Last night, John Kavanagh was a guest on the Late Review with Tom McGurk where he took part in a debate with journalist Eoghan Corry about the merits of MMA. The seemingly endless need to have this debate is getting a bit boring at this stage but nonetheless with the increasing ubiquity of all things Conor McGregor, it seems the 'debate' is also here to stay.
For those who didn't get a chance to see it live last night, the video of the debate has been doing the rounds this morning (you can see it here) and suffice to say, MMA fans are less than happy with the Irish broadcaster. Kavanagh himself addressed some of the obvious problems with the debate and he certainly wasn't the only one to do so.
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
Corry and, in particular, McGurk have come in for quite a bit of criticism for their lack of research on the topic and the 'let's gang up on this guy' approach.
Watched @John_Kavanagh on TV3. Well spoken but dont think other two did they're research which made it pointless. MMA is the future
— Joe Hawkins (@joehawkins_afc) July 30, 2015
@TV3Ireland That was some hatchet job by Mcgurk and that other fella on Kavanagh and MMA last night, dissapointed in TV3 #Dinosaurs
— TeddyTrix (@nature_boy88) July 30, 2015
Just saw @John_Kavanagh on #Tv3
What a professional how he didn't lose his cool when even the presenter started criticising his sport #MMA— NC (@NiallCurran9) July 30, 2015
@andrewmcgahon_ @John_Kavanagh John and 2 absolute morons. How do these idiots get on TV to talk about this?
— MMAEcho (@MMAEcho) July 29, 2015
Tom McGurk showed a lot ignorance towards MMA on @TV3 tonight - the ones who criticise the sport are the very ones who don't understand it!
— David Clarke (@DavidClarke__) July 29, 2015
If someone had edited the MMA Wikipedia page and included a piece on how weapons are legal, I think TV3 would have gone with it #LateReview
— Aid O'Connor (@AidOConnor) July 29, 2015
Even those who are not MMA fans must be at the point of being able to respect other's opinions at this stage. As much as Corry and McGurk may want it to, the sport doesn't seem to be going back from whence it came. So, in an ideal world, these 'debates' may come to end soon enough and the 'issues' surrounding MMA can be put to bed.
However, as long as McGregor et al keep doing what they're doing we won't bet that we've seen the last of these debates any time soon.
