Who's the top mma fighters

bilbo79

Who's the top mma fighters in ireland at each weight?
and who on the boards actually competes mma?

Andrew_M

Good post, would be interesting to see who's ranked at each weight. We did this on the thai-boxing forum last year, was great to give guys an idea who they should be competing against to climb up the rankings. I know each show will have their own rankings but between ROT and UFR would be cool to compile a list

Marty Mc

This should be interesting.....im sure view points will vary alot!!!

Andrew_M

They definately will but should be good craic anyway

droc

I only know a few of the Irish fighters, but I think Colin Robinson is the top HW and Stephen Lynch or Mark O'Toole are right up there in the Middleweights.

DROC

mark.leonard

I suppose I can kick this thread off, but I strongly emphasize this is neither an accurate nor a complete listing, just off the top of my head, so nobody go nuts if someone is left out that you think should be in here, we can just chat it over and decide, its only arbitrary anyways!
Someone like Davy who manages a lot of these fighters abroad would be a better man to make the list as I would only have a hazy recollection of how fighters have done across the pond.

Middleweight <83

1. Rodney Moore
2. Emmet McNally
3. Tom Haddock
4. Stevie Lynch
5. Mark O'Toole
6. John Donnelly
7. Hugh Fullerton
8. Mark Palmer
9. Liam Shannon
10. Paul Murtagh (maybe Paul should be higher, couldn't remember who he has fought, feel free to add corrections)

mark.leonard

Actually should have mentioned Daniel Abrol also, he fought Emmet at a recent UFR in a tremendous match up and has had a couple of overseas wins AFAIK, not sure where he would lie in the rankings though as his only domestic pro fight was a loss to Emmet, anybody got an idea?

weemate

I used to have a good idea but a lot of guys are now cutting down in weight it's hard to keep track off.

TheDread Pirate

It was Peter Duncan that fought Emmet at that show and the fight was at Welterweight as far as I know.

mark.leonard

TheDread Pirate wrote:

It was Peter Duncan that fought Emmet at that show and the fight was at Welterweight as far as I know.

Yep, you are right on both counts my apologies, just ignore that post then!
Anyone want to try a different weight division?

Marty Mc

Ooooohhh, Mr Leonard...ur opening a whole can of worms here!!!:D

Im sure opinions will vary GREATLY!!!!:eek: I'll hide in the shadows and wait for a few more posts......

For information sake....and not to contradict or correct anyone....as far as i can rememeber, Paul has registered wins over - Ciaran 'The law' Hughes and Gerard Donnelly. He had one loss in his last outing to Hugh Brady at the last UFR Pro Rules show. A good competitor indeed...:D

Emmett and Stevie appear to have cut to welterweight...

Ps - Mark, i think u remember Daniel Abriol from that WAR with Greg Loughran...for anyone who hasn't seen it....have a jook on YouTube....and hold on to your hat!!!!

mark.leonard

Yeah, you are right Marty I confused the two talented Chum Sut fighters from that show.
The weight cutting is a factor as well, not to mention there is not much point mentioning Stevie in the Irish rankings as he is under contract to the UFC now and won'ty be fighting Irish fighters for a while (probably).


Get off the fence though Marty, pick a division you know a bit about and mention a few names, you don't even have to order them, we can figure out the order on the thread!

SBG Ireland

...just one of the things that makes sat night very interesting

Bantamweight 61.2kgs

the two top guys in the country fought at the last RoT with Neil Seery causing a major upset beating Steve McCoombe. now we'll get to see the top 'national' level irish guy against the top 'international' level irish guy.

Featherweight 65.8

owen roddy with his wins over micky young and tim murphy must be considered one of the top FWs but kevin mcalonan has quick wins over pearse stokes and uk star dave elliot so he's right up there. the no.1 spot will be decided sat night

Lightweight 70.3

greg and owen must be considered the 2 top Irish LWs competing right now and with a win each the rubber match sat night will decide who the top dog is

gotta go to weigh ins now...

dogpit

Kevin also submitted top european featherweight Navid yousefi from Hilti NHB recently,and now has 8 pro wins and only 2 losses ,one he reversed recently over Dave 'speedy' Elliot
Kevin only lost the first encounter because Dave cryed out when Kev knee barred him
Kev thought he had injured Dave and let it go,Dave promptly put a toe hold on kev and won the match
Needless to say we really wanted the rematch which Kevin win in 37 seconds for the S&S British Title

Should be a great fight tomorrow night with Owen,but one that i feel won't go past the first round.

Tim_Murphy

I'd agree that the winner between Owen V Kevin is the number one featherweight at the moment. Should be a cracking fight.

For my money Greg is the obvious #1 at lightweight. Number two for my money would be Tom Mcguire. Granted he only has two fights on his record, but they were an impressive two. After that there's Owen Dempsey and of course Alan Hannon.

Marty Mc

LOL...mark....this fence is very comfortable!!!

From my limited knowledge of mma'ers in Ireland.....Most will probably think this bias but i dont know all the fighters.....i'll give a brief overview....

Bantam Weight??? Dont really know anyone but Neil Seery must be a very good fighter as he defeated , the then undefeated, steve Mc Combe....

Feather Weight:
Kevin Mc Alonan...This guy is top quality and as said by Davy he recorded a fantastic win over one of the most respected fighters on the Uk curcuit in the form of Dave 'speedy' Elliott after an unlucky first outing....the fight between himself and Owen Roddy will be gr8 and agree, that i dont think it will go past the opening 5 minutes. Should be great.

Light Weight:
Greg 'the Hitman' Loughran...what needs to be said?....this guy is a cardio machine....i have never seen anyone with as much dedication and gas....a true athlete...Fights all comers.....

Welterweight:
Stevie Lynch (Ufc bound) - Only fought once at this weight but this guy is the real deal...when he sniffs out a finish....he goes for it....takes no prisioners and is well rounded.....interesting to see how his first fight goes in the ufc....

Middleweight: Rod Moore...what can be said...this guy fights allcomers too and recently defeated Olympic Judo gold medalist (hope that is accurate) at Cage wars. Fantastic fighter and great experience...
Mark O toole and Tom haddock....great sports men and always up for a fight....true fighters in the real sense of the word....

Light Heavy: This is a very close divison....dont really know....Keith 'qucksilver' Bradley is fighting really well and has gathered momentum....have never seen Mr Leonard fight but im assured he's a quality fighter. Dont really know many Light heavy competitors ands my knowledge is very limited.....

Heavy Weight: Colin 'big C' Robinson (Ufc Bound) This guy is a mountain...every fight i watched he has been victorious....but dont try to squat him....jesus,u'll regret it:D

This is very rough and im sure views will vary...alot....;)

mark.leonard

Just compiling what others have mentioned and adding a few to it using fight results I know about.

Bantamweight

Neil Seery
Steve Mc Combe
Joe Ruddock


Featherweight

Kevin Mc Alonan
Owen Roddy
Tim Murphy
Micky Young
Mark Robinson

Light Weight

Greg 'the Hitman' Loughran
Tom McGuire
Eoin Dempsey
Aidan Marron
John Walsh
Martin Begley
Alan Hannon / Will Hamill
Dylan Costigan (again becuase of his relative newness to pro matches - don't beat me Dylan or hit me with one of your castles! (you have some to spare after all ))


Welterweight

Arni Isaacson (wins over top kightweights should he be LW?)
Geroid McNichol
Emmet McNally
Jonny Sheils
Stevie Lynch (only putting Stevie down here cause he has less fights than the few above him - don't hurt me Stevie please!)
Darrin Hughes
Brian Kerr

Middleweight

Rodney Moore
Tom Haddock
Stevie Lynch
Mark O'Toole
John Donnelly
Hugh Fullerton
Mark Palmer
Liam Shannon
Paul Murtagh

Heavyweight

Colin 'big C' Robinson
Karl Roche
Stephen Sommerville

plenty more to be added too, feel free to make amendments, particualrly John and Davey and other coaches.

Marty Mc

Christ....Aidan Marron :eek: ....former Ufr lightwieght, welterweight and current Lightwelter weight champ.... great fighter.... a real test for any fighter at any of these weights...

and Mr Mc Nicoll (ufr welter weight champ) always up for a war...and his fights r never anything less than that!!!!!

Arni...4got about him...seen him fight paddy doherty and have heard alot about him on the internet....seems to be the real deal for sure...some very, very impressive wins...would love to see hiom fight again..

Nice list...coming on well.....some names i've never heard of...my knowledge is being expanded upon...

eoghan.geraghty

Hate to jump the gun here, but if greg defeats owen dempsey, a fight between him and tom maguire could be the best bout in Irish mma, usurping roddy vs murphy.

Colm_OReilly

usurping roddy vs murphy.

Best fight ever! Which usurped riley vs murphy, a classic battle of good looks versus evil shins

Colm
-Living in the past

mark.leonard

Updated after cage rage

mark.leonard wrote:

Bantamweight

Neil Seery
Steve Mc Combe
Joe Ruddock


Featherweight

Owen Roddy
Kevin Mc Alonan
Tim Murphy
Micky Young
Mark Robinson

Light Weight

Greg 'the Hitman' Loughran
Tom McGuire
Eoin Dempsey
Aidan Marron
John Walsh
Martin Begley
Alan Hannon
Will Hamill
Dylan Costigan (again becuase of his relative newness to pro matches - don't beat me Dylan or hit me with one of your castles! (you have some to spare after all ))


Welterweight

Arni Isaacson (wins over top kightweights should he be LW?)
Geroid McNichol
Emmet McNally
Jonny Sheils
Stevie Lynch (only putting Stevie down here cause he has less fights than the few above him - don't hurt me Stevie please!)
Darrin Hughes
Brian Kerr

Middleweight

Rodney Moore
Tom Haddock
Stevie Lynch
Mark O'Toole
Hugh Fullerton
John Donnelly
Mark Palmer
Clive Staunton
Liam Shannon
Paul Murtagh

Heavyweight

Colin 'big C' Robinson
Karl Roche
Stephen Sommerville

Please do add any input you have about this list, at the moment it is mostly myself and Marty making suggestions the more people that give their opinions the more accurate tihs list will be.

Roper

A Maguire V Loughran bout would float my boat right now.

I'd also still have Steve McCombe above Neil Seery inspite of Seery's win over Steve. Steve's record is far better and he's fought some top guys. I think that result was a blip, no offence to Neil who was well worth his win that night.

Also, Clive Staunton has fought in three weight categories, but I reckon we should put him in at his last fight which was at welter. (Saturday night)

Otherwise I'd agree with your list!

mark.leonard

Roper wrote:

A Maguire V Loughran bout would float my boat right now.

I'd also still have Steve McCombe above Neil Seery inspite of Seery's win over Steve. Steve's record is far better and he's fought some top guys. I think that result was a blip, no offence to Neil who was well worth his win that night.

Also, Clive Staunton has fought in three weight categories, but I reckon we should put him in at his last fight which was at welter. (Saturday night)

Otherwise I'd agree with your list!

Apparently Steve has been stripped of his title and is no longer a member of the UFR fight team, so he is basically inactive at the moment so I might leave as is until he rears his head again. I agree about Clive and I will update now.

mark.leonard

Bantamweight

Neil Seery
Steve Mc Combe
Joe Ruddock


Featherweight

Owen Roddy
Kevin Mc Alonan
Tim Murphy
Micky Young
Mark Robinson

Light Weight

Greg 'the Hitman' Loughran
Tom McGuire
Eoin Dempsey
Aidan Marron
John Walsh
Martin Begley
Alan Hannon
Will Hamill
Dylan Costigan (again becuase of his relative newness to pro matches - don't beat me Dylan or hit me with one of your castles! (you have some to spare after all ))


Welterweight

Arni Isaacson (wins over top kightweights should he be LW?)
Geroid McNichol
Emmet McNally
Jonny Sheils
Stevie Lynch (only putting Stevie down here cause he has less fights than the few above him - don't hurt me Stevie please!)
Darrin Hughes
Clive Staunton
Brian Kerr

Middleweight

Rodney Moore
Tom Haddock
Stevie Lynch
Mark O'Toole
Hugh Fullerton
John Donnelly
Mark Palmer
Liam Shannon
Paul Murtagh

Heavyweight

Colin 'big C' Robinson
Karl Roche
Stephen Sommerville

Roper

mark.leonard wrote:

Apparently Steve has been stripped of his title and is no longer a member of the UFR fight team, so he is basically inactive at the moment so I might leave as is until he rears his head again. I agree about Clive and I will update now.

Mark, you're a man with his ear firmly pressed to the ground. I bow to your superior inside track knowledge!

Neil it is, though I would also point out that his vanquisher on Saturday night is from Belfast! Should Paul McVeigh be in there? I know he's not particularly active in Ireland but he has been on UFR, now Cage Rage in Ireland. Awesome performance on Saturday although I have to confess I thought he operated at a heavier weight.

mark.leonard

No that is Paul's weight alright, he is living and fighting out of Scotland though which is why I didn't include him here.

Roper

Cool, I suppose by the same token Arni is one the Irish list!

Im2Lazy

I'd agree with a lot of Mark's top picks.

Bantamweight
Neil Seery.....really? I've only see him win once & he's been majorly outclassed in all his other fights including on Saturday.

Featherweight
I'd definately rate "Rowdy" Owen Roddy the best, seems to just get better & better with each fight.

Light Weight
Greg "The Hitman" Loughran......No contest! At a different level to everyone in his weightclass.

Welterweight
Arni Isaacson.....Haven't seen him fight but, I haven't really heard of anyone else in this weight class.

Middleweight
Rod Marsh....This guy was born in the wrong century, should be on a battle field weilding a sword, a pure warrior!

Heavyweight
Colin 'big C' Robinson... must be good if he's on the UFC card but I'm a Karl Roche myself, hard luck on Saturday!

I'm sensing a pattern here all the top fighters are from Iceland, Northern Ireland, North Dublin(Finglas & Ballymun) the further north you get the better the fighter.:rolleyes:

mark.leonard

you might be right about Neil but his record fo defeating Steve McCombe who defeated Joe Ruddock puts him right up there.

bilbo79

mark.leonard wrote:

Bantamweight

Neil Seery
Steve Mc Combe
Joe Ruddock

My good friend Paul cowzer is somewhere on this list in my opinion-fought the other night on c r with 1 days notice, and when he got the call he was eating last nights chinese for breakfast while hung over and had 2 weeks off training to recover from injuries!! this fella does not drink for months before his fights, made f w but his natural weight is b w and he assures me thats where he will be fighting in the future-also his opponent was high class and well trained for the fight-still calls himself a novice but i dont think that will be for long. hope you dont mind me giving you the mention paul!!

mark.leonard

Bantamweight

Neil Seery
Steve Mc Combe
Joe Ruddock
Paul Cowzer

Featherweight

Owen Roddy
Kevin Mc Alonan
Tim Murphy
Micky Young
Mark Robinson

Light Weight

Greg 'the Hitman' Loughran
Tom McGuire
Eoin Dempsey
Aidan Marron
John Walsh
Martin Begley
Alan Hannon
Will Hamill
Dylan Costigan (again becuase of his relative newness to pro matches - don't beat me Dylan or hit me with one of your castles! (you have some to spare after all ))


Welterweight

Arni Isaacson (wins over top kightweights should he be LW?)
Geroid McNichol
Emmet McNally
Jonny Sheils
Stevie Lynch (only putting Stevie down here cause he has less fights than the few above him - don't hurt me Stevie please!)
Darrin Hughes
Clive Staunton
Brian Kerr

Middleweight

Rodney Moore
Tom Haddock
Stevie Lynch
Mark O'Toole
Hugh Fullerton
John Donnelly
Mark Palmer
Liam Shannon
Paul Murtagh

Heavyweight

Colin 'big C' Robinson
Karl Roche
Stephen Sommerville

Added Paul to the bantamweight rankings, put him in at the bottom of the list, has he beaten anyone above him?

bilbo79

Thats fair enough-im probably going to get beat up by him now!! hopefully he'll climb off the bottom when he see's this!! also he's yet to fight at his real weight so has not fought any of these guys.

Roper

To be fair to Paul, he's never fought MMA at that weight, so to place him at number 4 on the list does a disservice to him and to the guys who have fought at that weight and aren't mentioned there.

Taking nothing away from him though he has big cajones!

bilbo79

Roper wrote:

To be fair to Paul, he's never fought MMA at that weight, so to place him at number 4 on the list does a disservice to him and to the guys who have fought at that weight and aren't mentioned there.

Taking nothing away from him though he has big cajones!

He's going to have to diet now for awhile so next time you see him expect a narky fecker compared to the usuall relaxed dude!!!

weemate

Im noticing that the light heavyweights are not getting a mention so I would say -
Keith Bradley
Tim mc crory
Steven mc combe
Colin Laird

but then Im a bit biased!

cowzerp

Roper wrote:

To be fair to Paul, he's never fought MMA at that weight, so to place him at number 4 on the list does a disservice to him and to the guys who have fought at that weight and aren't mentioned there.

Taking nothing away from him though he has big cajones!

Im only a learner at the moment but fingers crossed i can move up to the top rankings in ireland-at the moment i've no rank and im not bothered either way! still improving on my weak areas and this is why i enjoy it so much,
by the way barry you did not happen to see me walking around naked on saturday night to see my cajones!!

Marty Mc

Mark,

did arni fight at light weight???

Roper

I know he has a win over Greg Loughran but I'm not 100% sure whether that was at lightweight as it was a late set up. He seemed MUCH bigger than Greg that night though.

mark.leonard

Marty Mc wrote:

Mark,

did arni fight at light weight???

He is down as welterweight on MMAU, but as he has fought lightweight I put "should he be lightweight" by his name as I am not sure. Maybe his coach John Kavanagh might let us know.

Im2Lazy

Roper wrote:

I know he has a win over Greg Loughran but I'm not 100% sure whether that was at lightweight as it was a late set up. He seemed MUCH bigger than Greg that night though.

How did he win?

StrateBlastJim

He might be my friend, but im pretty sure Michael Leonard should be somewhere on this list considering he is undefeated in this country, and has wins over many names on the list, greg, neil etc.

Marty Mc

Maybe im completely wrong here.....but was greg not lighter than arni as stated by Roper...i dont know exactly what the weight differance was but im sure that greg would have been no heavier or not much heavier than light weight.

I have a notion there was a weight differance and it went the distance in a very close decision....but then again i could be wrong....im sure that some1 will let us know.

dogpit

The Arni v Greg fight was at welterweight,Arni won on a split decision

SBG Ireland

Featherweight

Owen Roddy
Kevin Mc Alonan
Tim Murphy
Micky Young
Mark Robinson

who's mark robinson?

SBG Ireland

Bantamweight

Neil Seery
Steve Mc Combe
Joe Ruddock
Paul Cowzer


AFAIK steve and joe are both finished fighting. neil and paul train together (i think?) so that leaves no fights for those guys at that weight...unless there's other BW's out there??

looks like these guys will have to move up to FW to fight irish guys anyway

Colm_OReilly

Jim,

Mick's inactive as a fighter. Should you put me down as top submission fighter in the country because I won a few comps back a few years ago? No, it goes to those still actively competing at those weights. Pearse is considered an active fighter and he's not down. Where would he be ranked at 65.8Kg?

Im2Lazy,
Arni won by judge's decision after 3 rounds. I think it was RoT 5.


Colm

Marty Mc

There we are....Mr Patterson...on queue....the voice of reason....just cleared that one up.

Tim_Murphy

Mick's inactive as a fighter. Should you put me down as top submission fighter in the country because I won a few comps back a few years ago? No, it goes to those still actively competing at those weights. Pearse is considered an active fighter and he's not down. Where would he be ranked at 65.8Kg?

How long does a person have to be out of the game before they are considered inactive?

Colm_OReilly

I'd say a year, unless they say they're done. A year is probably generous at that unless you're injured, but even then your ranking will slip.

How many shows have we got on Irish soil each year. 3/4 RoTs plus the same again with the UFR. Not considering the UFR semi pros/big name events/Irish fighters competing abroad.

So I guess I'd pull you off that list then Tim. Of course, if/when you return I don't see why you couldn't compete against the top five and get re ranked.

Agree/Disagree?

Tim_Murphy

Broadly agree.

StrateBlastJim

That been said colm, this isnt about a ranking system with regulations etc, its just someone asking who people think are the top mma fighters in the country.

I agree that an actual ranking system should have rules for inactive fighters.

Personally even though mick and tim have been out for awhile i doubt many people would not include them in a list of irelands top fighters.

Regards yourself, well im sure if you asked certain people they would still include you as a top submission competitor, if only there where some sort of submission competition coming up where you could compete again. Hmmm no i cant think of one.

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