Brett McDermott (born 10 September 1978) is an English

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

, and former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. In rugby he represented

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and played club level for every Cumbrian clubs except Carlisle Border Raiders. In MMA, he has been a professional competitor since 2013 and is the current BAMMA Heavyweight Champion. McDermott also competed for Rizin and

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

Rugby league

McDermott, who competed in professional rugby for 15 seasons, was playing for Barrow in 2009. He also represented Ireland, including games against France in 2010. On 30 March 2011, McDermott announced his retirement from rugby league. A couple of days later, he later admitted that he had retired after being charged by the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

(RFL) for failing a drugs test. In June 2011, the RFL confirmed that McDermott was banned for two years after testing positive for

drostanolone Drostanolone, or dromostanolone, is an anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) of the dihydrotestosterone (DHT) group which was never marketed. An androgen ester prodrug of drostanolone, drostanolone propionate, was formerly used in the treatmen ...

and 19-norandrosterone.

Mixed martial arts career

After being banned from rugby league, McDermott became a

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

fighter. In 2013, he turned professional and fought Thomas Denham at '' BAMMA 12'', but lost by submission. McDermott competed in the

Rizin Fighting Federation Rizin Fighting Federation (stylised in all caps and also known as Rizin FF) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. ...

Heavyweight Tournament on 29 December 2015, losing in the quarterfinals against former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion

Muhammed Lawal Muhammed Lawal (born January 11, 1981), also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. As a mixed martial artist, he is a former Strikeforc ...

by knockout.http://mmajunkie.com/2015/12/rizin-fighting-federation-1-day-1-live-results Rizin Fighting Federation 1: Day 1 results: Aoki stops Sakuraba, tourney starts with big KOs McDermott stepped in on a few days notice as a replacement for Vladimir Filipovic to face Liam McGeary in the main event at Bellator 173. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Personal life

McDermott is married with three children. He is of Irish descent.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 9–5 , Tony Mustard , TKO (punches) , MTK MMA: Probellum , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2.40 ,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 8–5 , Ruben Wolf , TKO (punches) , BAMMA 29 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0.54 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–5 , Liam McGeary , TKO (doctor stoppage) , Bellator 173 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:06 ,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 7–4 , Dan Konecke , TKO (punches) , Full Contact Contender 17 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:50 ,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–4 , Kenneth Bergh , Submission (guillotine choke) , Clash of the Titans 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:02 ,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 , Jamie Sloane , KO (punch) , BAMMA 25 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:58 ,

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–3 ,

, KO (punches) , Rizin World Grand Prix 2015: Part 1 - Saraba , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 9:20 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Pelu Adetola , TKO (punches) , BAMMA 23 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:57 ,

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–2 , Marcin Lazarz , Decision (unanimous) , BAMMA 20 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 ,

Oli Thompson Oliver Thompson (born 2 January 1980) is an English mixed martial artist and retired strongman. Thompson currently competes in MMA’s heavyweight division. He has previously competed for major organisations such as UFC, Bell ...

, KO (punches) , BAMMA 17 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:43 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Paul Bennett , KO (punch) , Stoke Fight Factory: Rage in the Cage 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:09 ,

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Shaun Lomas , Decision (unanimous) , Stoke Fight Factory: Rage in the Cage 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Jason Tyldesley , TKO (punches) , Alpha Male FC 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:20 ,

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Thomas Denham , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BAMMA 12 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:58 ,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, England ,

Championships and accomplishments

Rugby league

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

National League One National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

**Champions - 2005

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club play home games at Craven Park (Barrow), Craven Park and compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rug ...

* Division Two Championship ** Champions – 2009 **

Minor premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

– 2009

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

* BAMMA World Heavyweight Championship (One time; first)

References

External links

Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Brett Living people 1978 births Barrow Raiders players Cumbria rugby league team players Doping cases in rugby league English male mixed martial artists English people of Irish descent English rugby league players English sportspeople in doping cases Heavyweight mixed martial artists Ireland national rugby league team players Irish rugby league players Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Rugby league players from Cumbria Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players Workington Town players