‘Notorious’ fan Philly McMahon up for fresh fight

His appreciation for combat sports, for instance, was kindled by a dalliance with boxing while growing up in Ballymun. It was when Owen Roddy, Conor McGregor’s pad man, rented some gym space off him that the Dublin defender looked into mixed martial arts.

Almost a decade on and he’ll still indulge in a bit of boxing or jiu-jitsu when the flow of the football season ebbs away. The combination of skills required clearly mappeals to him but there is a more basic attraction to it all, too.

“I like it. I like the challenge of all the different styles mwithin the one sport. And I like that myou can channel the aggression into a sport like I do with football as well. But you can actually hit people in that sport,” he laughed, “which is a little bit better.”