So I’m looking through the Sky EPG this past Tuesday night, looking for something to watch, and it was by chance that I noticed that Irish channel Premier Sports were showing MMA, and just two days before they became a subscription channel! The show in question was Cage Contender 5, held in Dublin on July 24th.The show began with action from the bantamweight division as Paul Cowzer faced Keith Coady.
The fight featured some frantic striking exchanges in the first round. Cowzer was on top for the majority of the round, and he looked like he was going to get the win after he staggered Coady.
The second round began at a slower pace, but speeded up when Cowzer dropped Coady again, this time with a left, Seconds later and Cowzer had the mount, with the referee stepping in to save Coady from his relentless ground and pound assault.
The bantamweight action continued as Paddy Holohan faced Milan Kovac.
After a great striking battle we went to the other end of the spectrum. Holohan scored with the take down early on, and after Kovac tried to get to his feet Holohan took him down again.
It wasn’t long before Holohan took Kovac’s back and synched in a rear naked choke, and with just one second left of the first round Kovac tapped, giving Holohan the win with a dominating performance.
It was up to the lightweight division for the next fight as Norman Parke went up against Tom Maguire.
Another enjoyable fight with some good ground work. Parke pulled off some good take downs in the first round, be he couldn’t really capitalise on his good work.
It was Maguire who scored with the take down at the beginning of the second, but he went right into Parke’s guillotine. Seconds later and he was tapping, giving Parke the submission win.
Then it was on to the title fights, beginning with Liam Shannon facing Cathal Pendred for the vacant Welterweight title.
This one looked like it would be over in the first few seconds as Shannon got the early take down, quickly taking Pendrad’s back and synching in a rear naked choke. However, Pendred was able to escape.
From there we got an exciting back and forth three rounder. Both fighters had their moments, especially on the ground, but in the end the fatigue factor came into play, with neither man able to get the stoppage.
So in the end the judges were called into action, and all three gave the fight and the vacant title to Pendred in a fight that really could have gone either way.
The next championship battle saw Myles Price challenging Martin Begley for the Lightweight title.
A very good fight saw Begley score with an early take down, but it wasn’t long before Price took control on the ground, dominating the rest of the round.
The extraordinary finish came early in the second. After some more work on the ground Price leapt onto Begley’s back as they got to their feet. A rear naked choke later and Price had the title winning submission.
The main event saw Paul McVeigh facing Artemij Sitenkov for the vacant Bantamweight title.
A very good performance from McVeigh here, dominating on the ground for the most part. Sitenkov had his moments, but McVeigh was always one step ahead of him, and it really came as no surprise when McVeigh got the win and the title when Sitenkov tapped out to a leg triangle and arm bar.
In conclusion - well, I may have found out about this show by accident, but that made it all the more enjoyable. All six fights delivered, with the McVeigh/Sitenkov the best of the lot.
So as far as this little slice of Irish MMA action goes it was great, although it’s a shame that Premier Sports has now become a subscription channel, especially as I don’t want to pay a monthly fee in the hope that they might show more MMA action in the future.
Besides, I’ve never really been a fan of Gaelic football or hurling anyway!
The fight featured some frantic striking exchanges in the first round. Cowzer was on top for the majority of the round, and he looked like he was going to get the win after he staggered Coady.
The second round began at a slower pace, but speeded up when Cowzer dropped Coady again, this time with a left, Seconds later and Cowzer had the mount, with the referee stepping in to save Coady from his relentless ground and pound assault.
The bantamweight action continued as Paddy Holohan faced Milan Kovac.
After a great striking battle we went to the other end of the spectrum. Holohan scored with the take down early on, and after Kovac tried to get to his feet Holohan took him down again.
It wasn’t long before Holohan took Kovac’s back and synched in a rear naked choke, and with just one second left of the first round Kovac tapped, giving Holohan the win with a dominating performance.
It was up to the lightweight division for the next fight as Norman Parke went up against Tom Maguire.
Another enjoyable fight with some good ground work. Parke pulled off some good take downs in the first round, be he couldn’t really capitalise on his good work.
It was Maguire who scored with the take down at the beginning of the second, but he went right into Parke’s guillotine. Seconds later and he was tapping, giving Parke the submission win.
Then it was on to the title fights, beginning with Liam Shannon facing Cathal Pendred for the vacant Welterweight title.
This one looked like it would be over in the first few seconds as Shannon got the early take down, quickly taking Pendrad’s back and synching in a rear naked choke. However, Pendred was able to escape.
From there we got an exciting back and forth three rounder. Both fighters had their moments, especially on the ground, but in the end the fatigue factor came into play, with neither man able to get the stoppage.
So in the end the judges were called into action, and all three gave the fight and the vacant title to Pendred in a fight that really could have gone either way.
The next championship battle saw Myles Price challenging Martin Begley for the Lightweight title.
A very good fight saw Begley score with an early take down, but it wasn’t long before Price took control on the ground, dominating the rest of the round.
The extraordinary finish came early in the second. After some more work on the ground Price leapt onto Begley’s back as they got to their feet. A rear naked choke later and Price had the title winning submission.
The main event saw Paul McVeigh facing Artemij Sitenkov for the vacant Bantamweight title.
A very good performance from McVeigh here, dominating on the ground for the most part. Sitenkov had his moments, but McVeigh was always one step ahead of him, and it really came as no surprise when McVeigh got the win and the title when Sitenkov tapped out to a leg triangle and arm bar.
In conclusion - well, I may have found out about this show by accident, but that made it all the more enjoyable. All six fights delivered, with the McVeigh/Sitenkov the best of the lot.
So as far as this little slice of Irish MMA action goes it was great, although it’s a shame that Premier Sports has now become a subscription channel, especially as I don’t want to pay a monthly fee in the hope that they might show more MMA action in the future.
Besides, I’ve never really been a fan of Gaelic football or hurling anyway!
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