The IP night

We had the first TUF challenge in the gym last night, and I’m confident that it will be the first of many such nights. It was a geat success for all involved whether you were a coach, spectator or fighter. The rules and safety equipment meant that all of the guys came out (more or less) unscathed and the crowd went home entertained. Team Dee-struction took the hounours in the TUF team challenge, winning 6 fights to 5 so it couldn’t have been closer. Most of the fights went to a judge’s decision which was a surprise in the MMA fights, but we still had plenty of finishes and spectacular entertainment. It’s my hope that people take the experience of fighting in the ring tonight, turn their training up a notch and perhaps take it to the next level.

Thanks to official time and results keeper Martin for the official results below. I’ve added some brief reviews. Enjoy!

Fight 1 (MMA)

Grant Carroll defeats Jake Whelan via Guillotine choke at 30 seconds of round 1- Grant comes out aggressively, stinging jake with some punches and a leg kick, Jake responds with some leg kicks of his own and then shoots for the double leg. Grant defends successfully and catches the guillotine. Well done to Jake who isn’t as experienced as Grant for taking him on.

Fight 2 (MMA)
Hugh Murray defeats Darragh Murphy via Armbar at 2 minutes and 4 seconds of round 1- A really good contest from the two youngest guys in the senior class, aged just 16. A short stand-up exchange followed by a takedown and after some good top control, Hugh gets the armbar for the win.

Fight 3 (MUAY THAI)
Dave Molloy defeats Karol Kawczynski via judges decision- A bit of a surprise here as we were expecting this to be a bit closer. Dave started well and remained much calmer than Karol, who teeped well but took a lot of leg kicks throughout and took the decision 2 rounds to 1.

Fight 4 (BJJ)
Will Heffernan defeats Andy Brady via judges decision- This one was likely to be decided by who got top position first, and it was Will who took top and dominated the fight, and with a bit more technical knowledge might have finished earlier.

Fight 5 (BJJ)
Tom Dargle defeats Grant Carroll via judges decision- David versus Goliath here, with the roles reversed as everyone cheered for Goliath. This was a good BJJ match with Tom taking a win based on a strong start though Grant came back to make the match a tight call.

Fight 6 (BJJ)
Stephen Redmond defeats Tony Byrne via judges decision- Another good technical match. Tony took the early takedown but Stephen showed some good guard play to notch up some points for submission attempts and took the decision.

Fight 7 (MUAY THAI)
Piotar Gredczyszym defeats Stephen Griffin via judges decision- Piotr came out strong and aggressive and never took his foot off the pedal for the three rounds. Steve was a bit swamped by the onslaught but came back with a stronger last round.

Fight 8 (MMA)
Colin English defeats Aaron Smith via judges decision- This was easily the fight of the night as the lads came out determined to put on a stand up war in the first. Heavy shots by both men had the crowd oohing and ahhing but one big right hand by Colin made Aaron change tack and he took it to the mat. The second was more of the same with some heavy shots followed by a ground battle. The to and fro meant that whoever took the third round would be the winner and Colin edged a jiu jitsu battle to take the decision. Some more heavy shots of another kind were taken at the bar later in celebration.

Fight 9 (MUAY THAI)
Grant Carroll defeats Simon Nazurek via referee stoppage at 32 seconds of round 3- Not the most technical match in the history of combat, but boy was it entertaining. Simon came out swinging and with huge aggression and took the first round. But Grant weathered the storm  and began to pick his shots in the second, landing a nice head kick and some heavy knees. Simon took a standing 8 count and began showing signs of his first round exertions and in the third, exhaustion took over and Paddy gave the match to Grant

Fight 10 (MMA)
Przemek ‘Shayne’ Mucha defeats Steve Griffin via armbar at 2 minutes and 2 seconds of round 2- Big man Shayn had no opponent as of Tuesday, and Steve was looking for an extra match-up so this match was made out of the blue and didn’t contribute to the team score. Shayn used his jab to keep Steve under pressure for the first round, with Steve defending a takedown attempt and landing some nice leg kicks. Shayn took it to the mat in the second after a flurry of punches in the corner and finished with an armbar.

Fight 11 (MMA)
Will Heffernan defeats Tom Dargle via Kimura at 2 minutes and 35 seconds of round 1- I introduced the lads as having never turned down a hot dinner and as the man who has kept the beef industry alive since the 70s. This turned out to be a short fight thanks to Will’s aggression, big jab and Tom’s course of antibiotics. They can do it again in sparring soon.

Fight 12 (MMA)
Robbie Sheridan defeats Ger Gleeson via judges decision- a close contender for fight of the night, this one went right to the wire. Robbie respected Ger’s superior stand up skills and tried to get the fight to the mat at every available opportunity, but was often frustrated by Ger’s excellent bottom game. The fight came down to the final round in which Robbie’s supeior conditioning showed and he was able to dominate for a win on the judge’s scorecard.

Fight of the night: Aaron Smith vs Colin English

Fighter of the night: Grant “Harder Than Chinese Algebra” Carroll