The local businessman that paid for Catherine Costigan’s medical expenses had one request in terms of recompense: that she promise to pay it forward one day and help out somebody else in need.
Costigan spent her Sunday driving for two hours each way to spend seven hours at a children’s kickboxing tournament, and that was only after she’d been in the gym to do her own strength and conditioning training. She’s already paying it forward; in fact, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear it was built in to her psyche.
Catherine is pulling double duty at the moment – training for her upcoming bout versus Wendy McKenna for her return to Cage Warriors on March 4, as well as running her own gym. The day-to-day routine of running a gym may have been her saving grace, giving her a focus during an enforced time off from competition.
Having suffered a herniated disc, Costigan required corrective surgery and headed under the knife in November, 2015. “It’s been a good fifteen months though,” she says looking back on her break from the cage. But it wasn’t always a positive experience to get to where she is now. Writing in her blog back in September, 2016, she said of her long time coach, Dermot: “He finds it hard some days as we have no finish line, maybe not even a start line for now!”
And how are things looking now? “I think we’ve got a start line!” she says, “I’m starting out as if I have no record again. But I think there’s never a finish line if you’re a martial artist, a really good one, like Georges St Pierre. He never stopped training, he still went to classes every day, and I’d imagine that will always be [the same] for me. The fighter will always be in you.”
It’s the expected answer from an athlete approaching an upcoming fight that they’re “more ready” than they’ve ever been or that they’re in the best shape of their lives, but with Costigan it rings true. When she walks into the 3 Arena in Dublin, she’ll be coming off the back of two consecutive losses – the only two of her career.
“The worst thing happened to me – I lost. But it turned out to not be the worst thing, it showed me that I needed to change. It also showed me that life is life – people still love you, there’s a lot worse things that can happen to you than losing a fight. I’m not putting that pressure on myself to be undefeated this time.”
As well as her hospital prescribed physio, she’s been working with an additional movement training system called Functional Patterns, plus a sports psychologist (“Why not have an extra weapon?”), before adding her usual MMA training back in. “I could have been back sooner, but at what level? 80%? No, it’s not enough. It has to be 100% now, because when you’ve suffered two losses it’s a hard slap in the face. For you, your coach and your corner.”
“I’ve had a full camp for Wendy,” she continues, “I’m completely injury free, and it’s been a long time since I’ve said that! Now they’re going to have to prepare for a Catherine Costigan that’s really ready to go!
“Wendy’s going to do what everybody wanted to do when they saw me lose for the first time. They want to take the fight and build their name off me, which is just the nature of fighting. If you want to be the best you’ve got to beat the best.”
Catherine’s father was surprised to see her stepping back into competition, having convinced himself she had promised to retire. He introduced his daughter to martial arts by showing her Bruce Lee films at a young age; his concern comes from a caring place. “He goes ‘What’s this lady’s age that you’re fighting?’ and I go ’37’ and he says ‘Well, that’s fair now – I don’t want you fighting a 20 year old!’” she laughs.
“I’m happy to be fighting in front of my home town! I can’t let it just sit inside me, with those two losses, when I know… I know I can still be a champion if I put that work in.” Costigan says defiantly. The will to win – to be champion – may be there, but whether there’s a pathway to get to the top is another matter.
Will there ever be a Cage Warriors atomweight belt? “From day one I’ve been pushing for it! And originally when Cage Warriors signed all those women, [Graham Boylan] said every belt would be filled by the end of the year, but for Graham, the problem has always been getting atomweights. I do believe that if Graham can find enough opponents he would honour that.”
When asked recently if he was going to be building the women’s divisions at Cage Warriors, Boylan echoed Costigan, saying: “We’re happy to build a division, providing the talent and depth is there to build a division – you need a bit of structure and depth.” But where will that talent come from?
The dearth of top level female MMA fighters is obvious, and not just at atomweight, as evidenced by the new, sparsely populated, featherweight division in the UFC. Even over at Invicta – Costigan’s home from home – there are divisions with as few as three athletes in (lightweight). She’s confident that these divisions will develop and fill out, but is realistic that it may take many more years, and a process of normalising MMA as an option for young girls to pursue.
“I want to show girls that they don’t have to become the norm of getting married, having kids, they should follow their passions,” Costigan states “I’m trying to prove to the normal person in the street that if there’s enough passion in your heart… I’m no different to them, I just chose to do this.
“When I started kickboxing at age 14, it was me and twelve boys – for probably about eight years. I was bullied, but I was strong. I knew from a young age that I didn’t have to fit in with all the other girls. I’m scared of the way girls are pushed these days.”
The work that Costigan does in her own gym – dedicating time to age appropriate training for kids as young as four, or adapting classes to work with autistic children – is already laying the foundations for the MMA stars yet to be discovered. Besides her own achievements in the cage, is it possible that the true legacy she leaves will be the impact she has on dozens of young women that pass through her gym?
“I don’t believe I’m a Mohammed Ali or anything like that, but I do believe a normal person can change the world. Every person in this life has something to offer.”
Whether she recognises it or not, Catherine Costigan has been paying it forward for years, and like a true martial artist, she’ll never stop.
Catherine Costigan will face Wendy McKenna at Cage Warriors 81 on March 4, at the 3 Arena, Dublin, Ireland. To purchase tickets, click here.
