Patrick Pearse Holohan (born 3 May 1988) is an Irish politician and retired

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 ...

who previously competed in the

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

. A professional MMA competitor from 2007 until his retirement in 2016, Holohan also competed for the promotion

Cage Contender Cage Contender is a European mixed martial arts promotion owned and operated by Belfast based Ferguson Sports Group LTD. History The creation of Irish sports promoter John Ferguson, Cage Contender began as a knockout style tournament to be ...

and was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter 18.

Early and personal life

Holohan's mother was placed in a

Magdalene Laundry Magdalene asylums, also known as Magdalene laundries (named after the Biblical figure Mary Magdalene), were initially Protestant but later mostly Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, ostensibly to ...

before he was born following the loss of two previous children. For part of his childhood Holohan resided with a maternal aunt in

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 Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, during the final years of

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. Holohan's father figure was his maternal grandfather, a member of the Defence Forces whom Holohan credits with instilling in him discipline and morality. Holohan became a father at age 19. He has two sons and two daughters. His eldest son is named Tiernan, after the Irish comedian

Tommy Tiernan Tommy Tiernan (; born 16 June 1969) is an Irish comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his stand-up career, hosting '' The Tommy Tiernan Show'' (2017–present) and playing Gerry in the sitcom '' Derry Girls'' (2018–2022). Early l ...

, whom Holohan credits with keeping his morale up during tough periods in his life. His son Séamus Patrick was born in 2018 and daughter Féile Éireann in 2021 and Ceóla Laragh in 2022 with his long-term partner Chelsea Hudson. With Hudson, Holahan runs a martial arts academy, Holohan Martial Arts. Holohan released an autobiography, ''Hooligan'', in 2019.

Mixed martial arts career

After a successful career in Ireland where he compiled an undefeated 9-0-1 record, it was revealed in August 2013 that Holohan was selected to be a participant on The Ultimate Fighter 18. He faced Josh Hill for his fight to get in the house. Holohan was repeatedly taken down and had no answer for the top game of Hill and ended up losing by decision. Holohan made his official promotional debut in the

against

Josh Sampo Joshua Ashley Sampo (born July 24, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship's flyweight division. Mixed martial arts career Early career Sampo started his professional career in 2009 ...

on 19 July 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 46 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The large ...

. Holohan won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission midway through the first round. He was scheduled to face

Louis Gaudinot Louis J. Gaudinot (born August 28, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the UFC's Flyweight division. A professional competitor since 2009, Gaudinot has also formerly competed on Spike TV's The Ultimate ...

on 4 October 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 54 ''UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 54'') was a mixed martial arts event held at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on October 4, 2014. Background This event was the first event the UF ...

. However, Gaudinot pulled out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer

Chris Kelades Chris Kelades (born February 21, 1981), is a Canadian mixed martial artist and former interim M-1 Challenge Flyweight champion. He previously competed in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor ...

. Holohan lost the fight via unanimous decision. The performance earned both participants ''Fight of the Night'' honours. Holohan faced

Shane Howell Shane Howell (born November 28, 1983), is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Howell has also competed for the promot ...

on 18 January 2015, at

UFC Fight Night 59 ''UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 59'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 18, 2015, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Background The event was headlined by a featherweight bout between ...

. He won via unanimous decision. He returned to the cage on 18 July 2015, to face Vaughan Lee on 18 July 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 72 ''UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Leites'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 72'') was a mixed martial arts event held on July 18, 2015 at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Background After previously hosting 15 events at various locations around ...

. He won via unanimous decision. Holohan next fought

Louis Smolka Louis Smolka (born July 16, 1991) is an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight (MMA), bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he has previously fought for the Ultimate Fighting Champ ...

on 24 October 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 76 ''UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs. Smolka'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 76'') was a mixed martial arts event held on October 24, 2015, at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. It featured Paddy Holohan and Louis Smolka as headliners. Smolka defeated Holoh ...

. Holohan lost by second round submission after taking a series of shots and then giving up his back, opening a window for Smolka to lock in the rear naked choke for the victory. Holohan was expected to face

Willie Gates Willie Gates (born January 21, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Flyweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, he has competed for the UFC, King of the Cage, Tachi Palace Fights, and Bellator MMA. ...

on 8 May 2016 at

UFC Fight Night 87 ''UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 87'') was a mixed martial arts event held on May 8, 2016, at the Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Background The event was the first that the organization hosted ...

. However, on 25 April, he abruptly announced his retirement, citing Factor XIII deficiency, a rare blood disorder. He was replaced on the card by

Yuta Sasaki , known professionally as , is a Japanese professional wrestler and former Mixed Martial Artist who currently competes in Pro Wrestling Noah. A professional competitor since 2010, he formerly competed for Ultimate Fighting Championship, Shooto, ...

Political career

Holohan was elected to

South Dublin County Council South Dublin County Council () is the local authority of the county of South Dublin, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities created by the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993 to succeed the former Dublin County Council before its abolitio ...

for

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

at the 2019 local elections in May 2019.

Podcast controversies

In a 7 January 2020 episode of "Paddy Holohan's No Shame Podcast", Holohan criticised the Taoiseach

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024, as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022, and as leader of Fine Gael from 2017 to 2024. A Teachta Dála, ...

over his party's intention to commemorate the

Black and Tans The Black and Tans () were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence. Recruitment began in Great Britain in January 1920, and about 10,000 men enlisted during the conflic ...

. Holohan accused Varadkar of not understanding the society of Ireland and the history of Ireland, and of being detached from the classes of Ireland, due to his father and grandfather's Indian ethnicity. Holohan stated that when he was growing up, he was raised on stories by his own grandfather about the history of Ireland, and said that Varadkar would have instead been raised "on stories of the rebellion in India, in the idea of fighting the English there, and

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

and all these other stories." He also stated he would like the leader of the country to be a "family man," and to know "what it is like to have kids," in reference to Varadkar's homosexuality. On 16 January, as the

2020 Irish general election The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil by the president, at the request of the Tao ...

campaign was underway, Holohan was called upon by his party to apologize for his remarks. He issued an apology later the same day. In response, Varadkar accepted the apology, stating "I understand that he has apologised in the last few hours and you know that’s good enough for me." Sinn Féin party leader

Mary Lou McDonald Mary Louise McDonald (born 1 May 1969) is an Irish politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition in Ireland since June 2020, as President of Sinn Féin since February 2018, and as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituen ...

also stated that she was satisfied with the apology and there would be no further action needed. On 17 January, it emerged that Holohan had previously made comments on his podcast regarding the alleged use of sexual extortion by underage girls, whereby he claimed he had been told that teenage girls were deliberately targeting men, engaging in sexual relationships and recording evidence of same, and then threatening them with extortion of up to €10,000. Mary Lou McDonald described the comments as “beyond offensive, I actually find them upsetting”. She announced that “I have moved immediately to the party’s disciplinary procedures, and disciplinary action will be taken”. Sinn Féin announced that afternoon that Holohan had been suspended from the party and was to face disciplinary procedures.

Nomination for Mayor of South Dublin

On 26 June 2020 it was announced that Holohan's suspension from Sinn Féin had been recently lifted and he had been reinstated to the party. The same day as his suspension was lifted, he was nominated for the position of Mayor of South Dublin by members of South Dublin County Council, but was not elected. Sinn Féin were criticised for allowing the nomination to occur, and senior figures in the party such as

Pearse Doherty Pearse Daniel Doherty (born 6 July 1977) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency since the 2016 general election, and previously a TD for the Donegal South-West constituency from 2010 t ...

and Eoin O'Broin called Holohan's nomination "regrettable" and "wrong". On July 6th, as a result of the Holohan nomination Sinn Féin suspended their entire South West Dublin organisation until further notice.

Second disciplinary action and departure from Sinn Féin

In March 2021, Sinn Féin once again took disciplinary action against Holohan after Holohan refused a request to take down a Facebook post supporting a salon owner who reopened in breach of COVID-19 restrictions. Pearse Doherty explained the situation to the Irish Independent's ''Floating Voter'' podcast: "This fella made a comment, we told him that comment isn’t in keeping with the party’s view, we told him to withdraw it, he isn’t doing so, there’s a disciplinary procedure, the party will deal with that”. Later that month, it was revealed that Holohan had chosen not to renew his party membership and had become an independent councillor.

2024 elections

Holohan stood in the

2024 Irish local elections The 2024 Irish local elections were held in all local authorities in Ireland on Friday, 7 June 2024. European Parliament elections were held on the same day. It also included the 2024 Limerick mayoral election, for the first directly elected ...

in both Tallaght South and Tallaght Central, won seats in both, and took up his seat in Tallaght South while nominating local MMA coach Dean Donnelly to be co-opted onto the council for the Tallaght Central seat. On November 15th 2024 Paddy Holohan declared his intention to run in the Dublin South West Dáil constituency in the

2024 Irish general election The 2024 Irish general election to elect the 34th Dáil took place on Friday, 29 November 2024, following the dissolution of parliament, dissolution of the 33rd Dáil on 8 November by president of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins at the re ...

Championships and accomplishments

** Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Chris Kelades

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs. Smolka , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:29 ,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1–1 , Vaughan Lee , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Leites , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland , , - , Win , align=center, 11–1–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–1–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

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, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Brandao , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:06 ,

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0–1 , Artemij Sitenkov , Submission (triangle choke) , Cage Contender 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:50 ,

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0–1 , Damien Rooney , KO (punch and head kick) , Cage Contender 13 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 ,

, Northern Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0–1 , Neil McGuigan , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Chaos FC 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:46 ,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

, Northern Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0–1 , Steve McCombe , Decision (unanimous) , Cage Contender 8 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Ireland , , - , Draw , align=center, 5–0–1 , Neil McGuigan , Draw , Chaos FC 8 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Northern Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Andreas Lovbrand , Submission (triangle kimura) , KO – The Fight Before Christmas 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:03 ,

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Milan Kovach , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Cage Contender 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:58 ,

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Ritchie Ivory , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Ring of Combat 26 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:00 ,

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Michael Daboville , Submission (triangle choke) , Pancrase Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:37 ,

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Shane Bane , Submission (triangle choke) , ROT7 – The Next Level , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

, Ireland ,

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holohan, Patrick 1988 births Living people Bantamweight mixed martial artists Flyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Irish male mixed martial artists Irish practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Irish sportsperson-politicians Politicians from Dublin (city) Martial artists from Dublin (city) Members of South Dublin County Council Sinn Féin local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Independent local councillors in the Republic of Ireland 21st-century Irish sportsmen Independent candidates in Dáil elections