‘It’s what I do – get beat up in my underwear for money’

MATTHEW Ó Ruairc, nicknamed ‘The Hound’, is the newest IÚR mixed martial arts middleweight champion after dominating in his most recent fight.

Matthew, a Bagenalstown native, first got involved with martial arts when he was 16. What started as a tool to build confidence soon turned into a life-long passion for him.

“I’ve wrapped my life around it now,” he told The Nationalist. “I’ve no choice now, it’s what I do – get beat up in my underwear for money.” Matthew’s current ratings have him at 7/9 wins, where both his losses were in similar title fights to his latest win. He said: “I’ve been striving for a big win like that for a while now. To finally win a title fight in such an extravagant fashion, it was well worth the 6am gym sessions.” Matthew currently competes in the amateur MMA circuit, alongside training and coaching others, but is aiming to make the jump to fighting at the professional level in the near future, with hopes to represent Ireland at the IMMAFs, if all goes well.

The most important part of martial arts for Matthew is the hope and confidence it has brought into his life. He first got involved with martial arts at 16, as a “shy kid with low self-esteem who got bullied in school looking for a way to build self-confidence”.

After a few years of training and confidence building, he started to take martial arts more seriously and compete in amateur fights.

“A place of insecurity is a great stepping stone to gain the confidence to walk into a room and be sure of yourself in every capacity. It gives you the confidence to assert yourself and be yourself in a better way. It was a massive part of my life to overcome that insecurity through martial arts.” Matthew is incredibly proud of his achievements in the ring, but is even more proud of the man he has become outside of the ring through martial arts.