Kerry kickboxer on track for global glory
Tralee kickboxer on track for global glory
COULD Tralee be home to the next Conor McGregor?
If the recent triumphs of talented, young local Kickboxer Dara O’Sullivan Sheridan are anything to go by then it certainly looks like it.
Dara – the 16-year-old son of David O’Sullivan who runs the Champion Kickboxing Gym in Tralee – is now ranked number one in the world by the World Kickboxing Union ( WKU) having demolished all-comers at the recent WKU World Championships in Killarney.
Founded in 2012, the WKU has grown to become one of the largest Kickboxing and Karate Federations in the world, with thousands of members across the globe.
Dara – who fights in the 65kg weight class and was already ranked number one in Ireland and the UK ahead of the championships – beat six fighters from Lebanon, Germany, Mexico Canada and Ireland to win the world title.
Dara also picked up an award from the promoters for landing one of the tournament’s best knock-outs
His success at the World Championships has now seen him offered sponsorship to compete at the WKU Unified World Cup in Spain this October.
The Unified World Cup is the biggest event of its kind in the world and sees 23 international martial arts organisations come together to organise a single unified championship involving multiple disciplines.
The young Tralee man – who says his dream is to follow in the footsteps of McGregor and reach the summit of the Mixed Martial Arts World – is hotly tipped for success in Spain and winning a title there will propel him into the top ranks of the sport globally.
As well as being a highly skilled kickboxer, Dara is also well rounded in many other disciplines including Tae Kwon Do, Thaiboxing and K1. He is also developing his skills in Jiu Jitsu and MMA with local club Gracie Barra in Tralee.
In February he spent a month training in Thailand and he spent his summer training at the Straight Blast Gym in Dublin where McGregor trained under coach John Kavanagh.
February wasn’t the first time Dara made waves in Thailand.
Back in 2014, aged just 13 he made history as the first Irish youth to fight a full Class A Thaiboxing match, beating his 17-year-old opponent in the process.
“All his hard work is paying off. Dara was recognised for his technical fighting in the past but now, as he progresses and develops, his skill is evident in by way of his knockout power,” said David O’Sullivan.