Straight Blast Gym - Ireland

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 (Featherweight Champion: 2015)
John Phillips
BAMMA
(Middleweight Champion: 2016)
Past titleholders Conor McGregor
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)
Training facilities Dublin, Ireland
Website www.sbgireland.com

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 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 Finland Makwan Amirkhani 145 lb Ultimate Fighting
Championship		 Signed with UFC. Four-time Finnish medalist in Greco-Roman and Freestyle Wrestling.
Active Argentina Francisco Barrio 145 lb Final Fight
Championship		 Signed with FFC. Five-time international medalist in Greco-Roman Wrestling.
Active Republic of Ireland Aisling Daly 115 lb Ultimate Fighting
Championship		 Signed with UFC. Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Active Republic of Ireland James Gallagher 145 lb Bellator
MMA		 Signed with Bellator. Three-time European medalist and Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Retired Republic of Ireland Patrick Holohan 125 lb Ultimate Fighting
Championship		 Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Active France Taylor Lapilus 135 - 145 lb Ultimate Fighting
Championship		 Signed with UFC. Former 100% Fight Bantamweight Champion.
Active Republic of Ireland Conor McGregor 145 - 170 lb Ultimate Fighting
Championship		 Signed with UFC. Current UFC Featherweight Champion / Former CWFC Featherweight and Lightweight Champion / Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Active Iceland 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 Republic of Ireland Cathal Pendred 170 - 185 lb Ultimate Fighting
Championship		 Former CWFC Welterweight Champion / Blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Active Wales John Phillips 185 lb Cage Rage
Championships		 Signed with BAMMA. Current BAMMA Middleweight Champion.
Active Italy 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
Fighters

Gyms

While John Kavanagh's gym remains SBG Ireland's official headquarters, the association has added new branches with gyms across the island.[12] In March 2015, it was announced they would be expanding into Tallaght also, under the stewardship of Paddy Holohan.[13] The gyms are as follows:

  • SBG Belfast

Arthur Street, Belfast, Antrim.

  • SBG Cork City

North Point Business Park, Blackpool, Cork.

  • SBG Macroom

Millstreet Road, Gurteenroe, Macroom, Cork

  • SBG Blackrock

Brookfield Terrace, Blackrock, Dublin

  • SBG Charlestown

Century Business Park, Charlestown, Dublin
  • SBG City Centre

Exchequer Street, City Centre, Dublin

  • SBG Concorde (HQ)

Concorde Industrial Estate, Naas Road, Dublin

  • SBG Swords

Main Street, Swords, Dublin

  • SBG Killarney

Mangerton View, Killarney, Kerry

  • SBG Ballina

Bunree Road, Bunree, Ballina, Mayo
  • SBG Evolution

Kilcruttin Business Park, Tullamore, Offaly

  • SBG Strabane

Riverside Leisure Centre, Strabane, Tyrone

  • SBG Athlone Budokan

Blyry Industrial Estate, Athlone, Westmeath

  • SBG Mullingar

Lynn Industrial Estate, Mullingar, Westmeath.

References

External links

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