Jamie Abbott-Bissett is set to represent Ireland in the male bantamweight at the MMA SuperCup and IMMAF European Championships ©IMMAF

Ireland has named a 12-strong team to compete at the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) Brave MMA SuperCup and European Championships.

The gold medallists from the historic All Ireland National Championships were rewarded with spots on the team for the events scheduled to take place in March and May, respectively.

World Cup silver medallist Kerry Ann Vernon headlines the selections and is due to compete in the women's bantamweight category.

World Championships bronze medallist Eabha Cruise in the flyweight and bantamweight substitute Sinéad Ní Nualláin are the other female athletes named.

Jamie Abbott-Bissett, Jordan Bradshaw, Andrew Barrett, Jordan Furey, Cameron Clements, Dennis Perry and Gustavo Burges make up the male fighters, with Lewis Byrne and Conor McCarthy listed as replacements.

Andy Ryan and Liam-Og Griffin will lead the delegation as head coach and team manager, respectively.

Abbott-Bissett made the team in style, winning flyweight and bantamweight titles.

He is expected to fight at bantamweight come the SuperCup, where Ireland are supposed to face a Russian Mixed Martial Arts Union (RMMAU) team first up.

Ireland are set to feature at the MMA SuperCup in Bahrain ©IMMAF
Ireland are set to feature at the MMA SuperCup in Bahrain ©IMMAF

"We’ve known for a couple of weeks now that Team Ireland will first face Team RMMAU in the opening round of the SuperCup," said Griffin.

"According to the Team Bahrain head coach, Eldar Eldarov, Russia got an easy draw for the SuperCup, but Team Ireland doesn’t ever arrive just to take part."

Cruise, Ní Nualláin, Vernon, Abbott-Bissett and Clements all represented Ireland in last month's IMMAF World Championships in Abu Dhabi.

"We’re a small island on the edge of Europe, without government financial backing and yet here we are handing it out to anyone who stands in front of us," said Ryan.

"For 10 years, Ireland has fielded teams that have consistently featured on the medals tables.

"We have multiple IMMAF World Champions and are always up for whatever challenge is laid down in front of us.

"We plan on demonstrating to all the teams at the SuperCup why we are known as the Fighting Irish."

The inaugural SuperCup is scheduled for March 8 to 12 in Bahrain, while neither a host nor exact dates have been confirmed for the European Championships.