Michael crowned new EFR Champion

The 28-year-old MMA fighter now holds both the EFR Pro Title and the Chaos Lightweight Title, making him a double Irish Champion.

“I had a bad start after about five or 10 seconds after he (Shivers) caught me with a big elbow,” said Michael.

“He was very strong and came at me fast. I was stunned for about 20 or 30 seconds after the elbow.

“I managed to recover though and got my bearings back. After that I was able to work and grind him down.”

Michael’s win takes his professional record to eight wins and three losses and the newly crowned champion has already set his sights on a move to America.

“I spent about 12 weeks training for this fight. Now I want to focus on getting my win record into double figures this year and get across the water.

“I want to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico to train with MMA coach Gregg Jackson. I’ll hopefully have another fight on August 11, that has to be confirmed but hopefully I can get across after that.”

Michael was cheered on by around 60 Lurgan supporters when he took on Shivers at the Kinturk Hall, Coagh and has thanked everyone for their support over the last 12 weeks.

“I‘d like to thank my strength and conditioning coach Ciaran Nash because he put a lot of time and effort into helping me prepare, Damien Denny for the boxing side of things and the Stables Bar for their continued support, they’ve been a big help.

“I can’t forget about my wife Amanda for putting up with all the different foods, the dieting and all the training. I couldn’t have done it without her,” said Michael.