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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Donagh Corby & Andrew Byrne

Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh to open massive new SBG Ireland headquarters

Straight Blast Gym, home of UFC megastar Conor McGregor and Bellator MMA up-and-comer James Gallagher, will open a brand new state-of-the-art gym later this year.

Coach John Kavanagh posted a video to his YouTube channel showing a virtual tour of what the facility is set to look like, and revealed that it will open for members on August 12th.

Mirror Sport was told by a spokesperson for the gym that it is expected to be almost twice the size of their current home on the Long Mile Road, and will cater to people at all levels of the sport.

They said: "The facility will be one and a half times the size of the Long Mile Road facilities and is based a few minutes away in the Golden Bridge industrial estate, Inchicore.

"John has been talking about this for the past four or five years and is really excited to start using the new gym."

Kavanagh told the Irish Mirror: "There is a perception that the new gym will be for fighters only but it couldn't be further from the truth.

"The new facilities will be for everybody from the age of four to 75 and we will have programmes suitable for all levels from beginners to elite fighters.

"You can email us at info@sbgireland.com to ask us anything or if you want to get involved."

The 'Godfather of Irish MMA' hopes to give the Irish Mirror a sneak peek at the site in the first few weeks of August before the facilities officially open for business.

Kavanagh, who coaches a number of high profile MMA stars including Artem Lobov, Charlie Ward, Dillon Danis, Peter Queally, Sinead Kavanagh, Richard Kiely and Gunnar Nelson said in a statement to gym members: "It is with great pride and excitement that I present to you our new home, SBG Ireland HQ 2019.

Will Fleury and Conor McGregor train together under the tutelage of SBG Ireland boss John Kavanagh (Instagram/Coach_Kavanagh)

"I am looking forward to spending many weeks, months and years training here with you helping you realise your fitness and martial arts goals.

"It has been a long time coming.

"I opened my first ‘full time’ MMA gym in 2000 (The Shed) and since then have slowly but surely worked towards having a state-of-the-art facility such as the one I present to you now."

The old facility was the base for Conor McGregor's training camp in the lead up to his historic second UFC title win against Eddie Alvarez, and has also welcomed celebrities such as Joe Wicks and WWE Superstars Sheamus and Becky Lynch.

If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.   

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