Mick Doyle
Mick Doyle was born in Dublin Ireland. His family has had a long tradition of fighters including his great grandfather Mickey Finn, the legendary bare knuckle champion of Ireland. Mick began Martial Arts training at the age of 7.
From 1980 to 1985 Mick went undefeated and become the Irish Kickboxing Champion. For three of those years Mick was forced to fight in the adult divisions, even though he had not met his majority. His tournament and fight schedule allowed him to travel much of Northern Europe.
On December 6th, 1986 at the age of 18 Mick made the decision to immigrate to the United States. He attended Bellevue University full time until 1988 when a position opened up at Saint Joseph Center for Mental Health where he became the Fitness coordinator for the hospital, its patients and staff. He also opened his first Martial Arts school in the same year called The Midwest fighting Arts Academy.
In 1989 he met one of his childhood goals—being recognized as one the best active fighters in the world. He was ranked the number one welterweight fighter in the IKKC World rankings by Denver based World promoter Vern Stephenson, and later that year won his first World Title in Muay Thai.
In September 1994, Mick won his second World title. The IKBO (International Kickboxing Organization ) based out of Emmen, Holland and ran by Mr. Fred Royers.
On April 25th, 1996 Mick was appointed Head Coach of the United States Muay Thai Team. In May of that year Mick traveled with the team to Thailand to train and compete in the Princes Cup World Championship.
After returning from Thailand, Mick began to spend more time perfecting his Jui Jitsu and Grappling skills. Mick was introduced to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by his friends Scott Thompson and R.J Nebe who were the first blue belts in the midwest under the legendary Rickson Gracie. Renzo Gracie came to Omaha to train with Mick at the gym as did John Lewis and Igor Zinoviev.
In 1998 Mick wanted to test his new found skills of grappling and No Holds Barred fighting with a real competition and won the Budokai Bare Knuckle Challenge in Springfield Missouri. Also in 1998, Mick won the Grand Championship Belt at Bas Rutten’s U.S. Open Jui Jitsu/ Tough Man Tournament in Denver, Colorado. His last full contact fight was in Beijing China in 1999 as part of the first professional mixed martial arts fight ever done in China.
Since retiring from competition Mick has devoted his energies to continuing his advancement as a Martial Artist and a coach. He currently holds the rank of 1st Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Scott Thompson and Master Fabio Santos who is one of the highest ranking students of Rickson Gracie. He strives to teach people the life’s lessons he has learned from years of constantly challenging and pushing himself to be the best. The odds have always been stacked against him. From being blind in one eye, to immigrating to the U.S. at the age of 18, unsure of what his future in this country would hold. Mick has faced all these challenges with the courage and determination of a modern day warrior.
He has trained more National champions than any other coach in the United States. To date, he has coached 46 National Champions and cornered 7 World Champions. He is a Senior instructor at 88 Tactical World Headquarters and teaches CQB and unarmed combatives training. His seminars and fighter coaching sessions and methods are among the best in the world and he has worked with some of the best fighters in the world including Conor McGregor, Johnny Walker, Gunni Nelson, James Gallagher, and Kongnapa Watcharwit. He has lived his life through martial Arts and is guided by the ancient Samurai maxim “everything, everybody, outside of myself is my teacher”.
Willie Stewert
Willie Stewart has been at Mick Doyle’s since 1996. In that time he has studied Gan Teora (earning a second degree Black Belt), Muay Thai, Kickboxing,Boxing, and MMA.
Willie is the assistant coach for the Team Doyle Competition Team. He has helped coach 37 national champions and cornerned 3 world champions.
A certified personal trainer through ISSA he has been on the staff since 2002. He has a passion for training and helping people reach their goals.
Josh Kidney
Josh started training at Mick Doyle’s Gym in 2011 when he found himself 30 pounds overweight and quickly approaching 30 years old. He’d heard from a friend that Mick Doyle’s had some of the hardest workouts in Omaha, and wasn’t disappointed in what he found. With expert nutrition and exercise advice, he quickly lost the weight, got in shape, and fell in love with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Twleve years later, he’s an ISSA Certified Personal Trainer, a Precision Nutrition Certified Coach, and a Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu. Josh is also the Lead Instructor at 88 Tactical where he teaches several handgun courses as well as Jiu Jitsu. Josh believes fitness, nutrition, and the ability to fight are some of the most important aspects of living a fulfilled life, and he loves helping people discover the benefits of each. If you’d like to lose weight, get in shape, or gain true Super Powers by learning Jiu Jitsu, come train with Josh at Mick Doyle’s Gym.
Austin Bailey
I started training martial arts seven years ago. It’s been a great opportunity to continue to learn and grow, especially when I started training at Mick Doyle’s six years ago. Since then, I’ve competed in several Jiu Jitsu tournaments, fought in MMA and boxing, and fought at multiple Muay Thai tournaments, taking home second place in my first appearance.
Emeka Ifekandu
Emeka is a retired formal professional fighter that has competed in Boxing, Kickboxing, Bare Knuckle Boxing and MMA. He is also a Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a wrestler, serving as a coach in all of these combat sports.
Matt Cochran
I started training martial arts at the age of 5 and have continued my journey for nearly 33 years and counting. In my younger years my family moved a lot so I studied in various styles, earning a Junior Black Belt in American Kempo and a Brown belt in traditional Taekwondo. I am currently a 1st degree Black Belt in Taekwondo and a Purple Belt In Brazilian Jiujitsu.
I have been a competitive athlete most of my life from swimming, Boxing, Kick Boxing, Track and Field, Power Lifting, and Football in College. I served in the United States Navy after College and Currently Teach Construction Management for Iowa Western Community College and Serve as the Construction High School Liaison and Skills USA Instructor.
Cormac Doyle
Cormac is Mick’s youngest son and has been training and competing since the age of 8. He has been runner up at the Muay Thai nationals twice and has been a certified personal trainer since 2020. He is currently one of the Muay Thai coaches at the gym