that the movement
and skills of McGregor and Nelson have rubbed off on the ex-rugby player.
However you cannot question the mans mental and physical toughness as he
fought back to submit King in the second round with yet another Rear-Naked
Choke (the SBG boys obviously practice these a lot!). While the big American
had clearly punched himself out trying to finish the fight in the first round,
Pendreds power was obvious as he only had to apply the pressure for a couple of
seconds before Kings lights went out and all this while stepping up to fight at
185 lbs (middleweight) as opposed to his preferred 170lbs (welterweight). It was
quite a night for Pendred as he took home both fight of the night purses following
Kings subsequent failed drug test.

Wins for Neil Seery and Norman Parke set up the whitewash before McGregor
raised the roof and looked mighty impressive in finishing Diego Brandao in the
first round as he said he would. While watching, the cynical part of me could not
help but think that Uncle Dana and co. sure know how to pick fights to please the
home fans, having said that the sports fan in me was too busy bouncing off the
walls of my living room to care! All in all it was a hell of a night for Irish MMA and
life for the SBG team it seems is changed forever.
Last weekend brought things back to reality unfortunately. Patrick Holohan lost a
unanimous decision to Chris Kelades in Nova Scotia. He did pick up a fight of the
night bonus to ease the disappointment however the fact that Kelades took the
fight on less than a weeks notice does not bode well for The Holligan.
Meanwhile in Stockholm Pendred managed an unconvincing split decision win
over Russian Gasan Umalatov. It is probably my own heightened expectations
following the euphoria of Fight Night Dublin that makes this seem unsatisfactory;
perhaps a win is a win is a win is a better mind-set. The major disappointment of
the weekend however was Gunnar Nelson losing his unbeaten record in his first
main event appearance against the experienced American dynamo Rick Story via
an unusual split decision after 5 rounds. How one judge could score the fight 5544 to Story while another scores it 48-47 to Gunni is beyond me. Lets not get
too down however as Story is no slouch, its worth remembering he and
welterweight legend George St Pierre are the only blemishes on current
champion Johnny Hendricks record, this isnt like a boxer losing his perfect
record and suddenly his career being over. Hopefully Gunni can come back
strong in his next fight and get back to winning ways.
John Kavanagh is clearly very good at what he does and these are certainly
exciting times for the godfather of Irish MMA and his disciples. I find this sport
absolutely fascinating and really hope these guys can achieve something
special..I believe the hype.

Yours in sport,
JM