Creator credit recorded on the linked source page: Haribhagirath · CC BY-SA 4.0
John Kavanagh
Dublin coach who met Matt Thornton after losing a fight in South Africa, became Ireland's first BJJ black belt and went on to coach Conor McGregor.
Biography
Sources for this profile
Wikipedia, John Kavanagh (martial artist), page last edited 18 October 2026.(opens in a new tab)
Wikipedia's biography describes Kavanagh as an Irish martial arts coach, Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and former professional MMA fighter, born in Dublin.
Where in the source: Lead paragraph and infobox birthplace entry (Churchtown, Dublin).
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Kavanagh is the founder and head coach of the MMA gym Straight Blast Gym Ireland, based in Inchicore, Dublin; the biography lists SBG Ireland as his team.
Where in the source: Background section, first sentence; infobox 'Team' row.
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According to the Wikipedia biography, footage of the 1993 UFC tournament inspired Kavanagh to take up MMA, and he later competed in some of the earliest local-circuit MMA events in Ireland and the UK.
Where in the source: Background section, third and fourth sentences.
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The Wikipedia table lists six professional MMA fights for Kavanagh between May 2000 and March 2003, in England and South Africa, with three wins (all by submission) and three losses.
Where in the source: Mixed martial arts record table, rows dated 29 May 2000 to 8 March 2003.
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Wikipedia says Kavanagh won the World MMA Awards coach-of-the-year honour (Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year) in 2017 after a nomination in 2016.
Where in the source: Awards and achievements section, 2017 entry; Background section, Coach of the Year sentence.
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Kavanagh is the author of the 2016 book Win or Learn: MMA, Conor McGregor and Me, published by Penguin, and the biography lists Conor McGregor, Makwan Amirkhani and Gunnar Nelson among his students.
Where in the source: Further reading entry for Kavanagh (2016); lead paragraph, students sentence.
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BJJ Eastern Europe (bjjee.com), interview 'Meet John Kavanagh', posted 19 January 2020.(opens in a new tab)
In an interview with BJJ Eastern Europe, Kavanagh gave his BJJ black belt date as March 2007, awarded by Matt Thornton of Straight Blast Gym.
Where in the source: Answer 1, opening sentence: black belt date and promoter ('march 2007').
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The BJJ Eastern Europe interview introduces Kavanagh as the first Irish person to be awarded a BJJ black belt.
Where in the source: Introduction paragraph, first sentence ('first Irish person').
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Kavanagh named Dave Roche, who trained with him daily and forced him to learn technique to survive, and Andy Ryan, a BJJ and judo black belt who showed him how to train like an athlete, as two of the people who made him.
Where in the source: Answer 4, naming the people who shaped him; Dave Roche and Andy Ryan.
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In the BJJ Eastern Europe interview Kavanagh said he saw UFC 1 and fell in love with it and then began rolling with friends, that he was basically self-taught or self-coached, that he is a mechanical engineer, and that meeting Matt Thornton in South Africa came at a pivotal point in his life and led him to where he is. The interview's introduction, written by the interviewer, says he fought in MMA to gain basic experience before moving into coaching, where his true love lies in teaching.
Where in the source: Introduction (fighting as experience, then coaching) and answers 1-2 ('saw UFC 1'; self-taught; engineer; Thornton meeting).
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Kavanagh said he gave Gunnar Nelson his first private lesson, and called it an honour that Renzo Gracie recognised Nelson's ability and awarded him his black belt rather than Kavanagh doing so.
Where in the source: Answer 7: first private lesson he gave Nelson; Renzo Gracie awarding the black belt ('great honor').
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BJJ Heroes, John Kavanagh fighter profile.(opens in a new tab)
BJJ Heroes recounts that Kavanagh first tried proper jiu-jitsu instruction at a 1999 workshop in London given by John Machado, then saved money for months and by early 2001 spent several weeks at the Machado school in California.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph on 1999 London workshop and the early 2001 California trip.
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BJJ Heroes says Matt Thornton promoted Kavanagh to BJJ black belt in late February 2007 during one of Thornton's visits to Kavanagh's academy in Dublin, making him the first person to hold that rank in the Republic of Ireland.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph beginning 'In late February 2007'.
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BJJ Heroes recounts that Kavanagh and Dave Roche, a former bare-knuckle boxer, were among a group of friends who tested and drilled techniques seen in MMA and began competing in the cage; Kavanagh was studying mechanical engineering at the Technological University of Dublin at the time.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraphs on engineering studies and the MMA training group.
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BJJ Heroes says Kavanagh fought for a South African MMA promotion outside Johannesburg in November 2001, lost, and at the after-event met Matt Thornton, who was there cornering a fighter; the two trained together the next day.
Where in the source: Biography, paragraph beginning 'Later, in November 2001'.
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BJJ Heroes says Kavanagh kept in touch with Thornton, visited Straight Blast Gym in Oregon and brought Thornton to Ireland for workshops over the following years, a partnership that led him to open an affiliate academy, SBG Ireland; it also says he was involved in founding the Irish BJJ Association and the Irish MMA Association.
Where in the source: Biography, last two paragraphs before the awards sentence.
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BJJ Heroes lists Kavanagh's main achievements as first place at the 2005 IBJJF European Open at purple belt and second place at the 2007 FILA Grappling Games at brown belt.
Where in the source: Main Achievements list: 2005 purple, 2007 brown.
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UFC.com, E. Spencer Kyte, 'Kavanagh on the rise of SBG and Irish MMA', 8 October 2015.(opens in a new tab)
A UFC.com feature of October 2015 by E. Spencer Kyte calls Kavanagh Ireland's first Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and head coach of SBG Ireland.
Where in the source: Opening paragraph: 'first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt'.
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UFC.com describes the Dublin UFC card of 19 July 2014, where Kavanagh guided four fighters, Paddy Holohan, Cathal Pendred, Gunnar Nelson and Conor McGregor, into the Octagon and all four won; Kavanagh called it a dream come true and keeps a memorial plaque from that night on the gym wall.
Where in the source: Opening paragraphs on the July 2014 Dublin card and the memorial plaque.
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In the October 2015 UFC.com interview Kavanagh said he coached 42 fighters, that he brought younger gym members to Las Vegas during McGregor's UFC 189 preparation so they could see how a title fight is prepared, and that the gym's training intensity had risen as a result.
Where in the source: Middle section: Las Vegas trip for UFC 189; 'coach of 42 fighters'.
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Wikipedia, Straight Blast Gym Ireland, page rendered 21 October 2026.(opens in a new tab)
Wikipedia's article on SBG Ireland says the gym was founded in 2001 by Kavanagh and became part of Matt Thornton's Straight Blast Gym International that year; it also says he won gold at the 2005 European BJJ Championship, and got his BJJ black belt in 2007 as Ireland's first.
Where in the source: History section, first paragraph (2001, 2005 European, 2007 black belt).
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Wikipedia's SBG Ireland article dates the gym's UFC history: Tom Egan was its first fighter in the UFC in 2009 at UFC 93 in Dublin, Gunnar Nelson debuted in 2012, Conor McGregor in 2013, and McGregor knocked out José Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194 in December 2015.
Where in the source: Ultimate Fighting Championship section, first two paragraphs and UFC 194 paragraph.
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SBG Ireland (sbgireland.com), 'Our Story' page.(opens in a new tab)
SBG Ireland's own story page says the gym was established in 2002 after previously operating as Full Circle Martial Arts Academy, that its first full-time gym opened in Phibsborough in 2000, and that in summer 2019 it opened a 16,500 sq ft facility in Inchicore, Dublin 8.
Where in the source: Our Story page, second and third paragraphs (2002; Phibsborough; 16,500sq ft).
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The gym's story page says Kavanagh became Ireland's first European BJJ champion in 2005, was promoted to BJJ black belt in 2007, and that Kuba Rudnicki became the tenth BJJ black belt under him in 2018.
Where in the source: Our Story page, first paragraph ('first European BJJ Champion in 2005'); fourth paragraph on Kuba Rudnicki.
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Lineage
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Open lineage