Conor McGregor rescues Portarlington MMA gym forced to close due to Covid-19 crisis
The Notorious offers financial lifeline to club dealt knockout blow during pandemic
Reporter: );
);
Irish MMA star Conor McGregor has thrown a lifeline to a Laois MMA gym threatened with permanent closure due to the Covid-19 crisis.
SBG Portarlington, which has been in operation for four years at the town s Riverside Commercial Park, shut its doors for what its owners thought would be the last time on Friday evening.
The outfit is run by Portarlington man, professional mixed martial artist Philip Mulpeter, and his wife Alvina, and has over 200 members drawn from Kildare, Laois and Offaly.
In the shadow of the Burj Khalifa, the world s tallest building, Galbally native Jason Kearns makes his way through a host of spotlights into a temporarily constructed cage, marked with the logo of HFC - Human Fighting Championship. With Maniac 2000 blaring in the background, he s a man utterly focused on the task at hand - his first professional MMA fight.
For Jason it s been a relatively short journey. In a lot of ways he s come to the game late. While probably on the older side for a rookie at 28, he s enjoyed a fairly meteoric rise in the sport having made it from his first amateur event to his first pro fight in just two years. Given this rapid progress, he s hopeful of leaving his mark on the sport yet, following in the footsteps of fellow Wexford man Brian Moore who is making high profile fights with Bellator.