On this week’s No Shame podcast, Top MMA journalist Petesy Carroll joins us on the line to discuss UFC #249. Saturday night marked a triumphant return for the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Jacksonville, Florida & we’re breaking down all the key talking points from a card that will never be forgotten.

Peter currently writes for MMA Fighting, one the biggest MMA news outlets in the world. Alongside fellow broadcaster Niall McGrath, Carroll co-hosts the fantastic ‘Eurobash’, a weekly podcast that offers a definitive guide to MMA with interviews from the best in the business. It’s fair to say Petesy is on top of his game at the minute.

The build up to UFC 249 has become infamous due the un-imaginable obstacles posed by the Coronavirus. However, the logistical nightmare of trying to host a major live event in the middle of a pandemic could not stop UFC president Dana White from putting MMA at the forefront of the sporting world on Saturday night. The PPV garnered massive traction online with an opening message from US President, Donald Trump spearheading the mainstream engagement across all social media platforms.

The main event lived up to its billing with a stunning performance from Justin Gathje, who stopped Tony Ferguson in the 5th to claim the vacant interim Lightweight Belt. In the co-main event, Henry Cejudo defeated Dominick Cruz & after announced his immediate retirement from the sport of MMA. Petesy & Paddy offer their views on the announcement, predicting a return for Triple-C in the near future.

Some of the other fights discussed during the podcast include Francis Ngannou’s demolition of Jairziho Rozenstruik, Anthony Pettis’ hard fought UD over Donald Cerrone & an honourable mention to Bryce Mitchell’s UD over Charles Rosa, most definitely one to watch back if you’re a technique fiend.

We also talks about the prospect of the eagerly anticipated Fight Island, a UFC event currently in the works which will reportedly take place on a custom built Island tailored specifically to facilitate the participating fighters. The location of the island is currently unknown, all we know so far is that it’s definitely not Arranmore.

This weeks podcast concludes with a conversation that centres around the future of MMA in Ireland & the need for the community to come together & be unified in it’s approach to re-opening gyms when safe to do-so.

It’s alway a great pleasure to have Petesy on the show. The man is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to Irish MMA, having been there from the very start, pre Irish-Invasion era. His contribution to reporting on Mixed Martial Arts in this country has helped to set an exceptionally high standard of journalism. For over 10 years his consistent dedication, incredible level of professionalism & classic sense of humour have earned him the respect of the MMA world. If you’d like to know more about his back story, make sure you check out his first appearance on the No Shame podcast back on episode #037.

The full episode #121 of Paddy Holohan’s No Shame Podcast is available now across all the usual platforms including Youtube, iTunes & Spotify.