Patrick Holohan (born 3 May 1988) is an Irish politician and retired mixed martial artist who notably competed in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor from 2007 until his retirement in 2016, Holohan also competed for the promotion Cage Contender and was a competitor on

The Ultimate Fighter 18 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate'' (also known as ''The Ultimate Fighter 18'') is the eighteenth U.S.-based installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. Th ...

Early and personal life

Holohan's mother was placed in a Magdalene Laundry before he was born following the loss of two previous children. For part of his childhood Holohan resided with a maternal aunt in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During this time Holohan experienced the final years of the Troubles. Holohan's maternal grandfather was his father figure; his grandfather was a member of the Defence Forces and Holohan credits his grandfather 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 hosting ''The Tommy Tiernan Show'' (2017–present) and playing Gerry in the sitcom ''Derry Girls'' (2018–2022). Early life Tiernan was born in ...

, 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. The pair run their successful martial arts academy together 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

. 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 Ultimate Fighting Championship against Josh Sampo on 19 July 2014 at UFC Fight Night 46. Holohan won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission midway through the first round. He was scheduled to face Louis Gaudinot on 4 October 2014 at UFC Fight Night 54. 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 on 18 January 2015, at UFC Fight Night 59. 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. He won via unanimous decision. Holohan next fought Louis Smolka 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. Background The event was the third that the organization has hosted in Dublin, ...

. 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 on 8 May 2016 at UFC Fight Night 87. However, on 25 April, he abruptly announced his retirement, citing

Factor XIII deficiency Factor XIII deficiency occurs exceedingly rarely, causing a severe bleeding tendency. The incidence is one in a million to one in five million people, with higher incidence in areas with consanguineous marriage such as Iran that has the highest glo ...

, a rare blood disorder. He was replaced on the card by Yuta Sasaki.

Political career

Holohan was elected to South Dublin County Council for Sinn Féin 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 politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...

over his party's intention to commemorate the Black and Tans. 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 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 Ta ...

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 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 to ...

and

Eoin O'Broin Eoin (, or ) is an Irish name. The Scottish Gaelic equivalent is () and both are closely related to the Welsh . It is also cognate with the Irish . In the Irish language, it is the name used for all Biblical figures known as ''John'' in Engl ...

called Holohan's nomination "regrettable" and "wrong". On 6 July Sinn Féin suspended their entire South West Dublin organisation as a result of the Holohan nomination, a suspension that will remain until an internal review on the nomination is completed.

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 was now an independent councillor.

Championships and accomplishments

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

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 12–2–1 , Louis Smolka , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs. Smolka , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:29 , Dublin, 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, Scotland , , - , Win , align=center, 11–1–1 , Shane Howell , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Boston, 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, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0–1 , Josh Sampo , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Brandao , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:06 , Dublin, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0–1 , Artemij Sitenkov , Submission (triangle choke) , Cage Contender 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:50 , Dublin, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0–1 , Damien Rooney , KO (punch and head kick) , Cage Contender 13 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 , Belfast, 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 in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0–1 , Steve McCombe , Decision (unanimous) , Cage Contender 8 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Dublin, 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 , Dublin, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Milan Kovach , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Cage Contender 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:58 , Dublin, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Ritchie Ivory , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Ring of Combat 26 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:00 , Waterford, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Michael Daboville , Submission (triangle choke) , Pancrase Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:37 , Marseille, France , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Shane Bane , Submission (triangle choke) , ROT7 – The Next Level , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A , Dublin, 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) Sportspeople from Dublin (city) Local councillors in South Dublin (county) Sinn Féin politicians