Tommy Brendle is a student at MoWest who has the aspiration and determination to become a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Champion. He has had this dream since childhood, as he had a champion to look up to.

Conor McGregor, an MMA Champion, stood out to Brendle due to his own Irish heritage.

“My family is Irish,” said Brendle. “My grandpa is from Cork, Ireland. We have a lot of Irish roots there, and one of the biggest figures in the history of Ireland is Conor McGregor, a very big MMA figure, very polarizing, very brash, very loud.” 

 

Brendle has been training in MMA and has been aspiring to get in the ring. At the same time, he is balancing his life as a devoted student at MoWest.

 

Being the champion is a high bar to ascend to, but this isn’t just a whim that he wishes to explore; he has thought considerably about how he takes care of his body and how much damage he can take.

“I’ve never had any serious issues,” said Brendle. “I’ve never had a serious injury, broken a bone, anything like that. I think if I keep being smart, being safe, having controlled sparring sessions, and keep training at the rate I’m at now, I think anything’s possible.” 

 

With a fighter like McGregor, who boasts a record of 22 wins and seven losses, it’s easy to see why an aspiring fighter like Brendle would come to idolize him.

 

“I admired the moxie he carried with him, the amount of strength and the confidence, and that kind of got me into it because if I could achieve something like that, that would mean crazy things to me,” said Brendle.

Brendle’s final goal is to be a champion one day, and then ultimately bring home a belt to his family; all he truly wishes for is to support his family and go as far as his body will take him.

 

“Hopefully in the UFC, fighting for a title shot or being the champion, you know, wherever that may lead me, I want to be as good as I can be, you know, provide for my family, provide for myself, you know, that’s all I can ask for,” said Brendle

 

Brendle, much like McGregor, has a signature style in the ring that he felt he should share.

“I’m a bigger guy,” said Brendle. “My family was really into football and wrestling growing up, so I kind of inherited that. So wrestling is definitely the biggest part of my fight, but I also implement parts of kickboxing and Muay Thai.” 

Brendle is still undergoing training, patiently biding his time till he is ready for a real ring, with an opponent to wail into.