Former MMA fighter jailed for possession of ammunition in Dublin

A former MMA fighter has been jailed for nearly four years after being charged with three fully-loaded handguns. Gary Bligh, 34, was sentenced to…

By: Karim Zidan | 1 year ago
Former MMA fighter jailed for possession of ammunition in Dublin
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

A former MMA fighter has been jailed for nearly four years after being charged with three fully-loaded handguns.

Gary Bligh, 34, was sentenced to 47 months last week for possession of ammunition, including two Sig Sauer P226 pistols and one Sig Sauer P228 pistols. There were 16 9mm parabellum rounds in two of the firearms and 15 9mm parabellum rounds in the other.

The former MMA fighter was believed to transferring the weapons on orders from convicted Irish gangster John Gilligan. He was arrested on Sep. 30, 2020 after local law enforcement officials received intelligence that the firearms were being transported from Dublin to another gang in Roscommon.

Bligh was not considered a pivotal member of the gang and was believed to have involved with transporting the weapons due to a drug debt. Officers also found a small quantity of heroin in follow-up searches.

Gilligan, who was acquitted of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in 2001 yet later served 17 years in prison for drug trafficking, was believed to have been trying to reestablish his criminal network and drug trade. However, the 68-year-old was arrested by police in Spain in October 2020. He has since been released on bail.

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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