Latest news with #BillyAlexander
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for June: Ilia Topuria calls his shot and makes history
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from June 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month award for June. At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice. Nominee: Steve Collins def. Gabariel Brown at LFA 210 Steve Collins (5-0) found himself defending an armbar in the first round of his 152-pound catchweight fight against Gaberial Brown (4-3). There are a few techniques available to fend off the limb submission, but Collins opted for the most savage option. Advertisement Collins got his feet under him, and deadlifted Brown high in the air, and then dropped him on his head, "Rampage" Jackson style. Brown appeared out cold from the impact with the canvas, but a few follow-up punches were landed before the referee could rush in to stop the fight. Nominee: Billy Alexander def. Zachary Siemasko at Ring of Combat 86 Billy Alexander (1-0) couldn't have fathomed a more brutal finish in his MMA debut when he put Zachary Seimasko (0-1) out cold in scary fashion. After some sloppy action that would be expected out of two professional newcomers, Alexander charged at Seimasko with a flying knee that instantly send him flying backward unconscious. Nominee: Malcolm Wellmaker def. Kris Moutinho at UFC on ESPN 69 Malcolm Wellmaker (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) gave the Atlanta crowd what it wanted with a devastating one-punch knockout of Kris Moutinho (14-7 MMA, 0-3 UFC). Advertisement Georgia native Wellmaker continued to add to his hype as a bantamweight prospect to watch with an absolutely perfect right hook that put Moutinho out on impact and sent him face planted into the canvas less than three minutes into the fight. Nominee: Gregory Rodriguez def. Jack Hermansson at UFC 317 Gregory Rodrigues scored a vicious one-punch knockout of Jack Hermansson that will be the new standard of his highlight reel. In the first round of the middleweight bout, Rodrigues (17-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) caught Hermansson (24-9 MMA, 11-7 UFC) with a clean left hand that immediately stiffened him on the canvas. One unnecessary hammer fist sealed the show. Hermansson was down for several minutes after the knockout blow connected, but eventually got back to his feet and left the octagon under his own power. The winner: Ilia Topuria def. Charles Oliveira via punches at UFC 317 Ilia Topuria has gold around his waist once again. Advertisement In the UFC 317 main event, Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) knocked out Charles Oliveira in 2:27 and claimed a championship – this time, at lightweight. The fight was wild for as long as it lasted. Oliveira (35-11 MMA, 23-11 UFC) was cut in the opening minute. When he tried to drag the fight to the canvas, Topuria reversed his attempt and landed on top. Oliveira attempted a heel hook, which Topuria wiggled away from. Back on the feet, Topuria cracked him with a straight right hand that instantly snatched Oliveira's consciousness from him. Two more follow-up shots smashed Oliveira's face before the fight was waved off. Topuria, 28, won the UFC featherweight title in October. He vacated the title months later, citing weight cut issues. A breakthrough star in the Spanish and Georgian markets, Topuria became the first undefeated fighter to win a second UFC title. Cast Your Vote! This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie's KO of the Month for June 2025: Ilia Topuria makes history
USA Today
02-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month for June: Ilia Topuria calls his shot and makes history
Steve Collins Wins!KO (Slam), Round 1 – 2:30#LFA210 || #Louisville #Kentucky With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from June 2025: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie's Knockout of the Month award for June. At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice. Nominee: Steve Collins def. Gabariel Brown at LFA 210 Steve Collins (5-0) found himself defending an armbar in the first round of his 152-pound catchweight fight against Gaberial Brown (4-3). There are a few techniques available to fend off the limb submission, but Collins opted for the most savage option. Collins got his feet under him, and deadlifted Brown high in the air, and then dropped him on his head, "Rampage" Jackson style. Brown appeared out cold from the impact with the canvas, but a few follow-up punches were landed before the referee could rush in to stop the fight. Nominee: Billy Alexander def. Zachary Siemasko at Ring of Combat 86 Billy Alexander (1-0) couldn't have fathomed a more brutal finish in his MMA debut when he put Zachary Seimasko (0-1) out cold in scary fashion. After some sloppy action that would be expected out of two professional newcomers, Alexander charged at Seimasko with a flying knee that instantly send him flying backward unconscious. DAMNN. Brutal flying knee KO by Billy Alexander at ROC #ROC86 Nominee: Malcolm Wellmaker def. Kris Moutinho at UFC on ESPN 69 Malcolm Wellmaker (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) gave the Atlanta crowd what it wanted with a devastating one-punch knockout of Kris Moutinho (14-7 MMA, 0-3 UFC). Georgia native Wellmaker continued to add to his hype as a bantamweight prospect to watch with an absolutely perfect right hook that put Moutinho out on impact and sent him face planted into the canvas less than three minutes into the fight. Malcolm Wellmaker 😮💨 Nominee: Gregory Rodriguez def. Jack Hermansson at UFC 317 Gregory Rodrigues scored a vicious one-punch knockout of Jack Hermansson that will be the new standard of his highlight reel. In the first round of the middleweight bout, Rodrigues (17-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) caught Hermansson (24-9 MMA, 11-7 UFC) with a clean left hand that immediately stiffened him on the canvas. One unnecessary hammer fist sealed the show. Hermansson was down for several minutes after the knockout blow connected, but eventually got back to his feet and left the octagon under his own power. GREGORY RODRIGUES WITH A LETHAL LEFT HOOK KO TO CLOSE OUT THE PRELIMS 😱ANOTHER FIRST-ROUND FINISH AT #UFC317 😮Watch #UFC317 TONIGHT at 10 PM ET on ESPN+ PPV ➡️ The winner: Ilia Topuria def. Charles Oliveira via punches at UFC 317 Ilia Topuria has gold around his waist once again. In the UFC 317 main event, Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) knocked out Charles Oliveira in 2:27 and claimed a championship – this time, at lightweight. The fight was wild for as long as it lasted. Oliveira (35-11 MMA, 23-11 UFC) was cut in the opening minute. When he tried to drag the fight to the canvas, Topuria reversed his attempt and landed on top. Oliveira attempted a heel hook, which Topuria wiggled away from. Back on the feet, Topuria cracked him with a straight right hand that instantly snatched Oliveira's consciousness from him. Two more follow-up shots smashed Oliveira's face before the fight was waved off. ILIA TOPURIA JUST KNOCKED OUT CHARLES OLIVEIRA IN THE FIRST ROUND TO WIN THE LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE 😱HE IS INEVITABLE 🔥🔥 #UFC317 Topuria, 28, won the UFC featherweight title in October. He vacated the title months later, citing weight cut issues. A breakthrough star in the Spanish and Georgian markets, Topuria became the first undefeated fighter to win a second UFC title. Cast Your Vote!
Irish Times
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Stay with a Chelsea Flower Show gold-medal gardener at his seaside retreat in Kerry
Who lives in a house like this? A large set of hand-forged gates, ornately decorated with galvanised fern leaves that creep up their posts, featuring intricately detailed croziers, unfurl to reveal a magically landscaped spot in the space beyond. The ferns are the clue to the owner – Billy Alexander, the multi gold medal-winning gardener, who has just won his third gold medal at this year's Chelsea Flower Show – and who lives in Kells Bay House and Gardens, at the end of this secluded drive. The set of hand-forged gates, ornately decorated with galvanised fern leaves that creep up their posts, at the entrance to Kell's Bay House and Gardens. Located about 15km west of Glenbeigh on Co Kerry 's Iveragh peninsula, the property includes a Victorian house and a subtropical botanical garden and grounds that overlook Dingle Bay. A river runs through it and, along with the waterfall, the rushing water provides a soundtrack to the lush greenscape. On the shores of the Wild Atlantic Way , the 60-acre property has access to a secluded beach and is surrounded by mountains on every other side. READ MORE Kells Bay House and Gardens: A river runs through the 60-acre property Chelsea winner These and other Chelsea Flower Show awards are displayed proudly on the walls in the diningroom. Set into cards, the medals themselves have to be paid for – he thinks they cost about £150 each. On this same gallery wall are photos of him receiving one of the golds from the late Queen Elizabeth II back in 2018. She's wearing a sunset pink opera coat. He's sporting a smile as wide as the Atlantic that crashes below the house. There are photos too, on the walls, of her son King Charles, who presented Alexander with this year's gold medal. Billy Alexander with his gardening awards. A watercolour by the late Pauline Bewick hangs on another of the walls, commissioned by Alexander, and botanical prints from specimens in the garden, illustrated beautifully by Susan Sex, cover the entrance hall walls and stairwell and are also in every bedroom. This is a plantsperson's retreat, with 60 acres of grounds and gardens to explore. Kells Bay House and Gardens: The property sits on the coast, 15km west of Glenbeigh on Co Kerry's Iveragh peninsula The conservatory area where guests and daytrippers can enjoy a coffee or tea. The driveway is lined with mature trees soaring 100 feet up into the air. Scots pines, Douglas firs and rhododendron, fashionable in Victorian times, were set as a wind belt by an earlier owner of the property – previously called Hollymount Cottage – possibly Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett, Home Rule MP for Co Kerry between 1872 and 1885. It was he who established what is now called the ladies' walled garden, adjacent to the front of the house, reportedly for his wife Lady Mary. Blennerhassett also extended the property and renamed it Kells Bay House. Kells Bay House and Gardens The property includes a main house and other own-door annexes. Virginia creeper climbs the front of the property. A terrace of pink sandstone runs from the front steps down to a cafe area. Entrance hall with its two doors, one on either side. The porch has an entrance on either side, one to the east and the other to the west, to try and keep out of the prevailing winds. The porch and entrance hall have been turned into one long space that extends to about six metres (20 feet), and leads through a door to the main staircase. The public spaces of the house feature dado-level panelling throughout, all painted a warm sandy white called Boathouse by Colourtrend. The walls above are coated in soft serene colours, all by the Irish paint company. Billy Alexander with his award winning ferns. Life on our planet Alexander believes the first tree fern on the property was planted in the 1890s, the so-called mother of all the tree ferns that now inhabit what is termed the primeval forest, a space that looks like a set for Jurassic Park. Indeed, the location featured in the 2021 filming of the Netflix series, Life on Our Planet, which brought extinct creatures back to virtual life in video footage. The clip shows a giant millipede, Arthropleura, which measured over 2.5 metres long – the size of a small car. [ Remarkable 45-hectare estate worthy of Gatsby in Co Westmeath for €8 million Opens in new window ] The tree fern is a plant with which Alexander has had an affinity since his early 20s when his aunt Cora, a family friend of his mother's, bought him his first Dicksonia antarctica. It prompted him to start a hobby business selling plants, while not yet ready to give up his then day job at AIB. It was this side hustle that first brought him to Kells Bay, delivering stock to its then owners. The setting blew him away. He made his first offer on the house, of €2 million, around 2006. It was rejected. About a year later the agent came back saying the owners would accept it. At this point he didn't have the €2 million, and offered a lower price, of €1.5 million, which was accepted. The property needed serious upgrading. 'I started with the roof, taking it down and replacing it,' Alexander says. He thinks this cost about €150,000. To eliminate damp, he dug down into the ground floor to insulate it and lay an underfloor heating system, geo-thermal-operated. Underfloor heating works really well in old houses, especially coastal ones. The dual aspect drawing room with an open fire. Kells Bay House and Gardens: The property has 11 bedrooms in nine different spaces Kells Bay House and Gardens: Penn Alexander serves up Thai cuisine for guests in the Sala Thai restaurant The property was a building site for seven or eight years, with Alexander travelling down from Dublin on a Thursday, meeting with builders on the Friday morning, and then doing the long five-hour drive back to Dublin on a Sunday. On the terrace outside the house, where day-tripper visitors to the 60 acres of gardens can enjoy coffee and tea with a view, there are potted palms four to five metres in height. These form part of the theatre of the place and are transported from the polytunnels by forklift for the season, to help fill out the backdrop. 'They give a more tropical feel,' he explains. Cordylines fill the middle distance, with fuchsia below, and you can see the sea beyond. Thousands of people visit the gardens every year. Groups of children come on school tours before term time. And yet you cannot see any of this traffic from the house, because he had the location excavated to ensure it would be at a level below at a cost of about €40,000. His happy place, though, is with his beloved Dicksonia antarctica in the nursery, where he estimates he has 600 or 700 specimens at varying levels of maturity. A view of the nursery through the poly tunnel. He surveys the grounds daily, either in the early morning or early evening, when guests are still readying themselves for the day or having dinner or pre-dinner drinks. He likes to inspect the polytunnel and nursery and take the sky bridge, a rope bridge that crosses one of the moss-clad gorges. Throughout the property, timber sculptures of dinosaurs and lizards stand life-size, designed by Pieter Koning and Nathan Solomon. Inside, he reconfigured the layout slightly, installing a commercial kitchen to the back and a large office – the control room of the operation, where he spends most of his days. The food and beverage and accommodation at the house accounts for 60 per cent of its revenue. The other 40 per cent comes from the garden cafe, the sale of plants and entrance fees to the gardens. Entrance is €9.50 per adult, while a family of five, two adults and three children, costs €30. [ Wisteria-clad home with American-style luxury interiors on 14-acre estate outside Naas for €4.95m Opens in new window ] Residents are served Thai cuisine, featuring local fish cooked by his wife, head chef Penn Alexander. They met in Phuket, Thailand, where Barry was holidaying to escape the madness of Italia '90. They kept in touch by old-fashioned letter, as Penn's English was only rudimentary, and the following year he took a three-month leave of absence from his bank job, and they travelled around Thailand. They've been together 35 years and moved down to live at Kells Bay about 11 years ago. Previously, Penn had been working in a restaurant in Dalkey but wanted to set up her own place. 'The cost of leasing alone would have been €150,000 just to get going. Now we have a premises,' he explains. They opened their doors in 2014; it took a full year before they were operating seriously. The wall in the dining room where Alexander's awards have been hung with pride. Actor Colin Farrell paid the spot a visit while filming The Lobster in nearby Sneem. 'I didn't know who he was. He requested, 'Your best Thai green chicken curry, as spicy as you can make it!' and gave his approval a short while later, saying this was 'the best f***ing spicy Thai green curry' he'd ever had.' Domhnall Gleeson dined there while filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Taoiseach Micheál Martin is a repeat guest – making use of the direct access to the beach to take a morning dip when in residence. Accommodation wise, the property has 11 bedrooms in nine different spaces. Four are upstairs in the main house. Three of these are ensuite. The fourth has exclusive use of the adjoining bathroom, a concept he says he has to explain to some visitors as they cannot get their heads around it. In addition to the rooms in the house there are five own-door units in the annex. Two of these have two double bedrooms. While children are welcome to visit the estate, overnight stays are adults-only. The rooms are booked out through July and August. A weekend night in September costs €150 per room, with breakfast from €12.50-€16. Dinner at Sala Thai restaurant is a la carte, and almost all the main courses are less than €25.
Irish Examiner
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Kerry gardener 'elated' after third gold medal win at Chelsea Flower Show
A Kerry master gardener who won his third gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in London on Monday for his impressive ferns collection has said he is 'elated, relieved, and overjoyed' with his huge win. Billy Alexander from Kells Bay House and Gardens in Cahersiveen claimed the top prize at the world famous show —this time for his largest creation 'Wilde Kells Bay Gardens' which features more than 100 species of ferns. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, he said he was still 'trying to take it all in.' 'I am elated' he said. 'When I saw the gold, it just made it so worthwhile. 'You never know what the judges will find fault with until the day. It has been non stop with visitors congratulating me. It is also great to see the Irish who left home in the 60s and 70s, and never went back, coming to see the Irish displays with their children.' Billy spent nine days preparing his display with his head gardener Grzegorz Zawlocki. 'I feel if I am happy with it, then it usually means everyone else is. You have to be so serious about your plant selections and the Chelsea show is different, the magnitude is massive — you have to be ready even when you're not ready, you have to be mentally planning it for a long time in advance. This took around two years. 'My first display was 39sqm in 2018, this display is 120sqm. It's four times the size of my first display but I don't think I'll ever go as big as that if I ever enter again. We packed up a 40ft container last week drove over, using the ferry. It was very hard work, he said. 'But it is only a microcosm of Kells Bay back home, everything I do is based on the gardens there, I have a primeval forest with a couple of bog pools and ferns and moss.' Billy Alexander with Joanna Lumley at the famous flower show. Picture: Kells Bay House and Gardens The father of two, who lives and works alongside his Thai chef wife Penn Alexander, is originally from Dublin. He credits his maternal grandfather for teaching him about plants. 'I was always in the garden with my grandfather Harry Harte Barry, he showed me how to grow strawberries, and I learned about plants. 'My mother Maeve Alexander nee Harte Barry was also a gardener, her family were gardeners. 'I am a hands in plants gardener, I have no formal education I learned everything with my hands, we use no pesticides, or weed killers, it's all a manual organic process." His key advice to anyone trying to help the environment is to 'save your rainwater". 'Collect it from your roof and reuse it, and recycle your plastic plant pots," he said. Read More Kerry gardener wins gold medal at Chelsea Flower Show
Irish Times
20-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
From Dublin bank official to medal-winning gardener at Chelsea: Billy Alexander on turning his side hustle to gold
Billy Alexander of Co Kerry-based Kells Bay House and Gardens knows what it's like to go from boom to bust to bloom. The former assistant bank manager at AIB was awarded a gold medal for his fern collection at the Chelsea Flower Show, for decades of work with ferns. It his not his first Chelsea rodeo. This is his fourth medal at 'the pinnacle of horticulture', as he puts it. In 2018 he won silver gilt, followed in 2021 by gold for his display of ferns. In 2023, he won gold again, along with Best in Show. 'Every rodeo gets better,' he says as he's interviewed over the phone while selling a €30 specimen to a customer from his Chelsea stand. He's got a cool head on his shoulders. READ MORE But rewind more than 20 years ago and the Blackrock, Co Dublin native and former banker used to cycle home from his day job as a banking clerk at AIB bank centre to his house in Leopardstown, where he spent his evenings on his knees becoming a 'compulsive gardener'. Tree ferns are his thing. He was first introduced to the plant type by Aunt Cora, a friend of his mother's who, before she died in her early 50s, became like 'a surrogate mother' to the then 20-something. 'She bought me a tree fern, a Dicksonia antarctica'. The passion prompted him to start a hobby business selling plants, while not yet giving up on the day job. Alexander encountered Kells Bay for the first time when he drove southwest to deliver some plants to its former owners. The 19th-century hunting lodge overlooks the Iveragh Peninsula and is set on 60 acres of historic subtropical garden. 'It was a nirvana of plants,' he recalls. The tree fern forest that sealed the deal. Home to an extraordinary collection of naturalised tree ferns, its oldest specimen of Dicksonia antarctica – known as the garden's 'mother tree fern', is believed to have single-handedly spored the hundreds of others that now flourish in the protected microclimate of Kells Bay's primeval forest. This is Billy Alexander's fourth medal at 'the pinnacle of horticulture', as he puts it. In 2018 he won silver gilt, followed in 2021 by gold for his display of ferns. In 2023, he won gold again, along with Best in Show. Leveraging his three-bed semi in Leopardstown and three apartments he owned, he made an offer of €2 million on the property, first directly to the owners and then through their agent. About a year later they came back to say that they'd accept it, but by then he didn't have the money. 'I don't have €2 million, but I can give you €1.5 million, he recalls saying. It was accepted. This was 2006. 'It wasn't easy, but it was possible – but impossible now,' he says. After the boom came the bust. He had to deal with vulture funds, but 'little by little the dream got better', he says. [ Best in show: Irish dahlia growers compete in the UK Opens in new window ] He and his wife Penn now work the property together. She's from Thailand and the resident chef, and B&B costs about €140 to €150 per person. They're travelling to her native country in October and will visit the area that borders China to see scheffleras, tropical evergreen shrubs, in the wild. Also in his travel plans is a research trip to Uganda to see Lobelia that is native to the Mountains of the Moon Massif. Alexander has also visited Highgrove House, family residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, several times. He had his daughter Aisling with him on the stand when the king presented him with his medal. Great Pavilion at this year's Chelsea Flower Show in London. Even the logistics of the Chelsea show are an enormous undertaking. His stand, in the Grand Pavilion, is 120sq m in size and features more than 100 different species of ferns. Every plant in it was lovingly transported to the London showgrounds by Hutton Transport last week, in a 40-foot temperature controlled-truck. Alexander set the temperature to eight degrees Celsius, to 'put the plants to sleep' for the 48-hour journey. He selected 26 of the 50 specimens he grew to be able to make those choices, having nurtured them for two years in advance of this May event. 'You need to be able to do quality control, so you need twice the amount,' he explains. He will sell some of his stock, but much of it will make the return journey to west Kerry. And how much does it cost to stage such a show? 'It's sort-of like the Olympics,' he says. 'They give you a small stipend for your expenses.' The stipend amounts to about £300 (€356). But the actual cost of exhibiting comes close to about €50,000. Alexander's stand has been sponsored by Wilde Aparthotels.
