John Kavanagh sat in Montrose on Saturday morning looking slightly nervous.
Given the treatment which he and some of his fighters have received from some members of the Irish media in the past, perhaps his apprehension was justified.
This watershed moments for Irish MMA was discussed on our daily sports podcast, The Racket:
Kavanagh - coach to Conor McGregor - was about to follow on air who he called "a bible reading, god fearing hero that's saved lives". It was his first appearance on The Marian Finucane Show.
If you read Declan Lynch's superbly entertaining Sunday Independent columns, you will often see him refer to 'Official Ireland'. These are the bankers, the PR gurus, political consultants, TDs, senators - the people you see populating corporate boxes at Lansdowne Road and Croke Park. The Marian Finucane Show is one of the many media vehicles which they use.
All went smoothly for Kavanagh's appearance, apart from perhaps the host's pronunciation of muay thai - 'moo-i-thai'.
There were two cranks who called in, one to protest about the description of McGregor as a role model and another who thought the 'barbaric sport' should be banned - but that's par for the course really.
Kavanagh himself genuinely enjoyed the interview.
Very smart open minded lady, really enjoyed speaking with @MarianRTE https://t.co/TBPbtranPZ
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) February 20, 2016
It really is the most major case of Official Ireland embracing McGregor and MMA to its bosom. Sure, we've seen RTÉ documentaries about McGregor and his sport in the past, but that was on RTÉ Two, not the realm of Official Ireland.
Kavanagh's Marian debut certainly contrasted with one of his last notable appearances in the Irish media.
Not happy how I did there but got caught a bit off guard. Thought I was debating Eoghan not him and the presenter haha. Learn and move on :)
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) July 29, 2015
In July, three weeks after Conor McGregor won the interim UFC featherweight title, Kavanagh appeared on TV3 to debate Eoghan Corry about the merits of MMA. It was somewhat of an ambush. Like Kavanagh said in the above tweet, he did not expect to also be debating Tom McGurk, who was supposedly just the host.
Both Corry and McGurk took a dim view of MMA - the former claiming that eye-gouging had once been permitted by the UFC. Corry also labeled it 'ephemeral and inconsequential', more of an exercise in marketing than something which had a long-term future on the sports landscape.
Like Corry and McGurk, Ray D'Arcy - an official member of Official Ireland - abhors MMA.
Following UFC Dublin in July of 2014 D'Arcy interviewed Cathal Pendred about his win against Mike King.
Pendred initially believed the interview was going to be a celebration of the biggest win of his MMA career, it did not turn out that way.
D'Arcy derided what he called the 'unbridled' violence of the sport, something which he found 'very disturbing'. Quite unprofessionally, D'Arcy also referred to Pendred as 'Conor' on multiple occasions during the interview.
Looking forward to doing an interview where I celebrate the biggest win of my career 2 days ago, not defend myself and my sport.
— Cathal Pendred (@Pendred) July 21, 2014
Nearly three years on from his UFC debut, it seems, like his many opponents, the mainstream Irish media could be bending to Conor McGregor's will and finally accepting that MMA is here to stay.
You can listen to Kavanagh on The Marian Finucane Show here - skip to around 42 minutes in to listen.
Picture credit: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE
