DAMIEN “THE RAGE” Rooney is now less than three weeks away from his bantamweight match-up against Paddy Hoolihan at Cage Contender XIII in Belfast, and he feels his training is going well.
“I’m feeling sharp, my weight is good, I really just can’t wait to get in there and throw down,” he says as he drinks his coconut water, (good for rehydration) and home-made multi-grain bar, (I know exactly
what’s in it if I make it myself.)”
As a Mixed Martial Artist, the fight on April 28 isn’t the only battle Damien has on his hands, as he competes in a sport that is constantly trying to break free from common misconceptions.
Combatting the ignorance
As the MMA scene in Ireland continues to grow, there are more opportunities to witness fights first-hand as organisations such as Cage Contender and Battle Zone Fighting Championships stage shows up and down the country.
Over three thousand people attended the last Cage Contender event in the National Basketball Arena in Dublin in March to support the local MMA scene. But there are just as many doubters as supporters.
Rooney is frustrated with the bad image of the sport. “There is an element of danger in almost any sport, look at Formula One or even football. Why is this sport so different?
Yes it is a combat sport but what combat sport isn’t violent? It is an extremely technical sport performed by hard working, full-time professional athletes at the top of their game. This has to be recognised.”
From the time he started training and competing, over four years ago, “The Rage” has seen the sport explode here and it is almost unrecognisable to what it was in the beginning.
“In the early days I would have known every team and almost every fighter at an event I was at because the sport was small. Now every event has new teams and new fighters, it just shows how much it is growing.”
He believes that the bad reputation from the sport locally, stems from under trained and under skilled fighters, a by-product of believing you can just walk into the cage and brawl your way to a win.
“It takes years to get up to scratch in MMA. It’s like saying, ‘I can play baseball, so therefore I can play tennis. It’s just hitting a ball with a stick.’ It is just not like that.”
Focus on the positives
Disregarding the negatives, Rooney believes that the only way the sport can flourish is with support and pointing out the positives for those who don’t know much about it.
“More and more Irish fighters are travelling abroad to train and to up their skills. If one fighter comes back here and shares his knowledge with everyone at his club, everyone’s level moves up. That’s what is great about this sport. It’s a sharing game and you need to constantly learn.”
As he reels off a list of his coaches, “boxing, muay thai, ju-jitsu, Brazilian ju-jitsu, grappling, fitness,” and talks about his training “warrior circuits, tyre lifts, rope pulls, sprints,” it vividly highlights that the sport is anything but one dimensional.
He points out that the top level fighters such as Georges St. Pierre train in karate, Olympic lifts and gymnastics in order to try and gain any advantage when it comes to their fighting.
There are always new things to be tried in this sport. People thought they would never see anyone get knocked out by an up-kick, then Anderson Silva done it.
If you shut your mind off to anything in this sport then you will definitely lose out.”
It is this unknown and ever changing aspect that should attract people to the sport.
And, as a competing participant, what does he feel is best part about the sport? “For me it’s simply winning. Winning is everything.”
Catch up with Damien again next week as he goes over his training regime and thoughts about his upcoming Cage Contender XIII fight with Paddy Hoolihan.
