Hooligan

By Paddy Holohan and Richard Barrett

When Paddy Holohan discovered mixed martial arts as a teenager, it was the first time his life settled into something approaching focus.

Far removed from the chaos of the outside world, every bout reduced that maze of hardship to one simple proposition: survive – a task made all the more unlikely given Paddy’s rare form of haemophilia, which he kept secret from the MMA world for years.

For the duration of his career, he was never more than one misplaced strike away from the end. Why enter the Octagon knowing you might never leave?

For Holohan, it would take a journey to the summit of his sport, and a high-profile fall from grace, to unravel the answer to that question and, with it, finally find some measure of redemption.

This is his story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gill Books
• Release date: Nov 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9780717186266

Paddy Holohan

Paddy Holohan was a mixed martial artist before the revelation of a life-threatening blood disorder forced him to retire in 2016. He is now the owner and manager of the mixed martial arts facility and community centre SBG D24 in west Dublin, and is a newly elected councillor for Sinn Féin.