Tag: Dublin

UFC Pay-Per-View In Dublin May Be Closer Than You Think

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor may just get his wish of a future title defense it his hometown of Dublin, Ireland in the near future. In a recent interview, UFC Executive James Elliot spoke on a possible Dublin pay-per-view (PPV) event in Croke Park or Aviva Stadium: “Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium are two

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UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor may just get his wish of a future title defense it his hometown of Dublin, Ireland in the near future.

In a recent interview, UFC Executive James Elliot spoke on a possible Dublin pay-per-view (PPV) event in Croke Park or Aviva Stadium:

“Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium are two places that we’ve looked at, we’ve made no secret about that,” Elliot said during an interview with News Talk Dublin.

“Conor (McGregor) has certainly made no secret about the fact that he wants to fight in Dublin. It’s something that’s on the agenda.

While Elliot stated that some moving parts still need to fall into place, the UFC may not be that far off from the long awaited Dublin PPV event:

“The numbers are getting closer in terms of how we could make it work, there’s still a lot of moving parts … I feel we’re not that far away, certainly within the 18-month time frame, that’s something that we’re focused on,” he said.

Given Dublin’s history of record setting ticket sales, UFC brass was moved to make the big push for what should be a massive Dublin event according to Elliot:

“We’ve sold out the two shows in Dublin in record time, even when the card was decimated through injuries in October — the fans still turned out and supported us really well,” Elliot said.

“That did not go unnoticed by everybody in Vegas. We certainly understand how big the fanbase is in Ireland, and how big it could be.”

While it’s no secret the UFC has been adamant on expanding it’s European market, the presence of ‘The Notorious One’ certainly will play a huge factor in the promotion’s Dublin pitch:

“It would be a fantastic brand play for us to have a big numbered event in Europe.” Elliot said. “It’s something that we’re definitely focused on. It’s very easy for us to see what it could do for our business — we just need to convince the right people that it’s the right thing to do at the right time.”

A PPV event in Dublin would no doubt do huge numbers, and the possibility of having McGregor defend his 145-pound strap on the card would certainly be the UFC’s targeted headliner. That is considering he remains in the featherweight division…

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Conor McGregor Wanted To Fight Ben Henderson With One Weird Catch

Although UFC president Dana White continuously denies it, it appears as if there could be a hole in the relationship of the promotion and their biggest star, reigning 145-pound title holder the “Notorious” Conor McGregor. This theory was never more evident than it was earlier this week when the UFC pulled McGregor from his scheduled

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Although UFC president Dana White continuously denies it, it appears as if there could be a hole in the relationship of the promotion and their biggest star, reigning 145-pound title holder the “Notorious” Conor McGregor.

This theory was never more evident than it was earlier this week when the UFC pulled McGregor from his scheduled UFC 200 (July 9, 2016) headliner against Nate Diaz after McGregor refused to participate in all of the company’s promotional demands.

The brash and outspoken Irishman has repeatedly spoken on his drawing power, also constantly noting that he’s on course to be ‘neck and neck’ with the UFC brass in terms of promotional hierarchy.

On top of that, the “Notorious” has also tossed around the idea of self-promoting his own fight at some point, a simply outlandish idea.

In fact, according to former fighter turned analyst Chael Sonnen, McGregor’s ultimate goal is to self-promote.

“The American Gangster” even went as far as to say that the “Notorious” one was interested in fighting former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland prior to Henderson’s signing with Bellator:

“I don’t know what his future is. I can tell you what he wants it to be. I can tell you what his vision is. Everyone’s got a vision and a dream, all you people do too. He’s no different. He wants to do self-promotions. He wants to become a promoter. He believes that he could book Croke Park and sell it out. There was a time even when there was a little bit of discussion going on (about) that. Sonnen said on a recent episode of Beyond the Fight.

“I believe he reserved some name, ‘McGregor Promotions’ or something silly like that. And Ben Henderson was floating around, he wasn’t under contract with anybody. Now he’s under contract with Bellator, but for a minute he wasn’t. Conor thought ‘well look, I’m gonna do my own promotion, I can sell out Croke Park right in my hometown. I can find some TV sponsor to partner up with me, and I’ve got an opponent, his name is Ben Henderson.’

While Sonnen’s claims likely aren’t too realistic, nothing can be counted out for McGregor, who has changed the game of mixed martial arts in just a few years.

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RIP Joao Carvalho, MMA Fighter Dies Following KO Loss In Dublin

The tragic circumstances surrounding Joao Carvalho’s last mixed martial arts fight may be disturbing to some, but it’s a story that needs to be told. At this weekend’s ‘TEF’ event in Dublin, Ireland, young MMA hopefuls Joao Carvalho and Charlie Ward faced off in a three round fight. Carvalho, of Portugal, travelled to the national

The post RIP Joao Carvalho, MMA Fighter Dies Following KO Loss In Dublin appeared first on LowKick MMA.

The tragic circumstances surrounding Joao Carvalho’s last mixed martial arts fight may be disturbing to some, but it’s a story that needs to be told. At this weekend’s ‘TEF’ event in Dublin, Ireland, young MMA hopefuls Joao Carvalho and Charlie Ward faced off in a three round fight. Carvalho, of Portugal, travelled to the national arena in Dublin to face Ward in front of the Irishman’s home crowd. The fight went in to the third and final round, where Ward rallied for a hard fought TKO win. Sadly, Carvalho began suffering the side effects of concussion/compression, including nausea and headaches, and was rushed to the Beaumont hospital.

Carvalho remained in critical condition for 48 hours as doctors attempted emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on the fighter’s brain, but alas they were sadly unsuccessful. As per the Team Nobrega, Carvalho’s gym, he tragically passed away n the late hours of last night:

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“It is with great sorrow and sadness that we write these words, that the death of the athlete Joao Carvalho happened after 48 hours in critical condition,” the statement read.

“On the site (Carvalho) was immediately assisted by the medical team this, and then quickly transported to the hospital Beaumont, where he was subjected to a brain surgical intervention, after which the athlete remained in critical condition during the 48 hours following, eventually passed away on this Monday the 21:35 hours.”

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As Charlie Ward is a team mate of UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor, ‘The Notorious’ was in attendance at the event when the fight went down. He offered his opinion, stating the ‘Referee should have stopped it sooner, I feel like these referees need to be a bit more on the ball.’ The promotion released an official statement on the harrowing news of Carvalho’s passing, as per SevereMMA:

“The doctors checked him between each round and each time he gave a full response to them. He responded to each question. He was asked where he was, what round he was going in to and what day of the week it was, and all of his answers were perfect.

“When the referee stopped the fight in the third round, our team of doctors and medics looked after him as he was bleeding quite heavily from his nose. He was asked if he felt any pain or was suffering with any headaches directly after the fight, and he said he had no pain or headaches, but he did feel quite tired.

“It was explained to him that he had to visit the medical room that was set up in the venue and that he would have to go to the hospital afterwards, because the doctor recommended that he should have a CT scan after the fight. At this stage, the fighter was walking, talking and smiling. Everything seemed perfectly fine.

“After he walked back to the medical room the doctors did some tests backstage and there was nothing out of the ordinary about their results. They prepared the ambulance to take him to the hospital.

“Ten minutes later he started complaining that he was suffering from headaches. He felt a lot of nausea and he began to vomit. Five minutes later he was significantly worse so we got him into the ambulance and rang the hospital to let them know he was coming.”

This is a harrowing reminder of the harsh realities of the fight game, and also a prompt that we as fans, and also the promoters and fighters, should do away with the ‘go out on your shield’ attitude. But that’s another subject for another day, for now, we send our hopes and wishes to the family and friends of Joao Carvalho, who was tragically taken last night. RIP.

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Conor McGregor’s Former Coach Allegedly Kills 57-Year-Old Dublin Man With One Punch

A taekwondo expert who helped feahterweight champion Conor McGregor prepare for his 2015 win over Dennis Siver is currently begging for forgiveness after allegedly killing a 57-year-old Dublin man on the streets during the early hours of March 5. Jonathan Dargan, a Dublin professional MMA fighter, is accused of punching 57-year-old Paddy Mulally at approximately

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A taekwondo expert who helped feahterweight champion Conor McGregor prepare for his 2015 win over Dennis Siver is currently begging for forgiveness after allegedly killing a 57-year-old Dublin man on the streets during the early hours of March 5.

Jonathan Dargan, a Dublin professional MMA fighter, is accused of punching 57-year-old Paddy Mulally at approximately 3:30 a.m. on March 5 after Mulally tried to intervene between Dargan and his girlfriend as they fought about Dargan’s decision to drive home after they had been drinking since 8 p.m. the previous evening. A former Guinness employee, Mulally had just celebrated his retirement and decided to stop for a drink at Peggy Kelly’s in Harold’s Cross when he spotted Dargan and his girlfriend in the parking lot.

He was struck by a punch and died from hitting his head. In response, Dargan appears heartbroken when discussing the incident with Independent.IE, apologizing profusely to Mulally’s family for what he called a genuine mistake:

“I’m so sorry. It was an accident. I’m devastated and heartbroken for that man and his family. All I can say is I’m crushed,” said Dargan.
“If I could take back everything that happened that night I would, but all I can do is beg his family for their forgiveness. It was a genuine mistake.”

The article also stated that Dargan had no recollection of the encounter and went to his job the next day as if nothing had happened. The accused and guilt-ridden martial artist had no prior arrests and was not known as a serious drinker, but it was thought that he had become emotional when someone reminded him of the still-open court case where his mother was fatally shot and his sister was wounded two years prior.

The article went on to describe the muddy details of the situation with one source saying that Dargan had been out with his girlfriend at an Adele concert and intended on leaving his car, but got into it in the early morning hours, and that was when the fight was refueled:

“His girlfriend had been pleading with him not to drive but he was too far gone to listen. It was 3.30am and Jonathan had been drinking since 8pm,” the source said.

“He pulled over in Harold’s Cross and she got out of the car. He went back to try and convince her to get back into the car and found her at a bus stop, and the argument started again.”

The source also revealed that Dargan was allegedly approached by a man on a bicycle, who questioned what was happening before two other individual supposedly became involved.

Dargan allegedly cursed at the bicycle rider before hitting the second man and was grabbed by a third party who tried to drag him away from the encounter. He then believed that he wrestled free of that person’s grip and hit Mulally before getting back into his vehicle with his girlfriend.

The Irish police contacted Dargan about the fight when he drove home after work the next night, telling him that they were on the lookout for silver cars that were out the night before. It was at that point that Dargan told the gardai he believed that he was the man they were looking for. He was taken to Tenenure Garda Station and questioned, but no charges were formally filed.

A file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

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Jose Aldo, Conor McGregor Nearly Come to Blows at Press Conference in Dublin

UFC featherweight contender Conor McGregor gave Irish fans quite a treat on the final leg of the 10-city world tour to promote his upcoming fight with champion Jose Aldo at UFC 189. In front of a raucous crowd in Dublin, Aldo declared himself the “King of Dublin,” through his translator. “When I got here it was […]

UFC featherweight contender Conor McGregor gave Irish fans quite a treat on the final leg of the 10-city world tour to promote his upcoming fight with champion Jose Aldo at UFC 189. In front of a raucous crowd in Dublin, Aldo declared himself the “King of Dublin,” through his translator. “When I got here it was […]

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Conor McGregor Gets LeBron James-Like Mural in Dublin

Every king needs a mural. NBA superstar LeBron James has one in Cleveland, and now deep in the heart of Dublin, UFC featherweight Conor McGregor can admire a larger-than-life image of himself engulfed in flames on the side of a building on O’Connell Street. And to think it was just a little over a year […]

Every king needs a mural. NBA superstar LeBron James has one in Cleveland, and now deep in the heart of Dublin, UFC featherweight Conor McGregor can admire a larger-than-life image of himself engulfed in flames on the side of a building on O’Connell Street. And to think it was just a little over a year […]

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