Darragh O’Conaill

Darragh O’Conaill is an Irish born Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Saulo and Alexandre Ribeiro, being also one of the top middleweights in the European grappling circuit. One of the original competitors in the famous ‘Lloyd Irvin BJJ Kumite’ tournament (2013), O’Conaill is also an EBI veteran as well as an American and European No-Gi champion, additionally to him running the East Coast Jiu-Jitsu Academy, one of the most successful jiu-jitsu gyms in Dublin – Ireland.

Darragh O’Conaill Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Darragh O’Conaill

Nickname: n/a

Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Royler Gracie > Saulo Ribeiro > (Alexandre Ribeiro >) Darragh O’Conaill

Main Achievement:

• European No-Gi Open Champion (2018)
• London Open Champion (2014)
• Finnish No-Gi Open Champion (2016)
• London Fall Open Champion (2016)
• London Open No-Gi Champion (2014)
• American National No-Gi Champion (2015)
• European No-Gi Open Championship Runner-up (2017)
• Rome Open Championship Runner-up (2015)
• American National Championship Runner-up (2015)
• European No-Gi Open Championship 3rd Place (2015)

Main Achievement (Colored Belts):

• European No-Gi Open Champion (2012/2013 brown)
• London Open Champion (2011/2012/2013 brown)
• London Open No-Gi Champion (2013 brown)
• Rome Open Champion (2013 brown)
• European No-Gi Open Championship Runner-up (2014 brown)
• London Open Championship Runner-up (2012 brown absolute)
• European No-Gi Open Championship 3rd Place (2013 brown)
• European Open Championship 3rd Place (2012/2013 brown)
• Pan American Championship 3rd Place (2013 brown)

Favorite Position/Technique: Baseball bat choke

Weight Division: Peso Médio (82kg/181lbs)

Team/Association: East Coast Jiu-Jitsu

Darragh O’Conaill Biography

Darragh O’Conaill was born on June 23, 1987 in Dublin – Ireland, where he grew up.

From the age of 8 up to his 19th birthday, Darragh played rugby, one of the most traditional sports in the British Isles. After 10 years of playing competitively, O’Conaill felt burnt out and decided to quit. He immediately started looking for a different sport to stay active, finding it in jiu-jitsu.

Jiu-jitsu was introduced to Darragh by his physical education teacher, who was also one of O’Conaill’s rugby coaches. This same teacher was a blue belt in BJJ at the time and brought Darragh to his academy, where the Irishman got acquainted with grappling on December 2006.

Darragh’s first jiu-jitsu coach was David Jones – a student of Chris Brennan – former UFC fighter (Next Generation Academy), who awarded O’Conaill’s blue and purple belts.

When Darragh was a purple belt (2010), David Jones (then a brown belt) decided to quit jiu-jitsu, plagued by injuries as he was. In Jones’ disenchantment with the martial art, he asked O’Conaill to take over the 20/25 student class he had led up until then, an offer accepted by O’Conaill mainly because there were no academies nearby for him to train with.

At the time the academy was still affiliated with Next Generation, a school that angled towards the mixed martial arts (MMA) aspect of grappling. O’Conaill was totally devoted to thejiu-jitsuu and sought a more likeminded affiliation, researching extensively for the right team. That Summer Darragh decided to travel to the US West Coast and visit the University of Jiu Jitsu – Xande and Saulo Ribeiro. He loved the environment and the level of coaching there, which led him to join their affiliation – Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu.

Within 6 years Darragh revamped his academy, going from 20 odd students to 200 strong, while adding affiliate schools across Ireland, as well as one in Wales and one in Newcastle – England. An incredible success story in a booming Irish jiu jitsu market.

Darragh O’Conaill vs Brian Morizi

Darragh O’Conaill short documentary

Darragh O’Conaill Baseball Bat Choke Technique