August 2018 Irish MMA and Boxing Wrap Up

As we only hastily launched ourselves into the Irish fight community at the end of June, it has taken us some time get going. At this point we are getting up to the speed of things and have been made feel very welcome by the entire combat sport community.

Now the time has come to start adding more quality written content to our site. This piece is the first, Bloody Shamrock monthly wrap up where we talk about the main results of the month and any big noteworthy news.

-Windsor Park dream comes true for Frampton

In what will probably go down in history as one of the biggest Boxing nights to ever take place on the island of Ireland, 25,000 People poured into the National Stadium at Windsor Park in South Belfast on Saturday 18th of August.

• Undercard

Plenty of homegrown boxing talent was on display on the undercard. Amateur stars Steven Donnelly and Sean McComb made their winning pro debuts to kick things off. Belfast boxers Marco McCullagh and Lewis Crocker both improved their records with routine wins. Tyrone man Conrad Cumming’s bounced back from disappointingly losing his WBO European Middleweight title to Luke Keeler back in April with a clinical display to take a decision victory over English opponent Nick Jenman moving his professional record to 14-2-1. Cummings conquerer, Dublin’s Keeler was himself on the bill taking a routine decision over Dwain Grant.

In an all Irish affair for the BUI Celtic Light Heavyweight Title, Steven Ward bested Steve Collins Jr in an 8 round tight decision victory.

• Disappointment for Barnes

In the televised portion of the event, Belfast’s own amateur boxing legend Paddy Barnes, in only his sixth professional bout, fought for the WBC World Flyweight Title against holder Cristofer Rosales from Nicaragua. In what opened as a competitive affair in the first couple of rounds quickly turned into a massive upset for the hometown boy in the third. Rosales delivered a fight ending body shot which left Barnes writhing on the floor in obvious pain and unable to even attempt to make the count, the fight was waved off. It will be interesting to see what the next move is for Barnes after this loss. Credit must be given to him though for even fighting at such a high level after such a short pro career thus far.

• Gypsy King with clinical performance

In the co headlining slot it was time for the for the former Heavyweight World Champion Tyson Fury to continue his comeback. The Gypsy King was in fine form in the lead up, from starting a singalong of “Sweet Caroline” at his Tuesday press conference, to having a pantomimesque face off with WBC Champ Deontay Wilder after the weigh in. In the bout itself, Fury took on a stiffer task this time out by facing former title challenger Francesco Pianeta. It proved to be a clinical display for Fury. He dominated from bell to bell over the ten rounds through superior movement and staying behind a jab that has served him so well over the years. Some portions of the Windsor Park crowd we’re booing due to the lack of action in the fight and expected more of a display from the big man. However, anyone who has seen Fury fight before will know that this has been a very effective style for him over the years and no doubt he will be happy just to get the rounds under his belt. It looks like a big clash with Wilder was pretty much confirmed in the ring afterwards which may take place later this year.

• Frampton’s Windsor Wonderland

The main event of the evening saw the entrance of former two weight World Champion Carl “The Jackal” Frampton. The Belfast man had made it a goal to fight at his beloved Windsor. His opponent from Australia was the unbeaten, highly ranked Luke Jackson who talked a big game in the lead up to the fight. In the end Jackson found himself on the end of a boxing masterclass from The Jackal. The end of proceedings started to come when Frampton dropped Jackson with a body shot in the seventh round and then it was all over in the eighth as the Australian’s corner threw in the towel after seeing their man taking enough punishment.

The whole show from start to finish was a massive occasion with the feel in the stadium more like a music festival than a boxing event. Very much just like a music festival, the torrential rain that started during the second last fight didn’t put a dampener on proceedings one bit. I believe everyone that was there will be talking about that night for a long time to come.

• Cage Legacy 9

On the day after the huge Windsor Park show The Bloody Shamrock Team headed down to St Marks GAA Tallaght in Dublin for Cage Legacy 9. This was our first time attending a Cage Legacy event and we were not disappointed. An impeccably run show showcasing some of the best upcoming, Kickboxers and MMA fighters in the country was witnessed. A lot of credit must go to organisers Darren Sonik and Declan Kenna. Full results are listed below but here are the main take aways from this show.

• Two new Cage Legacy MMA Champions

In the co-main events of the evening the Light Heavyweight and Super Bantamweight titles were on the line. First up it was Brandon Myers vs Glenn McVeigh. Myers had his SBG Charlestown Head Coach and Conor McGregor’s Striking Coach, Owen Roddy in his corner, whilst McVeigh fights out of Fight Academy Ireland in Belfast with the experience of Liam Shannon and Pat McAlister in his corner.

In a back and forth first round in which both fighters exchanged dominant positions early, Myers at one point looked to have secured the rear naked choke but Mcveigh scrambled well to end up in top position. Myers showed good skills in the guard to force a stand up. In the second round Myers came out with an audacious spinning kick attack which forced McVeigh to immediately shoot for a successful takedown. Once again in top position McVeigh worked hard to improve his position but Myers was able to tenaciously defend through good work in the guard. The end came when Myers unsuccessfully attempted a triangle choke from the bottom. In the ensuing grappling scramble to the feet McVeigh was able to latch the neck and back Myers to the cage while holding on. Myers gallantly defended the initial attacks but when the fight hit the ground with Mcveigh on top, with the neck still secured, the SBG Charlestown prospect was forced to tap to end the fantastically entertaining bout.

In the Light Heavyweight Title show down SBG Charlestown fighter Karl Riordan faced Galway based Lithuanian Paulius Zabinskas. The first round opened with both fighters looking very light on their feet and exchanging strikes. Zabinskas then engaged the clinch and backed Riordan up to the cage right beside the SBG fighters corner where coach Owen Roddy was able to give clear instructions to his fighter. With Riordan able to stifle the clinch attacks, the Lithuanian broke free and the stand up striking battle continued with the taller man Riordan now finding success with his straight punches. The round continued in much the same fashion with Zabinskas pressing forward to engage in multiple clinches and unsuccessful takedown attempts.The second round opened with Riordan once again dominating the stand up exchanges and showing good footwork to avoid taking the heavy strikes been thrown by Zabinskas. Eventually the successful strikes including a well executed head kick had begun to take their toll with Riordan getting the KO victory after a flurry of big punches dropped his opponent, prompting referee Marius Domazat waving the fight off. This win moves Riordan to 4-0 as an amateur and the big SBG prospect will have to be seriously considering a venture into the pro ranks.

Another notable performance of the evening came from SBG Swords’ Ian Garry who was coming off the back of a dominant first round TKO victory at Clan Wars 32 in June. Garry was keen to impress once again, although he met a game opponent standing across from him in SBG Tallaght’s Steve Costello. In an entertaining tussle, Ian was able to get the finish in the third round with another TKO from a dominant position on the ground. The last two rounds of this fight are available on our Facebook page

 

 

 

 

In a, blink or you missed it affair in the featherweight division, a lively Carl Byrne was able to dispose of Kian Tate Boland with an armbar victory just 23 seconds into the first round. Dan Holohan made his first strides into MMA, picking up an impressive first round submission victory with a rear naked choke over Colm Farragher. This came much to the delight of Holohan’s cousin and coach, the Irish MMA legend Paddy “The Hooligan” Holohan. I can not forget to mention Full Power MMA Drogheda stand out Nauris Bartoska. We last saw Nauris at Clan Wars 32 in June picking up a Kickboxing title against Michael Swann. This time however,  in an MMA contest, Bartoska showed some finely honed BJJ skills as he picked up the first round victory via armbar against his opponent Joe Jordan of SBG D24.

 

MMA Results
Light Heavyweight Title
Karl Riordan (SBG Charlestown) def Paulius Zabinskas (Shaolin) – 2nd Round KO

Super Bantamweight Title
Glenn Mcveigh (FAI) def Brandon Myers (SBG Charlestown) – 2nd Round Submission

Welterweight
Nate Enright (SBG D24) def Dawid Wisnios (Fantom) – Decision

Middleweight
Ian Garry (SBG Swords) def Steve Costello (SBG Tallaght) – 3rd Round TKO

Middleweight
Tomek Ostrowski (Fantom) def Aaron Quinn (SBGi) – Decision

Featherweight
Carl Byrne (Spartan) def Kian Tate Boland (SBG D24) – 1st Round Submission

63kg Catchweight
Nauris Bartoska (Full Power) def Joe Jordan (SBG D24) 1st Round Submission

Lightweight
Carl Gallagher (SBG Swords) def Kestes (Spartan) -Decision

Welterweight
Dan Holohan (SBG D24) def Colm Farragher (Shaolin) – 1st Round Submission

Our Full Cage Legacy Gallery is here

Other News in brief
Bellator announce the signing of Fight Academy Ireland’s former Cage Warriors Light Heavyweight Champ Karl Moore. With the amount of Irish MMA fighters having been signed it would seem the company are making imminent plans on a return to the Emerald Isle with a date in December being rumoured for Dublin.

Cage Warrior Academy are set to run their first Irish MMA show on 8th September a the Devenish complex in Belfast. Familiar names such as Ian Garry, Glenn McVeigh, Caolan Loughran and Nate Enright are set to feature.

• Irish Boxers line up World Title opportunities.

Belfast Boxer James Tennyson will face Tevin Farmer for the IBF Super Featherweight title on 20th of October. Jason Quigley has also been announced as an opponent for WBA World

Middleweight Title holder Ryota Murata to also take place on the 20th October in Las Vegas.

Closer to home, two Irish Title bouts have been sanctioned by the Boxing Union of Ireland. They are Carl McDonald vs Dylan McDonagh for the Irish Super Bantamweight title. McDonald is fresh off already claiming the BUI Celtic Super Bantamweight title in July at Boxing Ireland Promotions’ Celtic Clash 6 event, an event that also featured a winning performance from McDonagh who has since went on to feature on a televised card in which he impressed but lost a decision on 4 days notice against Matchroom’s Welsh prospect Sean McGoldrick. The other Irish title fight sanctioned is a Super Featherweight showdown between Stephen McAfee and Feargal McCrory. Both fights are rumoured to be on the upcoming Celtic Clash 7 card.

Written by Stephen Towers