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Dublin footballer Philly McMahon. Gary Carr/INPHO
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Comparing the Dubs' character to McGregor and the popularity contests of GAA awards

The Dublin defender is chasing a fourth All-Ireland medal next Sunday.

WHEN PHILLY MCMAHON reflects on Dublin’s demonstration of character and will to win in their All-Ireland semi-final, he thinks back to another Irish sporting success a week before.

In the early hours of Sunday 21 August (Irish time), Conor McGregor won a gruelling five-round contest against Nate Diaz at UFC 202 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Seven days later, McMahon was part of a Dublin team that faced deficits of five points at half-time and three points in the closing stages, during their battle with Kerry in Croke Park.

For McMahon the parallels are there to be drawn between the two eventual triumphs.

“The big question we answered against Kerry is that we showed character. Kerry are such a good team that to come back, twice, after them taking the lead, like, we could have easily let it slip and lost.

“The lads showed character. I always compare it to the Conor McGregor fight, third round he’s getting beaten and comes back and shows character and beats Diaz. That was no different to what we did against Kerry.

“We know it’s not going to be a hammering on either side, us hammering Mayo, or Mayo hammering us. We know it’s going to be tight. Again, having experience what we did against Kerry and that character that we needed, it should stand to us against Mayo.”

McMahon does not know McGregor personally but he is trained by his pad man Owen Roddy at Straight Blast Gym in Charleston.

McGregor has long polarised sporting opinion and that notion of being a divisive figure is something that McMahon can relate to.

Ask him about being nominated but not winning the Footballer of the Year award – which is voted from by fellow players – in 2015 and he points to it as a popularity contest that he will not shine in.

“That’s what it is, isn’t it? It is a popularity contest. Sure I won’t be the most popular county footballer throughout my career. I accept that, once I can do my bit for the team.”

Does not that bother him not being a popular figure?

“No, it doesn’t no,” laughs McMahon.

He sings from same hymn sheet when it comes to his views on the All-Stars.

“A lot of people say, and you hear it all the time at the All-Star awards, ‘oh I don’t really care, I wanted to win for the team’. I actually didn’t care if I didn’t win it, I honestly can say that.

“Because there’s times where I’ve seen footballers that should have won All-Stars and they didn’t. ​Sometimes there’s people have won All-Stars that shouldn’t have. So I don’t really care about it, I honestly don’t.”

McMahon has plenty to keep him busy off the pitch. He runs gyms (BeDo7 Fitness Club), FitFood Ireland (a healthy meal delivery service) and is in the process of setting up a charity called Half Time Talk, which will push drug awareness education.

“I’m lucky that I have self-motivated people in my business, and they help me an awful lot. They understand when I’m in the business end in football and take a lot of pressure off me.

“That’s one of the big areas that I feel that, if I didn’t have sorted, I’d struggle. I have a thing called a default diary so I separate different things in my life – sport, the personal side, the professional side.

“It’s funny, you basically look at different colours of your roster for the week. At the start of the season, if work was yellow, it would be full, because it’s January and the fitness craze happens.

“But, as the season goes on, that colour might change to blue because it’s football season then. Little tricks like that help me, I suppose.

“For me, I understand that your football career at inter-county level is not that long. You need to be looking beyond that a little bit sometimes as well in your career.

“I don’t think, where I want to be in life, I’d be able to stop everything and wait until I finished my football career. I’m hoping to get my business to a level that, when I finish my career, it can go to another level.”

In terms of growth, he pinpoints FitFood Ireland as an area that can be exploited.

“In the next couple of years, I think the food company can go really big. The gyms can, as well.

“The way the market has changed, the way Ireland is starting to be a bit more healthier because of the obesity levels, I think the healthy food industry is going to get bigger and bigger.

“When that gets bigger, I’m probably going to have to spend more time in the company to grow it, to strategically build it.”

McMahon has certainly built his football career in recent seasons.

In 2011 he came on as a substitute in the All-Ireland final against Kerry. In 2013 he started against Mayo after a season where he had shuttled in and out of the team.

Last year he nailed down a starting place from pillar to post, which meant he cherished that final victory over Kerry all the more.

“It was my second time starting an All-Ireland but it was my first time playing the whole season and getting a run at it.

“I always wanted to have a full season and win an All-Ireland at the end of it. I wanted to play as much game-time as I could.

“I did that year and, hopefully, I will this year. If we win an All-Ireland, great, but, if I play in the game and get to play in front of 82,000 people, I’ll be happy with that.”

Sunday is his chance to attain that feat.

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