Offaly's world MMA star Jordan returns home with silver medal

PROUDLY clutching his silver medal, Tullamore MMA youth hero Jordan Scully was reunited with his family on Monday on his return from a spectacular performance at the world championships in Bulgaria.

The tough 17-year-old only took up mixed martial arts four years ago at his local SBG gym but he proved himself at the highest level at the 2021 IMMAF (International Mixed Martial Arts Federation) Youth World Championships in Sofia.

Guided by his coach Kieran Davern, Jordan used his all-round MMA skills to make it to the Youth A final where he was only beaten for gold by another young Irishman, Max Lally from Naas, Co Kildare.

After arriving in the Bulgarian capital last Wednesday, Jordan had to wait until Sunday for the welterweight (77.1kg) division competition to begin and he knew he would need to win all his fights that day to secure the gold medal he craved.

Speaking to the Tullamore Tribune on August bank holiday Monday after arriving home, Jordan told of how he felt before entering the cage for the opening bout against the highly rated fighter from Bahrain, Ali Marhoon.

“Of course I was nervous. Everyone's nervous but once I stepped in there the nerves left and I was ready to go,” he said.

The fight went the full three rounds but Jordan advanced on a unanimous judges' decision.

“I was confident I'd get the decision because my plan was to wear him down. He was a very big lad to be fair, very strong, but I got the decision.”

Next up was a Lebanese opponent who Jordan defeated in just 50 seconds with a triangle choke and that victory put the Tullamore teenager into a bronze medal fight against Czech competitor Viktor Cervinsky.

Jordan won that semi-final in the second round.

“In the first round I was controlling him against the fence and I took him down with a trip in the last 10 seconds.

“And in the second round I got him in a triangle choke from the mount, then switched off to a triangle choke from bottom.”

The final was an all-Ireland face-off, a very unusual pairing in a championships otherwise dominated by Ukraine, Russia and the USA.

“(Max Lally) was a very tough opponent. He has over 10 years experience, a very good opponent. He ended up catching me with an arm bar in the first minute and 30 seconds of round one.

“Unfortunately I lost it but it is what it is. Fair play to him, he deserved it. He's my age but he had more experience.

“He's a very good grappler and he competes a lot and is a very good wrestler as well. He was very respectful afterwards and I have to give him credit for that.”

Jordan said he was confident he had the ability to do well before he went to Bulgaria.

He was accompanied by Kieran Davern, grappling coach and head coach at SBG Tullamore, and Jordan also thanked his striking coach, Andrew Barrett and Shane Smith, his strength and conditioning coach.

“I knew for a fact I was going to get a medal. I was confident I was going to be world champion.

“Obviously it didn't go my way but I'm always looking forward to next year. All you can do is keep moving forward. That's the way I'm looking at it.”

Jordan will turn 18 in September and he reflected on how important MMA at Tullamore SBG has been to his personal development.

He said he joined the club “because I wanted to gain confidence in myself and not be down on myself the whole time”.

Jordan vowed to return to the world championships again.

“I gained so much experience from it. I wouldn't change a thing,” he said.

“I've lost loads of fights before. I lost the final but you learn from it and move on. But I'll win it next year, I know I will.”

A total of 331 competitors from 23 different countries took part in the championships which had been rescheduled because of Covid-19.

Ukraine topped the medals tables in all three age categories, winning a total of 52 medals, followed by Russia with 43 and the USA in third place with 17 medals.

Twenty-seven young Irish athletes between the ages of 12 and 17 competed, among them Jordan Scully's SBG Tullamore clubmate, Bernie Ward.

Along with Jordan Scully and Max Lally, Ireland had medallists in Alex Keogh, Louise Brady, Alison Syron, Olivia Babiarz and Ben Harding.