A new MMA promotion kicks off on Saturday night and Cathal Pendred explains why you should go along.
On Saturday night a new MMA promotion will host its first event in our very own city of Dublin. Euro Fight Night (EFN) takes place at the Pavillion, Red Cow Hotel and there’s an exciting night of fights lined up with a mix of both amateur and professional bouts.
As a fighter, before you get to the bigger show you have to pave your way through smaller regional shows, gain valuable experience, and make a bit of a name for yourself. For the moment EFN seems to be a mix between a regional show and a bigger show.
In my opinion this gives the spectator a great taste of what MMA has to offer. In the amateur bouts, some of the brightest up and coming Irish talents are on show. These young fighters are going to be the future of MMA in Ireland. In a couple of years down the line these are the people that will be hungry young professionals vying for a contract from the UFC.
On top of that, there are some professional fights too. The event is headlined by Johnny Dargan, who is making his professional debut against Frenchman Anthony Burger. For those of you not familiar with Dargan, he is the head honcho on the door of Dublin’s Lillie’s night club. That’ll toughen anyone up. Add this to the fact that Dargan is a very experienced Tae Kwan Do black belt, (having competed on the world stage many times representing Ireland), and you’ve got a man that’s not to be messed with.
Many of the fighters on this show are my team mates from SBG. EFN is an event being run by my coach John Kavanagh. John used to run MMA events in Dublin years ago, before there were any other shows around (another reason why he warrants the name ‘The Godfather of Irish MMA’).
He said he’s started EFN because it all just fell into place, but another major reason is that there are so many fighters competing in SBG now, that he finds in difficult to get them all matched up on the shows that are hosted around the country. So he’s provided not just a great event for spectators to see some great MMA and Irish talent showcased, but he’s also providing a platform for these fighters so they can progress their careers.
As if all that wasn’t enough! There’s also a team of Icelandic fighters coming over to fight on the night. These guys are from Gunnar Nelson’s gym and are all highly skilled and very tough. They’re taking on some of the best fighters from around the country in what should make for some exciting fights.
The whole event is being kicked off with an amateur fight which includes JOE.ie’s own Mike Sheridan (the big angry editor). Mike has willingly volunteered for what is a very scary challenge. With just 12 weeks of training in MMA, he is going to compete in a fight on an event in front a big crowd.
At the same time Mike has been followed by cameras as his whole experience is being captured for a documentary which will broadcast on Setanta Sports later this year. The documentary, entitled ‘Barbaric Gentlemen’, shows the training that is involved in being an MMA fighter and also features many of the big names in Irish MMA including John Kavanagh, Owen Roddy, Aisling Daly, Conor McGregor and myself.
I tip my hat to Mike for getting this far, having endured those 12 weeks of training and competing in an MMA event after such a short amount of time is not only admirable but also a little crazy. At this stage he’s already a winner, Saturday night is just incidental.
Finally, I’d like to wish all the competitors that are fighting on Saturday night the best of luck. I’m excited for the event, which is lined up to be a cracker. For anyone that would be interested in taking in a night of fights and have a bit of craic, I’d definitely recommend going. I believe there are still a few tickets available, which you can buy here.
