Jordan Furey won his welterweight fight as Ireland qualified for the semi-final of the MMA Super Cup, defeating Oceania Champions 5-4.
The Letterkenny man won his fight via round 1 TKO (punches) against Oceania Champions’ representative Mitchell Kelly.
Ireland were due to play top seeds Russia, with the winners due to play Ukraine or Arab Champions.
However, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces on Friday, the Ukrainian amateur MMA team has been forced to withdraw from the tournament, being replaced by Mexico.
Meanwhile, the board of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation united with international sport on Tuesday in its decision to suspend the Russian MMA Union’s membership in solidarity with Ukraine, with Oceania Champions taking their spot.
Each team will be field nine athletes and each team match-up consists of nine bouts between the fighters of each of male and female weight division (listed below). The team that records the most wins in A nations’ match-up, will be declared the winner.
Furey gave Ireland a healthy 4-2 lead but two Oceania wins in a row saw it come down to a decisive last fight and Gustavo Lopez won via submission for Ireland.
Oceania vs. Ireland (4-5)
- Ireland: Eabha Cruise def. Oceania: Alisha Burtt via first-round submission
- Ireland: Kerry Ann Vernon gets a bye
- Oceania: Coopar Smith def. Ireland: Jamie Abbott Bissett second-round submission
- Ireland: Jordan Bradshaw def. Oceania: Prashanth Guda via unanimous decision
- Oceania: Kasib Murdoch-McKeich def. Ireland: Lewis Byrne via unanimous decision
- Ireland: Jordan Furey def. Oceania: Mitchell Kelly via first-round TKO
- Oceania: Jonas Grace def. Ireland: Cameron Clements via Submission
- Oceania: Auryn Parmley def. Ireland: Dennis Perry via decision
- Ireland: Gustavo Lopez def. Oceania: Larry Adnan via first-round submission
Ireland will face Mexico tomorrow in the semi-final, with the winning country of the semi-final being guaranteed a cash prizes of at least US$75,000 for making the final.
