IRISH POST
MMA has really taken off in Ireland over the past few years, thanks to the profiles of Irish fighters Paddy Holohan, Ian Machado Garry, and, not to mention, the super successful and famous Irish fighter Conor McGregor.
Mixed martial arts is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling, and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports around the world. Its status has grown since, and as a result, McGregor and Co. became household names.
More and more fighters from Dublin’s inner city and around Ireland have taken up the sport in a bid to emulate other Irish fighters in the sport.
This week, we spoke to up-and-coming professional MMA fighter Denis Frimpong, who is known as “The Menace,” in an exclusive interview for The Irish Post.
Frimpong is an Irish professional MMA fighter who fights out of “Manchester Top Team,” Manchester’s premier mixed martial arts gym.
This week, we spoke about Denis’ career so far, his thoughts on the sport, his feelings around being the next “McGregor,” growing up as an immigrant in Ireland, his fighting style, and everything else.
Denis Frimpong’s life
Frimpong was born in Austria but eventually found his way to Ireland, where he excelled in athletics and became an Irish champion in the long jump during his teen years. Later, he transitioned to MMA and has now turned pro.
The 28-year-old opened up about his upbringing first.
“I was born in a little town in Austria, just north of the border with Slovenia. My mom’s Slovenian, and I was born close to Christmas. The parents were doing some Christmas shopping, and I decided to come out there,” he said.
“We stayed there for a couple of months and then moved to Toronto in Canada, and I stayed there till we were about four or five, and then we moved to Ireland to Drogheda, then onto Cavan and then Dublin for the last portion of my life.
“I was always a little rowdy c***t,” claimed Frimpong without hesitation. “I was always fighting when I was younger, partially because of my temper and also because, growing up in the early 2000s in Ireland, there were very few black kids in Ireland.
“You know kids are horrible, mate, and they’ll find any reason to try and bully you, and I was just one of them who was like, ‘I am not going to be bullied by them,’ and that meant I was in fights like twice a week.
