Straight Blast Gym - Ireland
 | |
| Est. | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Founded by | John Kavanagh |
| Primary trainers |
John Kavanagh (head coach) Owen Roddy (striking) Philip Mulpeter (fitness) Sergey Pikulskiy (wrestling) Karl Cannon (Muay Thai) Tom King (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) Clive Staunton (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) |
| Current titleholders |
Conor McGregor Ultimate Fighting Championship (Lightweight Champion: 2016) |
| Past titleholders |
Conor McGregor Ultimate Fighting Championship (Featherweight Champion: 2015-2016) Cage Warriors Fighting Championship (Featherweight Champion: 2012) Cage Warriors Fighting Championship (Lightweight Champion: 2012) Cathal Pendred Cage Warriors Fighting Championship (Welterweight Champion: 2013) Frans Mlambo IMMAF World Championships (Featherweight Champion: 2015) John Phillips BAMMA (Middleweight Champion: 2016) |
| Training facilities | Dublin, Ireland |
| Website |
www |
Straight Blast Gym – Ireland, known simply as SBG, is a mixed martial arts academy and professional team based in Dublin, Ireland. It is run by John Kavanagh, and is part of Straight Blast Gym International.[1] The team has produced several Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters, including UFC Featherweight and Lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
History
The gym was founded in 2001 by John Kavanagh, who at the time was self-taught in martial arts. Later that year it became part of Matt Thornton's Straight Blast Gym International (SBGi), a worldwide association of over 35 gyms, after Kavanagh met Thornton at a tournament in Africa. After partnering with SBGi, Thornton awarded Kavanagh his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) purple belt in 2002. Three years later, Kavanagh won gold at the 2005 European BJJ Championship. In 2007, he was awarded his BJJ black belt, making Kavanagh Ireland's first ever BJJ black belt in the process.[2]
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In 2009, Tom Egan became SBG's first ever fighter to compete in the UFC. Egan lost to John Hathaway at UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson in Dublin. It wasn't until 2012 that SBG returned to the UFC, when Gunnar Nelson made his debut against DaMarques Johnson at UFC on Fuel TV: Struve vs. Miocic, winning via first-round rear-naked choke. The following year, Conor McGregor made his debut in Sweden. He defeated Marcus Brimage with a first-round knockout, and marked the beginning of a new era of success for the team.[3]
At UFC 189 on July 11 2015, SBG won their first UFC belt. In the main event of the evening, Conor McGregor had been booked to face Jose Aldo for the UFC Featherweight title. Aldo pulled out of the fight due to a rib injury however, meaning McGregor instead faced Chad Mendes for the interim title. McGregor won the fight via second-round TKO, on a card that also featured a loss and a victory for SBG fighters Cathal Pendred and Gunnar Nelson respectively.[4]
At UFC 194, an event which set numerous records,[5] Conor McGregor finally got the chance to become the undisputed UFC Featherweight champion, and unify his belt against José Aldo who had been undefeated in over ten years. It took McGregor only 13 seconds to KO the Brazilian, making it the fastest ever finish in a UFC championship match.[6]
The Ultimate Fighter
Following McGregor's interim title win at UFC 189, the UFC announced that he would be coaching against Urijah Faber in Season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter.[7] In a "Europe vs USA" themed installment, McGregor was aided by his SBG coaches, Sergey Pikulskiy, Owen Roddy, Arkadiusz Sternalski and former SBG fighter Tom Egan who now coaches out of Peter Welch's Gym in Boston. Despite a slow start, Team Europe took six fighters into the quarter-finals, and then had three of the remaining four in the semi-finals. SBG's Artem Lobov was due to face England's Saul Rodgers in an all-European Final, but Visa issues saw Team USA's Ryan Hall replace Rodgers in the season finale, where he utilized his superior grappling to great effect, and earned a Unanimous Decision victory over Lobov.[8]
Fighters
| Status: | Name: | Weight Class: | Most Notable Promotion: |
Info: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active |  Makwan Amirkhani |
145 lb | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
Signed with UFC. Four-time Finnish medalist in Greco-Roman and Freestyle Wrestling. |
| Active |  Francisco Barrio |
145 lb | Final Fight Championship |
Signed with FFC. Five-time international medalist in Greco-Roman Wrestling. |
| Active |  Aisling Daly |
115 lb | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
Signed with UFC. Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. |
| Active | James Gallagher |
145 lb | Bellator MMA |
Signed with Bellator. Three-time European medalist and Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. |
| Retired | Patrick Holohan |
125 lb | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. |
| Active |  Taylor Lapilus |
135 - 145 lb | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
Signed with UFC. Former 100% Fight Bantamweight Champion. |
| Active |  Artem Lobov |
145 lb | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
Signed with UFC. Season 22 TUF runner-up. |
| Active | Conor McGregor |
145 - 170 lb | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
Signed with UFC. Current UFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion / Former CWFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion / Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. |
| Active |  Gunnar Nelson |
170 lb | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
Signed with UFC. Four-time international medalist and Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu / Black belt in Gōjū-ryū Karate. |
| Retired | Cathal Pendred |
170 - 185 lb | Ultimate Fighting Championship |
Former CWFC Welterweight Champion / Blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. |
| Active |  John Phillips |
185 lb | Cage Rage Championships |
Signed with BAMMA. Former BAMMA Middleweight Champion. |
| Active |  Daniele Scatizzi |
145 - 170 lb | Bellator MMA |
Signed with Bellator. Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. |
World MMA Awards
SBG and its team members have received various recognitions from The World MMA Awards:[9][10][11]
- Gym / Personnel
- 2014 Gym of the Year (nominated) SBG Concorde
- 2015 Coach of the Year (nominated) John Kavanagh
- 2015 Trainer of the Year (nominated) Ido Portal
- 2015 Gym of the Year (nominated) SBG Concorde
- Fighters
- 2013 Breakthrough Fighter of the Year (nominated) Conor McGregor
- 2013 International Fighter of the Year (nominated) Conor McGregor
- 2014 Comeback of the Year (nominated) Cathal Pendred vs. Mike King
- 2014 International Fighter of the Year (won) Conor McGregor
- 2015 Knockout of the Year (nominated) Conor McGregor vs. José Aldo
- 2015 International Fighter of the Year (won) Conor McGregor
- 2015 Fighter of the Year (won) Conor McGregor
Gyms
While John Kavanagh's gym remains SBG Ireland's official headquarters, the association has added new branches with gyms across the country. The current gyms are as follows:
Arthur Street, Belfast, Antrim.
North Point Business Park, Blackpool, Cork.
Millstreet Road, Gurteenroe, Macroom, Cork
Brookfield Terrace, Blackrock, Dublin
Century Business Park, Charlestown, Dublin |
Exchequer Street, City Centre, Dublin
Concorde Industrial Estate, Naas Road, Dublin
Main Street, Swords, Dublin
Belgard Road, Tallaght, Dublin
Mangerton View, Killarney, Kerry |
Bunree Road, Bunree, Ballina, Mayo
Kilcruttin Business Park, Tullamore, Offaly
Riverside Leisure Centre, Strabane, Tyrone
Blyry Industrial Estate, Athlone, Westmeath
Lynn Industrial Estate, Mullingar, Westmeath. |
References
- ↑ "John Kavanagh: Irish MMA's Game Changer". UFC. 6 August 2014.
- ↑ "BJJ – The cradle of MMA". Setanta Sports. 21 January 2014.
- ↑ "UFC on FUEL 9 results: Conor McGregor debuts with KO over Marcus Brimage". MMA Fighting. 6 April 2013.
- ↑ "UFC 189 results: Conor McGregor gets title with second-round TKO of Chad Mendes". MMA Junkie. 12 July 2015.
- ↑ "NSAC confirms UFC 194's record-breaking attendance, gate figures". MMA Junkie. 31 December 2015.
- ↑ "Conor McGregor's KO Breaks Ronda Rousey's Record for Fastest Title Fight Finish". Bleacher Report. 13 December 2015.
- ↑ "Conor McGregor, Urijah Faber coach Season 22 of 'The Ultimate Fighter' – U.S. vs. Europe". MMAJunkie.com. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ↑ "UFC TUF 22 Finale results: Ryan Hall puts on grappling clinic, decisions Artem Lobov to win TUF". MMA Mania. 11 December 2015.
- ↑ "2013 World MMA Awards nominees announced". MMAFighting. 31 December 2013.
- ↑ "2014 World MMA Awards nominees announced". MMAFighting. 22 December 2014.
- ↑ "World MMA Awards 2016 Results". MMAFighting. 6 February 2016.