Young Mullingar MMA stars return from Worlds with medal haul

A large crowd of parents, supporters and well-wishers turned out at the headquarters of Relentless Martial Arts, Brosna Business Park, Mullingar, earlier this evening, to welcome home six of the club’s young MMA stars who impressed at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation World Championships in Abu Dhabi during the week.

Emily Hannick (12), Olivia Babiarz (13), Cadhlá Gilhooley (12), Tyler Byrne (12) and sisters Ali (16) and Molly Syron (12) did their club, town and country proud at the championships.

Emily and Olivia won gold medals in their grades, while Ali and Molly picked up bronze medals. Cadhlá, meanwhile, raised eyebrows by getting the fastest stoppage in competition last Wednesday, stopping her opponent in 38 seconds.

Coaches Alan and Danni McCormack of the Relentless Martial Arts Centre said that they were hugely proud of all six participants, whose haul of four medals amounted to 40 percent of those won by Team Ireland at the championships, across all grades.

They prevailed despite facing stiff competition from the MMA powerhouses of Ukraine, the United States and Tajikistan, among other countries.

Alan and Danni hope that Ireland’s continued success in the sport internationally will convince Sport Ireland to recognise mixed martial arts as a sport and to fund it accordingly. Team Ireland, including the Mullingar contingent, had to fund their own trip to the United Arab Emirates on GoFundMe.

In total, the Mullingar fighters needed to raise €12,000 to participate in the championships.

“We needed €12,000, but we raised €15,000 in the end and we needed every penny of it,” Danni McCormack told the Westmeath Examiner. “We’re so grateful to everyone who supported our GoFundMe – particularly the business community in Mullingar, who were very generous to us.”