McKenna’s confident of title success

OMAGH’S Damien McKenna is confident he will be picking up his first MMA title on Sunday night when he takes on the talkative Nahom Wedi in Belfast.

The pair will battle it out for the Irish Featherweight crown at Clan Wars 44 and after a war of words, mostly from Wedi, on the Energized podcast on YoutTube, McKenna has all the motivation he needs and then some to dispatch the Dubliner in the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

During their meeting, via videocall on the podcast, Wedi failed to endear himself with the watching public, attempting to promote himself as the next Conor McGregor but that fell spectacularly flat and McKenna is determined to ‘dominate’ his opponent.

“He’s a lovely lad, isn’t he?,” McKenna laughed. “I think everyone else is getting worked up more than me because I think he thought he was getting under my skin but it was just cringey!

“It wasn’t effective. If he had been getting at me I’d have said fair play but it wasn’t.

“I’m just looking at it as another fight, a stepping stone on the way to achieve what I want to achieve but I’ve trained for a three round war. I want to dominate him I want to show everyone in Ireland how good I am.”

McKenna only started MMA in early 2020, having decided to move from boxing, having come through the ranks of Omagh’s Sacred Heart Club, joining the flourishing OMMA club.

And it’s a decision that has already borne fruit with international selections and a title fight after just seven bouts, during which he learned a lot.

“I love all the elements of MMA, and I’ve been flat out at it since the summer of 2020,” he explained.

“I had my first fight last August and I won it, I’ve fought twice for Ireland now, in Prague in the World Cup, getting to the quarter-finals and in February I fought in the World Championships, which is basically the Olympics of MMA.

“It was in Abu Dhabi where the Prince has built a big arena specifically for Jiu-Jitsu and MMA, which was some experience and I won my first fight by first round knockout but I lost my second fight.

“But it was all a learning curve and I want to be fighting the best people because the two boys who have beaten me are two of the best in the world.”

The 23-year-old will take those experiences into Saturday’s title clash with Wedi and there’s no doubting McKenna is well prepared, having worked hard to ensure he’s in the best shape possible by balancing his final year university exams, a part-time job and training twice a day!

“Training has gone well,” he added. “I finished my last exam [Monday, May 9th] and I’ve been working part-time, so it’s been busy with lots of revision and coursework, so this camp has seen me have to train in the morning and in the evening, but that’s what kept me sane.

“The exams have been a good distraction but I still got in plenty of training.

“When I had my first fight I told myself I would win the title before I turned pro, thinking it would take two or three years, but it’s come around a lot faster because I’ve been so active. It would be class to win the title on Sunday.”

Also fighting at Clan Wars 44 are McKenna’s OMMA team-mates, Callum Peace, Ben McGinn and Stephen Cunningham, which means there will be a healthy support for the Tyrone men in Belfast on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, another rising OMMA star, Morgan Clements was crowned Under-18 Irish Lightweight MMA champion recently.