It’s that time of year when fighter of the year, knockout of the year and gym of the year gongs get handed out.
And there’s an argument to be made that Dublin’s Straight Blast Gym has swept the board on all three of those categories with John Kavanagh having guided Conor McGregor to featherweight glory in 2015.
So successful has SBG been that international fighters are lining up to get some training in on the Naas Road, with Finnish featherweight Makwan Amirkhani staying true to his word and arriving this week.
Amirkhani, who burst onto the UFC scene last year with two first round finishes, has been very eager to work with the likes of Gunnar Nelson, Paddy Holohan and Aisling Daly.
Ireland, taxi driver, woman at the reception and the cheff sounded like Conor. Almost went to singleleg with cleaner at the hotel. #ireland
— Makwan Amirkhani (@MakwanAmirkhani) January 6, 2016
In November, Amirkhani announced that he was looking for a new gym after parting ways with Stockholm’s Allstars Gym and John Kavanagh was more than happy to welcome the exciting 27-year-old to the mat.
@bob_loblaw_75 @MakwanAmirkhani would be very welcome at @SBG_Ireland
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) November 30, 2015
Amirkhani has said in the past that he would welcome a bout with current UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
“Let’s do like Manny [Pacquiao] and [Floyd] Mayweather. Let’s wait a little bit. I’ll do my part, and I’ll earn my fight with McGregor. If it’s God’s will, I will fight him.” (MMAJunkie)
They might not be fighting any time soon but the sparring at SBG is going to be rather interesting in the coming weeks.
