UK and Irish Combat Sports, Interviews and Opinion
The third and final, of the talented teenagers in this series of interviews is Sineadh Ni Nuallain. Apologies in advance for my continued inability to figure out how the fada works on a keyboard Sineadh. Sineadh is 17 and is training and fighting out of SBG Ballina in Co.Mayo. Sineadh started on her path to…
When Indra Davis mentioned that one of the girls she had interviewed for this series of interviews was Lola Safronova, it was a name I had heard before. At various points over the last year I often ask Facebook friends for interview recommendations and the Dundalk contingent on social media are always raving about her….
I am probably the only person in County Galway that is thankful Indra Davis has an ACL injury at the moment. One of the side benefits of her injury (for me!) is that she kindly took the time out of her already busy professional and family life to Interview three young women for Combat Arena….
First things first. The Bellator show in Newcastle last night was an entertaining night of action. Despite some technical glitches, the Bellator app streamed the preliminary fights really well. Sound problems seemed to be an early issue. The preliminaries had a great sprinkling of early finishes which made it exciting for the fans but there…
I have to confess that I had taken my eyes off all things Bellator the last couple of weeks, so the news that they have finalised a deal with Sky Sports came like a bolt from the blue to me. This is very significant news for Irish and UK fighters. The initial deal seems to…
Hatice “The Turkish Delight” Ozyurt, was born in the Netherlands, to Turkish parents. They were very traditional and devout people. Theirs had been an arranged marriage, when they were in their late teens. Turkish tradition dictated that Hatice should herself be married at age 18, but her mother Fatma wanted a different life for her…
Richie Smullen is approaching Bellator 217 “100% fit” and at the “lightest weight,” he has been in his career to date. So, it is no surprise that when I spoke to him he sounded relaxed and composed. The SBG athlete holds a professional record of 5-1-1. He is on a four-fight contract with Bellator and…
So the phone rings at 7 pm last Thursday. I’m in bed. The joys of night shift living and all that good stuff. A sibling is on the other end of the bat-phone. ” Mom was taken to hospital in an ambulance. Can you go up? “ ” Yes” I said. Well I thought I…
Just a little under a week ago – I wrote that Theresa May had but one option left. The only question I had was a simple one. Was she brazen enough to take it? All signals so far suggest she might well be. In the aftermath of the devastating defeat of her Brexit deal, all…
“There is no glory without sacrifice.” – Filipino Proverb There is a reason every fight movie you have ever seen has some concept of redemption at its core. The ‘against all odds’ ideology is woven into the fabric of the sport – nowhere is this more true than in the murky world of up-and-comer MMA….
What a day! – May you live in interesting times as the Chinese would say. As almost everyone knows by now Theresa May’s Brexit deal has been torpedoed by a House of Commons vote of 432 to 202. Where to now? Regardless of which side of the Brexit debate you are on – we are…
The UFC roster is pretty much filled for the first quarter of 2019 and I have to say the fighter I am most eager to watch is Ben Askren. The Mighty Mouse / Askren trade was the first of it’s kind in UFC history and much has been written about Ben in the interim. We…