Two point Blank fighters made their first foray into Submission Wrestling events on Saturday last (15th of August). There have been a lack of grappling events without the gi in recent times, and this is the first in what will hopefully be a resurgence.

Both guys out on a tremendous performance, Alan Mannion took Bronze in his section, with Gary Mannion going one better to take second place.

John "The Moycullen Scumbag" Walsh aso took bronze in the Advanced section. All in all a great day for the lads, and with 70+ competitors at the event, it was a success all around.

Full report on Barry Oglesby's Blog

Point Blank Coach Tim "Mad Dog" Murphy puts his Tribal Warfare Intergalactic Title on the line on October 3rd in the Black Box for Tribal Warfare 5 "Night of Champions". Tim is one of the top pound for pound fighters in the country and was one of the earliest fighters from the West Coast to distinguish himself on the local MMA scene. Coming from a Taekwondo background Tim was a gold medallist in the WKA World Kickboxing Championships in Italy back in 2002. He made his MMA debut at the first ever MMA League, and demonstrated a staggering learning curve taking out standouts such as John "The Moycullen Scumbag" Walsh and Chris Stringer early in his career. As promotions began starting up around the country Tim expanded his appearances taking out thai boxing afficionado Paul O'Connor in the second Ring of Truth "The Truth Hurts". Always known for his tremendous ability on the floor Tim ably demonstrated he hadn't forgotten his kickboxing roots knocking out Micky "Handsome" Young in under 10 seconds at Ultimate Fighting Revolution 5.

Tim was recognized for his toughness early in his career and no fight was stronger testament to his staying power than against Navid Yousefi

at Ring of Truth 7. Tim was sparked by the lightening fast hands of the Hilti NHB fighter. The Swede pushed hard for the 5 minutes trying to finish Tim, and at one point even showboated to the crowd. Yousefi made the fatal mistake of underestimating the Mad Dog and coming out for the second round Tim immediately took him down and ground and pounded him to within an inch of his life, so much so that Navid tapped out to escape the punishment.

After a rapidly lengthening list of deposed contenders Tim found himself harking back to the start of his career and the first man to hand him a loss, in his very first fight, Mick "Sissy Boy" Leonard. Having a chance to avenge a loss proved to be a motivator for Tim and catalysed him to exceed his usual well above average work ethic. Taking that win at Tribal Warfare "Redemption" set Tim up for his title shot against Jonny Dooey at Tribal Warfare 4 "Ultimate Force". Tim was in a class of his own and took the title in dominating fashion, never being threatened by the dangerous grappling of the northern fighter.

In his first title defence Tim faces a young up and comer apathetic to fighters from the old garde. Gary "The Dumnptruck" Morris is one of the most promising fighters to enter the featherweight division in some time, he has already ranked up 10 professional fighters and holds wins over fighters such as Peter Wilson, Jonny Dooey and Pride and Glory standout David "The Prodigy" Smyth. Gary has solid boxing and is deadly on the ground and more than capable of making a long night for the Mad Dog. Set to be a tremendous Title match, from everyone at Point Blank we wish Tim the very best of luck!

Post fight predictions as comments on this article.

The matches are being made as we speak for the next installment of Galway's only Ultimate Fighting promotion - Tribal Warfare.

If anyone is interested in having a go at this event then you need to get your name to Tim immediately. He will be putting up a sign up sheet in the gym, but don't just sign up, have a chat with Tim as well so he can advise you what class and weight category to shoot for.

As has and always will be the way at Point Blank, nobody is expected to fight, its completely voluntary, but we do need to know in advance if you intend to get in the cage so we can get you a fight and more importantly make sure you are well prepared for it!