On one of the popular Dublin tour bus routes, you can now stop at one brewery and three distilleries. Luckily there’s Trinity College and Kilmainham Gaol or the tourists would only think we have one past-time.
Away from the circuitous route of Dublin city centre, however, a new tourist hot-spot has emerged – Straight Blast Gym.
Situated on the Long Mile Road, and along the Luas Red Line, SBG is home to fighters such as Conor McGregor, Aisling Daly, Gunnar Nelson and Dylan Tuke. It was set up by John Kavanagh in 2001 and made its first mark on the UFC in 2009, when member Tom Egan fought John Hathaway.
Game, and talented, as Egan was, the tourists do not come to see his memorabilia. They flock to SBG to get a taste of where it all began for The Notorious, the UFC’s featherweight champion.
Ahead of his appearance on The Late Late Show, tonight, Kavanagh showed host Ryan Tubridy around the gym and took him inside the 30-foot octagon donated by sports apparel giants Reebok. Kavanagh said:
“People from all over the world are coming through. We’ve actually had a few occasions where a bus-load of… it’s almost like a comedy where everybody is working and 25 Chinese people come out with cameras, run around, take pictures and run out again.”
Drink it in people.
Tubridy did not shock us in the slightest when he climbed into an octagon for ‘the first time ever’. We don’t hold out much hope for his fight career but, with Kavanagh offering tips, anything is possible.
Ryan visits @SBG_Ireland where @John_Kavanagh shows him what it’s like to be an MMA fighter ahead of tmw’s #LateLate pic.twitter.com/egUGOVZJjK
— RTE One (@RTEOne) September 8, 2016
Kavanagh will chat with Tubridy in-studio at Montrose later this evening.
The GAA Hour Hurling Show relives Tipperary’s sensational All-Ireland victory with Paidí Maher. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
