Next Irish UFC Fighter?

baz123

Which Irish fighter do you guys reckon has the best chance of getting a Ufc contract anytime soon? Personally for me its the only thing missing for while watching it. Nothing beats cheering on your own. We have a great tradition of excellent boxers to be proud and as you all know MMA is on the up big time in this country(with quality fighters making names for themselves)-so who's it gonna be?

rooneyboy

i think norman parkes has a great chance, he just seems to get better an better every time

Chewabacca

I think that many of Irelands best fighters are in the FW division. Because of this we wont ever see guys like Tim Murphy, Kevin Carney and several more of Irelands elite fighters in the UFC.

I'd say Greg Loughran will reach the UFC sooner or later.

Norman Parkes has lookes impressive and will no doubt continue to improve.

I'd love to see Alan Hannon in the big shows at some stage, that guy is incapable of having a bad fight.

cowzerp

Greg Loughran has to be up there
John Donnelly could be an option too

pity there is no Bantam/featherweight divisions as there is lots of quality ion Ireland around them weights..

scudzilla

Sure there'll be 1 or 2 Irish lads added to the UFC Roster when we get an event next, just like Stevie Lynch, Big Col and Tom Egan

baz123

cheers lads,i checked out some of those guys and there is quality there no doubt. maybe some of hte lighter weight guys might have a go at the WEC? would be great to see some of our own make it to the big stage etc.appreciate it

pcbefr

in about 3years young Joe Clarke should be pushing for recognition in one of the bigger shows. an amazing talent with a great all round game. Watch out for this lad in the future

Jason McCabe

I agree with Joe clarke.

Jamie McAleese is a great young fighter too.

pcbefr

I forgot about Jamie, another to watch out for

Mrs Lynch

Greg would be my number one choice for UFC and hopefully they come calling for him soon;) I think there is very few out there could hold a light to him and he works hard and deserves it!

This is gonna be a big year for Joe but I have every faith that he will come out glowing:) Ive had the pleasure of watchin a raw young boy grow up into a highly skilled young man. He is definately a credit to his coaches and to Irish MMA. His journey in MMA has been well scheduled and totally right for him!!!!

There is also a lot of young fighters including Jamie (star in the makin without a doubt) which are going from strength to strength and long may it continue;)

Urs
x

cagefighterboy

i agree hes some fighter, but for irish people to get that far wee need to evolve in our training methods and our wrestling-Jujitsu, the likes of usa, young people wrestle at school and jujitsu has been going strong there for a long time.this all adds to the ability to get more fighters prepared for the top. We wont get local fighters in the ufc for a while but eventually we will i think

bjj-fighter

cagefighterboy wrote: »

i agree hes some fighter, but for irish people to get that far wee need to evolve in our training methods and our wrestling-Jujitsu, the likes of usa, young people wrestle at school and jujitsu has been going strong there for a long time.this all adds to the ability to get more fighters prepared for the top. We wont get local fighters in the ufc for a while but eventually we will i think

What about Tom Egan,Colin Robinson or Stevie Lynch?

Martin Walker

Id have to go with Norman Parke at the minute.
Unbeaten in something like 8 fights now. Fought and beaten some quality opponents home and abroad. No doubt he will get the chance against some of the UK`s top LW`s this year and that will get him noticed.
Love to see him fight someone like Winner or Pearson. Think he would do quite well.

gatecrasher69er

cheers marty..i want the big fights this year,thers plenty of good fighters in the lightweight division and no doubt il b hitting the top 10 this year!!

cagefighterboy

bjj-fighter wrote: »

What about Tom Egan,Colin Robinson or Stevie Lynch?

yes they are good but probly better if they travelled more for experience in usa and england.just to see the way they train over there, but egan is tough i must say

Martin Walker

cagefighterboy wrote: »

yes they are good but probly better if they travelled more for experience in usa and england.just to see the way they train over there, but egan is tough i must say

Hold on.... u do realise that these three guys have already fought in the UFC?

Mrs Lynch

cagefighterboy wrote: »

yes they are good but probly better if they travelled more for experience in usa and england.just to see the way they train over there, but egan is tough i must say

Stevie and Big C both fought in England on several occassions, Stevin won Sportfight Scotland Title against Andy Snape and another title against Lewis Barrow in Sunderland, as well as Jimmy Wallhead. Big C also had a few fights in England which saw him win against the likes of Buzz Berry;)

Urs
x

Fozzy

Martin Walker wrote: »

Hold on.... u do realise that these three guys have already fought in the UFC?

And they're a collective 0-4 in the UFC. So I don't think that it can really be claimed that they're up to that standard yet

cagefighterboy

i know but the best fighters about here were picked to get a fight in the ufc but what contracts did they get?????fair play didn know they all fought in it but it doesn take away ther fact that they didn win against the bigger names. when you talk about irish fighters getting into the ufc i was thinking you meant on the big stage like the really big money makers not a couple of bouts.

Mrs Lynch

Fozzy wrote: »

And they're a collective 0-4 in the UFC. So I don't think that it can really be claimed that they're up to that standard yet

Bit nasty :mad:

Yes they may not have won but I can speak for Stevie and Big C who both wer trying to hold down jobs and support their families whilst training for the UFC. Its not an excuse Im makin for them but its a pity that when we got reprsented that the fighters cudnt soley dedicate themselves to trainin as the Americans and English fighters can.

We need to unify to prepare our next fighters and one day we will make it;)

Mrs Lynch
x

Mrs Lynch

cagefighterboy wrote: »

i know but the best fighters about here were picked to get a fight in the ufc but what contracts did they get?????fair play didn know they all fought in it but it doesn take away ther fact that they didn win against the bigger names. when you talk about irish fighters getting into the ufc i was thinking you meant on the big stage like the really big money makers not a couple of bouts.

Stevie and Big C got three fight contracts. After any loss they needed to "fight" again to get back on track. Definately woz not "big money" and they way the UFC works they are not gonna land on our shores and pick the likes of Greg as their main event. Fighters kinda progress from prelims!!!

Our game has to rise here and I cant see that happening very soon. Too many "cushy" fites happening, and on the other hand with the amount of shows some total mismatchin.

Urs
x

Jason McCabe

It all has to come from the grass roots up.

We need kids involved with strong disciplines as cagefighterboy said. And I mean from about 6 upwards.

The more junoirs we see going to the likes of the MMA leagues and the more junoir classes we see around the country the better the quality will be in years to come.

Martin Walker

Fozzy wrote: »

And they're a collective 0-4 in the UFC. So I don't think that it can really be claimed that they're up to that standard yet

Im not saying they were up to standard as they clearly wernt.
My point was that cagefighterboy was saying "we wont get local fighters in the UFC for a while but eventually we will". And unknown to him we already had. Even if it was for a few fights that they ultimatly lost.

ginoginelli

We will get a top fighter in there eventually. The sport is growing, and Im sure we've got a few potential candidates comming up. Starting at 6 isnt really a neccessity either. An athletic young adult with a good work ethic could go along away with the right training.

kid chaos

Martin Walker wrote: »

Im not saying they were up to standard as they clearly wernt.

I wouldnt agree with that,

Stevie Lynch lost to Dustin hazlett who is top 10-15 WW in the world. Amazing at jiu jitsu and good striking. No shame in that

Colin Robinson's endurance let him down, like Ursula said these guys had full time jobs and didnt have ''world class'' training gyms. Colin beat the **** out of Eddie and was close to stopping him and submitting him.
Anthony Hardonk...I got a dead leg hearing that kick.

Tom egan got matched with and undefeated John Hathaway whos next fight is against Diego sanchez. That the type of competition he is at.
Tom isnt the biggest WW, I think he would make more noise at LW

IMO but thats for a different thread

Greg Loughran, Stormin' Norman and Hugh Brady are on the top of my list.

Norman vs Hugh... would love to see that

rovert

kid chaos wrote: »

Tom egan got matched with and undefeated John Hathaway whos next fight is against Diego sanchez. That the type of competition he is at.
Tom isnt the biggest WW, I think he would make more noise at LW

IMO but thats for a different thread

It is, but I agree Hathaway has some proven subsequently to be a real prospect in the UFC. There is/was no shame in losing to someone like that, every win John gets makes me think UFC cutting Egan that quickly was a bigger and bigger shame IMO.

Mrs Lynch

kid chaos wrote: »

INorman vs Hugh... would love to see that

This is a fight fit to headline any major show here and an excellent prelim for UFC

Urs
x

Barry.Oglesby

Hugh's a good fighter but for me Norman is pound for pound the best operator on this island at the moment. I think it's abroad for him next he's making short work of everyone in his way.

Mrs Lynch

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

Hugh's a good fighter but for me Norman is pound for pound the best operator on this island at the moment. I think it's abroad for him next he's making short work of everyone in his way.

Serious tho Brady has stood his own with two fantastic wins against two of the best in the country (i.e Roddy and Begley). I totally love to watch Parkes he is unreal at the moment too.

Im not saying this wud be an "easy" fight for either by no means but it would be one as a fan I'd love to see:)

Im merely a fan but I can wish;)

Urs
x

Ryan Roddy

Could be wrong but if Greg wins a few more fights in USA then I think he has a good chance of getting on strikeforce/ufc card.

And if Normn.P gets 3 or 4 more big wins in the Uk this year then it would be hard to look past him for the big shows! At Lightweight id like to see him take out Sass this year, seen Sass at the weekend and I reckon He could have him

Marty Mc

Ryan Roddy wrote: »

Could be wrong but if Greg wins a few more fights in USA then I think he has a good chance of getting on strikeforce/ufc card.

And if Normn.P gets 3 or 4 more big wins in the Uk this year then it would be hard to look past him for the big shows! At Lightweight id like to see him take out Sass this year, seen Sass at the weekend and I reckon He could have him

Alright ryan..bet u r working hard in uni..;)

I have seen alot of stuff on paul sass and how amazing his ground game is. Did he not impress u when u seen him fight?

Having trained with norman on a few occassions i have to say that he is a talented guy and has real althetism..great fighter.

Ryan Roddy

Alright chap! how are you keeping? Ah uni is going ....ok, less time training and more time in library needed lol

Aye he did impress me, but his stand up and wrestling looked very haphazard, I think he will do well in the future but now could be a great time for norman to put him on his record before the rest of his game catches on!

Also the word over here is that he is fighting Rich Clementi in march so I guess that will be the litmus test for his overall game!

Marty Mc

Ryan Roddy wrote: »

Alright chap! how are you keeping? Ah uni is going ....ok, less time training and more time in library needed lol

Aye he did impress me, but his stand up and wrestling looked very haphazard, I think he will do well in the future but now could be a great time for norman to put him on his record before the rest of his game catches on!

Also the word over here is that he is fighting Rich Clementi in march so I guess that will be the litmus test for his overall game!

Aye all's good my end..still messing about..:)

Did i hear that u won a title? If u did..fair play to u..big achievement.

Clementi is a massive fight for sass..def a big test for anyone..

Now..get ur head down and get them exams done!!

Ryan Roddy

Good to hear, you getting much training in these days? Ah yeah there was a pull out for the title fight so thought id give it a go!

First full pro A rules as well so was a good experience all round, would like to get fighting back home again at some point soon too!

Marty Mc

Ryan Roddy wrote: »

Good to hear, you getting much training in these days? Ah yeah there was a pull out for the title fight so thought id give it a go!

First full pro A rules as well so was a good experience all round, would like to get fighting back home again at some point soon too!

Great achievement! Well Done..

As regards training, im still messing around..doing bits and pieces..nothing too taxing..:)

ps To ev1 else..Sorry for thread hyjacking...

joeybull

can any one tell me if the new season of tuf,liddell,ortiz is on tv over here?what channel cheers

RealJohn

I'd say Greg Loughran is undoubtedly our best bet as he'd already had a few impressive fights in the US. It'd be nice to see Aidan Marron there too because he seems to be very dedicated to all aspects of the sport - high class fighter but still willing to take on the role of referee too which is important in raising the overall standard.

Down south, we seem to have lots of great fighters at featherweight and below but since the UFC doesn't have anything below lightweight, we might be a while waiting for anyone down here to make a real mark in the UFC (no disrespect intended to any of the lads who have already stepped up).

Sid_Justice

funny this thread. doing a search on bing.com for irish mma reveals this as one of the top hits.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/272307-eireann-go-brach-irish-mma-is-on-the-rise

There’s no doubt that Loughran has the heart of a true Irish warrior but his skill set is limited and he has been unable to surpass journeyman status as of yet.

Think this is an example of poor journalism basically as he comes to this decision based on Greg's record.

Mrs Lynch

Sid_Justice wrote: »

.................Think this is an example of poor journalism basically as he comes to this decision based on Greg's record.

I think your totally right there;)

Unfortunately we are not portrayed very well in journalism and especially the other side of the Irish Sea :mad: Some articles hav made me cringe, I think this comes down to the lack of knowledge that these guys actually hav on Irish MMA and they arent here watchin the shows its merely clicking around the computer for their stats/ info.

This article woz relatively recent (Oct 09) yet again I notice there are people missing that are advancing in Irish MMA. They obviously arent that great on reading their stats (Stevie is headin to the ripe old age of 40 this year not 39 as he wishes lol).

Greg has taken Irish MMA to another level, hes fought all over the world and altho his record doesnt stand out as astonishing it doesnt reflect his recent years in MMA. He has had a long career in MMA but he never took easy fights, turned pro early on and has developed top performance both physically and mentally. I have one regret/ grudge on Greg is that he isnt fightin here anymore:( I know I cant be selfish!!!!

Urs
x

dlofnep

I think what's letting Ireland down is the lack of wrestling. We have some good strikers here - but we seriously need a wrestling circuit setup to improve the level of wrestling here.

kainer2

Mrs Lynch wrote: »

I think your totally right there;)

Unfortunately we are not portrayed very well in journalism and especially the other side of the Irish Sea :mad: Some articles hav made me cringe, I think this comes down to the lack of knowledge that these guys actually hav on Irish MMA and they arent here watchin the shows its merely clicking around the computer for their stats/ info.

This article woz relatively recent (Oct 09) yet again I notice there are people missing that are advancing in Irish MMA. They obviously arent that great on reading their stats (Stevie is headin to the ripe old age of 40 this year not 39 as he wishes lol).

Greg has taken Irish MMA to another level, hes fought all over the world and altho his record doesnt stand out as astonishing it doesnt reflect his recent years in MMA. He has had a long career in MMA but he never took easy fights, turned pro early on and has developed top performance both physically and mentally. I have one regret/ grudge on Greg is that he isnt fightin here anymore:( I know I cant be selfish!!!!

Urs
x

Greg has suffered from fighting back in the day when people were told not to care about their record and the UFC and big shows in general were out of touch for everyone. Plus US sites and MMA people are slowly moving towards the boxing model of hyping up fighting with perfect records or only a few losses.

It doesn't hep Greg's cause when his Sherdog record is wrong too, but again back in the day people rarely recorded their results

That being said Greg can still make it to the top and if he beats Edson Berto on April 3rd i can see good things happening to him on shows around the world. The UFC is not the be all and end all nowadays

Mrs Lynch

kainer2 wrote: »

Greg has suffered from fighting back in the day when people were told not to care about their record and the UFC and big shows in general were out of touch for everyone. Plus US sites and MMA people are slowly moving towards the boxing model of hyping up fighting with perfect records or only a few losses.

It doesn't hep Greg's cause when his Sherdog record is wrong too, but again back in the day people rarely recorded their results

That being said Greg can still make it to the top and if he beats Edson Berto on April 3rd i can see good things happening to him on shows around the world. The UFC is not the be all and end all nowadays

Hi Ian great to hear from you visiting the Irish sites you never take the eye of the ball lol;) (Hope ur well!!!!)

It is a disappointing that he has had it all against him but quiet man as he is the talkin will be done in the cage against Berto and I hav every faith that he and Mr P will pull it off

Urs
x

p.s. on another note its vital anyone posting records do it right!!!!

da-bres

dlofnep wrote: »

I think what's letting Ireland down is the lack of wrestling. We have some good strikers here - but we seriously need a wrestling circuit setup to improve the level of wrestling here.

agreed, a national league would be awesome..

cowzerp

da-bres wrote: »

agreed, a national league would be awesome..

not enough fighters for that

ginoginelli

Id love to see wrestling or judo introduced in schools. I know if it had been an option available to me instead of football/rugby etc - both myself and a large portion of my classmates would have jumped at the chance to train or compete.

cletus

not quite the same, but a couple of school offer bjj

Sid_Justice

America is at an advantage because it seems almost every school and college have a wrestling team. So you get these guys that have been wrestling since they were 7 going through all that effort and dedication to compete and wrestle and make weight and get strong all the way up to their mid twenties. Then, either they go to the Olympics or give up! So MMA was able to recruit these super dedicated athletic guys with this massive base in collegiate wrestling.

Ireland on the other hand, has hardly any wrestling. We do have boxing, but it's rare for a guy who has been boxing from the age of 7 up to his mid twenties to make that switch to MMA so far (Cowzer the exception).

It would appear that all our MMA guys take up the sport totally new at the age of 18 (or older, much older in certain cases). Some come from traditional Martial arts background (which, at the end of the day, counts for very little). In fact, it's even rare for rugby players (those really, strong, athletic (but often really really heavy) guys to make the swtich to mma.

So I don't think it's as simple as america wrestles and we don't it's more the fact our MMA guys start from scratch at 20 but the typical Uriah fabber has 100 wrestling matches under his belt at that stage.

On the point of Judo/bjj/wrestling in the schools. There is definitely a difference between having a 1.5 hour class a week in a school on a modular basis (as currently is in a few schools) and having 50 guys wrestling 3/4 ( or more) times a week.

Raze_them_all

Sid_Justice wrote: »

America is at an advantage because it seems almost every school and college have a wrestling team. So you get these guys that have been wrestling since they were 7 going through all that effort and dedication to compete and wrestle and make weight and get strong all the way up to their mid twenties. Then, either they go to the Olympics or give up! So MMA was able to recruit these super dedicated athletic guys with this massive base in collegiate wrestling.

Ireland on the other hand, has hardly any wrestling. We do have boxing, but it's rare for a guy who has been boxing from the age of 7 up to his mid twenties to make that switch to MMA so far (Cowzer the exception).

It would appear that all our MMA guys take up the sport totally new at the age of 18 (or older, much older in certain cases). Some come from traditional Martial arts background (which, at the end of the day, counts for very little). In fact, it's even rare for rugby players (those really, strong, athletic (but often really really heavy) guys to make the swtich to mma.

So I don't think it's as simple as america wrestles and we don't it's more the fact our MMA guys start from scratch at 20 but the typical Uriah fabber has 100 wrestling matches under his belt at that stage.

On the point of Judo/bjj/wrestling in the schools. There is definitely a difference between having a 1.5 hour class a week in a school on a modular basis (as currently is in a few schools) and having 50 guys wrestling 3/4 ( or more) times a week.

Cathal Prendrent is the blueprint of what rugby players can do in mma

baz123

you guys are very much on the money with these last comments. Tune in tomorrow night to 'Punchin and Crunchin' to see what Marcus Davis had to say about it all and Irish MMA.

UltimateMale

Sid_Justice wrote: »

America is at an advantage because it seems almost every school and college have a wrestling team. So you get these guys that have been wrestling since they were 7 going through all that effort and dedication to compete and wrestle and make weight and get strong all the way up to their mid twenties. Then, either they go to the Olympics or give up! So MMA was able to recruit these super dedicated athletic guys with this massive base in collegiate wrestling.

Ireland on the other hand, has hardly any wrestling. We do have boxing, but it's rare for a guy who has been boxing from the age of 7 up to his mid twenties to make that switch to MMA so far (Cowzer the exception).

It would appear that all our MMA guys take up the sport totally new at the age of 18 (or older, much older in certain cases). Some come from traditional Martial arts background (which, at the end of the day, counts for very little). In fact, it's even rare for rugby players (those really, strong, athletic (but often really really heavy) guys to make the swtich to mma.

So I don't think it's as simple as america wrestles and we don't it's more the fact our MMA guys start from scratch at 20 but the typical Uriah fabber has 100 wrestling matches under his belt at that stage.

On the point of Judo/bjj/wrestling in the schools. There is definitely a difference between having a 1.5 hour class a week in a school on a modular basis (as currently is in a few schools) and having 50 guys wrestling 3/4 ( or more) times a week.

While I agree with much you have to say, " Some come from traditional Martial arts background (which, at the end of the day, counts for very little). " is a breathtaking statement :eek:.

Striking TMA - TKD, Karate, Kung Fu etc Though not as good as Muay Thai, you certainly can learn to strike and with the range of kicking and punching you have developed, a fella can easy adapt to MMA, easy. GSP is from a Karate background, so was Chuck Liddell, not to mention Irish mega stars :)like Tim Murphy and Mark Leonard from TKD.

Grappling TMA, Judo, same thing adapting to BJJ especially and to a lesser extent Wrestling. Indeed it could be said that Wrestling is a TMA as it does not encompass striking, BJJ submissions etc

Wrestlers are not the be all and end all ( is that your base ? ). Learning to strike whether hands and feet can be as difficult for a grappler ( Wrestling/Judo/BJJer ) as grappling is for the striker ( Muay Thai/Karate/Kung Fu/Boxer ).

Sid_Justice

Just based on what I've heard people like Mark Leonard and Tim Murphy say(TKD 2nd/3rd dans)

TKD did not give them much advantages starting out in MMA. I won't put words in their mouth though, maybe they'll confirm for us here.

I'll speculate that outside of athleticism semi-contact sparring/light contact sparring/points sparring based martial arts offer very little to the development of a mixed martial artist in the grand scheme of things. Maybe the first couple of weeks they may have an advantage due to experience 'sparring'. And if your TMA doesn't have any sparring than it is without doubt, completely useless.