Local fighter Rhylie claims first ever Chaos crown

STRABANE Martial Arts Academy’s Rhylie Browne made history in the Chaos Fighting Championship at the weekend when he won the organisation’s first ever K1 title.

The talented kickboxer, who only took up the sport a year ago, took on home town favourite, Dylan McCafferty for the 58kg Amateur K1 belt and he came out with a victory via unanimous decision in front of a sold out auditorium in the Millennium Forum.

With his opponent being a lot more experienced and an aggressive attacker, Brown’s coaches decided to play the counter-attacking game and Rhylie executed the plan perfectly.

The youngster went into the bout as a massive underdog against McCafferty, who was not only much more experienced, but also had the home crowd behind him, while Brown only had one previous fight behind him.

Ryhlie’s success is the latest of many recent triumphs achieved by the Strabane Martial Arts Academy, whose members excelled at the recent ISKA AMA World Championships in Austria where Mia Gallagher, Emily Gailey and Tiernan Conwell all had the privilege of standing on top of the podium, with Tiernan enjoying the honour twice and he earned a bronze too, while Emily also collected a silver medal.

Joining that trio on the rostrum in Vienna were fellow silver medalists, Kayden McDermott and Pol Wilson, while Daire Feeny impressed against opponents from Mongolia, Ukraine and Romania to come away with a bronze medal.

Meanwhile, a host of competitors are continuing to train at Strabane Martial Arts Academy in preparation for ‘The Warrior Within’ charity event, which will be held in memory of the late Jordan Gallagher in St Patrick’s Hall, Strabane, on Saturday, December 7th.

Proceeds from the event, which is being organised ‘to make a night of great entertainment, sportsmanship and making a positive impact on mental health together’ will go to ME4MENTAL and ARC Fitness – Addiction Recover Coaching. DR29.