Clan Wars

Clan Wars is fast becoming one top shows in the Emerald Isle!

Clan Wars started as an in-house competition in Jan 2009 for the IFS fight team, the IFS gym invited other like minded clubs to the show which was a huge success, before IFS knew it they were receiving emails from clubs all over the country looking to compete in this new event!

With the explosion of interest the IFS gym had no other choice but to hold an official MMA event in a bigger venue which was the official birth of the Clan Wars Mixed Martial Arts shows we know today.

"Clan Wars started off in the back changing room of a local martial arts club with around 50-60 friends and family down to support the fighters, 2 years and 5 shows later Clan Wars is a house hold name with International fighters and a regular crowd of thousands of fans."

To run a fully professional show with the highest quality and safety standards the Clan Wars team sought the help and sanctioning from the world renowned ISKA. For Clan Wars the ISKA demanded the highest standards in quality, professionalism and safety which is exactly what the show was after. After months of hard work meeting the stringent requirements of the ISKA Clan Wars was approved as the only show in Ireland to receive full ISKA MMA sanctioning.

Clan Wars has been working hand in hand with the ISKA ever since and has been receiving world wide recognition because of the standard and quality the Clan Wars show offers to the sport, Clan Wars has also been nominated for best MMA event of the year by the ISKA and nominated for best Irish MMA event of the year on the Irish forums. The relationship with the ISKA works two fold as the ISKA are strongly linked to Dream and Strikeforce where the promoters from these huge shows are keeping a keen eye on the Clan Wars show for new up and coming big show contenders!

Clan Wars success has brought the show to running 2 events, a main Clan Wars show that features top Irish and International fighters and a Challenger show that is a feeder show for new up and coming fighters to shine. On the 14th of Jan 2011 Clan Wars will host the first of their feeder shows at the Sense Super Club in the Glenavon House hotel with a huge professional show in May.

The event has been receiving great reviews

“This is getting ridiculous because I just want to blurt those two words out, "great show" around the clock. As a professional fight photographer who has been lucky enough to earn... the coveted blue vest of MGM ringside photographer Las Vegas, one also lucky enough to have rested my elbows on the ring canvas of Madison Square Garden NYC and I’ve lost count of all the truly spectacular title fights I have covered domestically I just have to say......... no scream out "Awesome, you guys rock! Sean Keatings

I knew Clan Wars 3 was going to be an improvement to the last show and speaking to Paul Mc Laughlin and Chris Tweed the Clan Wars promoters I knew they had put in a lot of time and effort into planning. Yet again the Clan Wars team comes up trumps on the professionalism and quality of the show, it’s no wonder they are getting the recognition with many of the top flight UK MMA magazines and have guys from all over Europe looking to get involved with this top event.
Marc Turbitt, Daily Mirror.

The fights themselves where fantastic, it was good to see some of the amateurs getting a run out at the start of the night to get the chance to fight in front of a capacity crowd. The headline Amateur fight was for the featherweight ISKA Amateur Irish Title between Joe Fry from the IFS gym in Antrim and Ryan Martin from the IMMA gym in Ballymena run by Rodney Moore. Ryan had done his homework and knew Joe was a fast submission fighter so tied the fight up well, Joe was unable to show his submission skills but put his Judo and wrestling to good use by controlling the fight in a dominant position and racking up the points with striking from side control.

Also invited as special guests to the show was the multiple BJJ World Champion Leo Negao and head instructor of the Urban Krav Maga street defence system and Senior BCA instructor Stewart Mc Gill. Leo and Stewart were called to the cage to present the title belt to Joe Fry with a load eruption of applause and cheering, the fans definitely appreciated the achievements of these two Martial Artists.

The C-class fights seen a step up in action with some excellent battles that went back and forward with excellent displays of well rounded MMA from good striking to great submissions.

After the C-class fights it was the chance for the Pro fighters to step up to the cage and show their skills, the Pro fighters were fighting with full pro rules which includes elbows on the ground. The first fight was the semi-final for the welterweight title between Richard Gorey from Kilkenny Top Pro and Mike Reid from Gracie Barra in Belfast . Richard Gorey was the favorite for this fight and probably the favorite to take the ISKA Pro Welterweight title with a perfect 4-0 record. This fight turned out to be fight of the night with it going back and forward with both striking and grappling, Mike Reid pulled off one of the best armbar reversals seen in a long time and managed to get back to his feet. This was a true battle although in the end Mike was able to capitalize from the mount and finish Gorey with Ground and pound!

The second semi-finals was between Mervyn Muholland from Juku Ryu Ju Jitsu in Larne against Mark Gibson from Elite 400 in Craigavon. This fight had all the markings for another war with the two fighters well up for it. The fight started with a flying knee from Mervyn to which Mark was able to dodge and secure a good takedown. Mark is a well-conditioned fighter and has strong wrestling but Mervyn is a strong grappler with slick submissions and caught Mark In an armbar to secure his place in the welterweight finals.

The final bout of the night seen the rematch between light weight fighters Alan Hannon from Combat Sports Centre Limerick against Darren Hughes from Sudden Impact in Magherafelt, this was a rematch for these two lads after a previous war a few years ago so both fighters were hungry for the win. This fight lived up to expectations also with it going back and forward with some awesome striking and ground skills, both guys were battered and bruised by the end of the contest. Darren Hughes hailed victor with a unanimous decision. The Clan Wars MMA event seems to have fantastic momentum and drive to keep improving and each event just keeps getting bigger and better. More info on Clan Wars can be found at www.clanwarspromotions.com

Alan Orr is a disciple of Robert Chu Sifu and the European representative of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system.

Teacher of Tui Na Chinese Massage Therapy

He is also the European representative for Guro Mark Wiley in the Filipino martial arts and Sensei Eddy Millis of Shark Tank in NHB/Grappling. MMA Fight Coaching.

www.alanorr.com
www.thechinesemedicineacademy.co.uk
www.warriorfunctionaltraining.com

For further information Tel: 07958 908 196 or email: info@alanorr.co.uk