Combat Sports, Interviews and Opinion
I seem to spend a good portion of my time asking amateur martial artists to speak about dark, difficult subjects. Often deeply personal issues. It is hard to admit you can’t cope. It is hard to admit you can’t trust your own thoughts. It’s hard for loved one to watch this. It’s probably difficult for…
The Irish amateur boxing association issued a stern reminder to all members today that athletes actively members of and competing in other types of combat sports in Ireland are not welcome in Irish amateur boxing. This rule is not new but it is curious that the IABA picked today to issue a reminder to the…
A curious footnote to the Bellator Birmingham event in the UK on May 4th last crossed my path this evening. A Bellator in-competition drug test from the event of a little known, journey-man MMA fighter called Falco Neto came back positive. Mr Neto tested positive for the metabolites of steroids methyltestosterone and nandrolone. Thankfully his…
This has been my second time to interview Bellator featherweight Leah McCourt and the same thought popped into my head at the end of both conversations. ” You need to start getting more out of your life amigo” was the PG version of the ramblings of my mind. Out of all the winners from the…
I thought it would be interesting to do a comparison between UFC and Bellator salaries and see if we can learn anything from the stats. The UFC have recently announced that it is dropping the PPV point models and that fighters compensation will be reflected in their salaries. If this is true the official salaries…
Live updates and UFC 237 results from in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Just hit Refresh. Feel free to hit us up with your comments. Also Full Results from Bellator 221. Two biggest MMA promotions in the world collide. Like Joe Rogan I only do live fight updates on PPV cards. The fun kicks off below…
The Irish Times did the world a favour last week. They tracked down some official sales numbers for the Conor McGregor Proper No.12 Whiskey Label. But Business people sure do like to make things complicated. The figures are given in Units of 9 litre cases. So a little breakdown is required. 200,000 – 9 litre…
I have written on a number of occasions as to why the UFC should move into the domain of boxing. Thankfully it seems my wish is soon to be realised. In the aftermath of UFC 236 Dana White was almost bursting at the seams to talk about what the UFC has planned for the future….
I finally got around to tackling my social media accounts last week…… to……well there is no easy way to put this……get rid of non-responsive useless fuckers. A bit callous but sure it’s for the best. We hardly even noticed each other. The fact that I had collected 150 Facebook friends that don’t speak English is…
Many coaches I’ve interviewed refer to a Golden Age of Irish MMA. This Golden Age is always referred to in the past tense. It seems to have been a period roughly between 5 and 10 years ago. Now funnily enough I happen to think that this present period might actually be the Golden Age of…
It’s at times like this that I wonder, what exactly Conor McGregor pays Autie Attar to do. Can you think of any other major sports personality that announces their retirement with an incoherent tweet. No Press release. No line up of networks and associated press to mark the occasion. No highlight reel of his achievements….
Cage Legacy 11 takes place this coming Saturday in Finnstown Castle and a fighter making her MMA debut on the card is Dolores Gallagher. Dolores was kind enough to have a quick chat with Combat Arena and talk to us about the two and half years she has spent in combat sports getting ready for…