IRELAND’S MMA FIGHTERS have always been aiming to follow the path to the top.
The problem was that — up until a couple of years ago — they didn’t know where to find it. However, with eight Irish fighters now competing in the UFC, that’s no longer an obstacle.
The cream of the Irish MMA crop have found their way to the summit and they’re beginning to turn their attentions towards showing the rest how to get there too.
It took a long time for Ireland to put itself on the map in mixed martial arts, but this country is now becoming a major player in the sport — led by Conor McGregor, a man who could be a UFC world champion in July, and his team, Straight Blast Gym (SBG).
Half of Ireland’s UFC representatives are SBG fighters, and the gym — based in the Concorde Industrial Estate on the Naas Road — is about to be joined by another state-of-the-art location in the heart of Tallaght, the home of SBG’s UFC flyweight Paddy Holohan.
“This is my second Straight Blast Gym, the full model, a copy and paste of what’s going on in Concorde,” said John Kavanagh, SBG Ireland’s owner and head coach. “To have a chance to do it with somebody like Paddy Holohan is really great.
“I know the positive impact that martial arts training can have on so many people, and I know Paddy is going to do amazing things there in Tallaght. I love watching Paddy teaching a class because he ticks all the boxes for what a great coach is.”
SBG in Tallaght is expected to open this summer, as revealed by Holohan and Kavanagh at a Tiger Uncage event at House on Leeson Street, Dublin.
“It won’t be a gym where you learn to fight, it’s a martial arts school. You apply and you can get enrolled. That’s the way it’ll be,” Holohan told The42.
“You’ll move forward and you’ll learn more than just how to punch and kick. My attitude, behind the skills that SBG has, is going to create a whole new animal. I’m excited.”
The new gym will mark the realisation of a dream for Holohan, who’s proud of his Jobstown upbringing and his connections to an area he’s adamant he’ll never leave, irrespective of how many UFC pay-packets he’ll collect between now and the end of his career.
“I’m staying here,” the 26-year-old said. “The people here have my back and I’ve got theirs, whereas I know if I moved somewhere else there’d be a lot of snakes waiting in the grass. Especially in this sport, if you fall you need to be caught. If I fall, I know Tallaght will catch me.
“The people here, they know where I came from, they look at where I’ve gone and where I’m going… I’m kind of like a hero around these parts now, especially in the working class areas out towards Jobstown. Things have changed, the support I’m getting is crazy but I’ll take it all. I love representing Tallaght.”
Holohan made his professional MMA debut in 2007, but seven years passed before he finally got his first taste of the big-time. It was a long, difficult path, but the benefit of surviving it is that he’s now in a position to guide others along the way and ensure that their journey is more straightforward.
He said: “The means that I used to get there, people are interested in that now. People want to know and I have no problem sharing it. Conor (McGregor), myself and all the others, we went through a jungle.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy for the next people coming through, but it’s going to be a lot easier than the way it was. With the bit of information I have, I’ll help anyone I can.”
Holohan expects SBG’s presence in Tallaght to have a significant impact in the area. For him, it’s about giving young people there a chance to achieve something special — as he’s doing now in the world’s largest MMA organisation.
“Kids are turning around to their parents and saying, this is just a shithole, there’s nothing here for anyone. I’m happy if I can be a good example people can point to and say, it might not always start out proper, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.
“My mother says it all the time: the wildest horses are the greatest tamed. It’s about making kids realise that and shaking the nonsense out of their heads. It’s about saying to them, you can do this, you can buy a house, you can buy your family a house, you can look after their futures… and people will remember who you are for the right reasons.
“You don’t have to be a little choir boy, it’s not like that. Stand up for yourself, punch someone in the face if you have to, but you’ve got to make the right decisions. You’re kidding nobody otherwise.
“This is an opportunity for young kids. This is your chance, so don’t ever say you never got one. And that’s going to be huge. Kids here just want an opportunity. There are some who’ll throw it straight back in your face, but we’ll be giving them that chance to go the right way in life.”
Great going by both athletes. Very well done.