If you’ve heard the name Sean Clancy Jr before, you’ve likely heard the ballyhoo that inevitably follows. Not from the man himself; SCJr is the ‘actions speak louder than words’ type, but from the small army that has already amassed in support of the 22-year-old as he takes the formative steps in his mixed martial arts journey.
We’ve all seen popular kids with a groundswell of support behind them before, that’s nothing new. But with Clancy it feels different, like it isn’t just friends and family hitching their wagons to the young upstart. From fans to training partners, coaches to rivals, people are falling over themselves to praise the man they’ve deemed Scotland’s next great hope; a man they believe could – should his trajectory continue – become Scotland’s first UFC champion and in the process, a national sporting hero.
“Sport is a passion and out of passion comes love. No point trying to work out why some become heroes and others don’t. The chosen ones just go into the pantheon and refuse to fade.” – Les Carlyon
He wouldn’t be the first to try. Scotland has never been shy of great mixed martial artists; Paul Craig recently headlined his first UFC event, Joanne Wood was a trailblazer for European women, Stevie Ray fought some of the best in the world and Paul McVeigh in his day was, pound for pound, among the greatest lighter-weight fighters in the sport.
It’s not just a collection of sporadic tails of individual greatness, either. The Dinky Ninjas were one of European MMA’s most notable collective forces as the sport was finding its feet in this part of the world, with a lineage dating back to the turn of the century.
Many of those involved in that first wave of Scottish MMA remain embedded in the sport today, perhaps most notably James Doolan; former professional fighter and current Head Coach at Higher Level MMA.
Doolan is, for obvious reasons, one of Clancy’s biggest cheerleaders. He’s the mastermind behind the youngster’s rise and the man who will likely shepherd him to whatever dizzy heights he eventually climbs to.
As someone who has been involved in the sport on both sides of the cage since the turn of the century, Doolan is no stranger to starry-eyed prospects. And while Clancy is no different in many respects, the fact that he’s dealing with the pressures and stresses of early fame at such a young is a boon in itself.
“There is a lot of hype…” he told Fight & Talk’s Jake Smith shortly after the fight. “He doesn’t react to the pressure too much but there is a lot of pressure…videos and promotional stuff over the last couple of weeks…he’s handled it exceptionally well for a 22 year old kid.”
“The promotional work is paying off – You can see the amount of people that’s come into this venue tonight. The walkout was outstanding.”
Having the superstar aura is one thing, but in a sport so famed for its dramatic twists and turns as MMA, even the most ardent loyalists wont stick around forever if the performances on the dangerous side of the cage aren’t equally as impressive.
Thankfully, and crucially, that’s where Clancy has excelled has excelled the most.
Still, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Paisley man. For the second time in as many fights, he had ground to make up after the first round.
“He’s went in against an exceptionally good opponent from a very good team. He’s had the first round, survived a submission attempt and hit some nice takedowns.”
“He’s come back to the corner and we’ve sent him out in the next round a little bit different…with a bit more intent and pushing the pace and going after him.”
“He’s exceptionally hard to submit, Sean. I don’t know if it’s because he’s been in the gym since he was a kid…but some guys have a kryptonite submission, some guys it’s their neck, some guys it’s a limb…but he’s very hard to submit. Whether it’s his neck, his arm, his leg…he’s got a stubbornness to him.”
“He’s felt his opponent’s strength, he’s felt what his rhythm is a wee bit…he’s got a read on him and he’s come out and executed and got a really nice finish in a guy who’s not been finished in seventeen fights, and the last opponent was similar to that.”
That last part is in reference to SCJr’s previous opponent Andrey Augusto; a notoriously awkward 25-fight veteran who had never been stopped by strikes.
And while ‘Minero’ took points off Clancy, he’d end the night on the canvas for just the second time in his career following a crushing body shot, thanking his lucky stars that the subsequent kick hadn’t decapitated him on the way down.
Gomes didn’t make it to the third round though. Clancy came out like a man possessed in the second frame, taking the back in record time and clamping down for the submission victory before the stop watch had hit a minute.
Nights like CW 187 are the true tests of a young athlete’s greatness, or at least the potential for it. It’s not just about winning, it’s about winning in a way that shows you are constantly, and consistently, rising to the challenges that present themselves.
From hereon out, those challenges won’t be getting easier and if Sean Clancy Jr really is to be Scotland’s great hope, they likely never will.
Something tells us he’s up to the challenge.
You can catch all of Sean Clancy Jr’s Cage Warriors bouts on demand via UFC Fight Pass.
