Cage Warriors and The Irish MMA Revolution(s)

 

It's often hard to pin down exactly when and where a revolution starts. There isn't always one specific point in the timeline that stands out amongst others, or conversely there are too many, and you're spoiled for choice. 

That isn't the case for December 31st, 2012 though. That was definitive. Indisputable. 

That was the day that the Irish MMA revolution began. 

A sliding left hook from Conor McGregor, a shower of beer and celebrations that lasted well into the New Year. 

But when clubs had all kicked out, the dust had settled and the hangovers subsided, that's when the real work began, and Cage Warriors was in the midst of it. 

When company President Graham Boylan rescued the fledgling IP in 2010 (infamously acquiring just the brand name, three boxes of video footage and Matchmaking genius Ian Dean), a key aspect of his plan to right the ship was turning back to his Irish roots. 

With regular returns to the Emerald Isle, Cage Warriors became the launch pad for the first wave of the Irish MMA revolution, with McGregor's double-title win acting as its catalyst. 

Ais Daly, Chris Fields, Cathal Pendred, Paul Redmond, Neil Seery...they all rode the CW wave to TUF or the UFC. 

Irish MMA wasn't just flavour of the month, it was a cultural touchstone. McGregor replicating his success as a Cage Warriors double champion in the UFC, backed by a sea of CW graduates and the UFC returning to Ireland inspired a new generation of athletes.

Once again, Cage Warriors was there to platform them. 

Starry-eyed kids were looking to follow in the first generation's footsteps. The likes of Ian Garry, Paul Hughes, Rhys McKee and Caolan Loughran made the formative steps of their Cage Warriors careers, looking to retread the tried and true path through the promotion to the top of the sport.

One by one, 'The Future', 'Skeletor', 'Big News' and 'The Don' captured that coveted CW gold that has done so much for the careers of so many. 

One by one they made the transition from local heroes to global stars on a one of the largest international broadcast platforms in Mixed Martial Arts. 

With Boylan and Cage Warriors now committed to laying the foundations for yet another wave of Irish talent to ascend to the dizzy heights of the world's largest MMA promotions, it's worth considering just how different the sport might look without CW's efforts on the Emerald Isle.