Paddy Holohan was as surprised as any of us to hear that he’d be fighting at UFC Fight Night 59 on 18 January.
‘The Hooligan’ told SportsJOE: “I literally got a text off the girl Vicky from the UFC who asked me for some quotes on my upcoming fight and I thought ‘OK, looks like I’ve got a fight coming up’.”
And the 10-1-1 flyweight revealed that he’s not yet done too much homework against his opponent Shane Howell.
“I probably know the same amount now as I did when I found out … f**k all. Nah, I know a little bit about him, I know he’s fairly tall so I’m not worrying about a small fella with a big overhand right.”
Howell is an American fighter with a record of 13-8 whose fights usually end up on the mat. Seven of Howell’s wins have come from submissions while he has tapped out 5 times in his pro career.
Speaking about that trend, Holohan said: “It must mean his own submission game is very counterable but I bet all his wins have been D’arce chokes and triangles, looking at his body type, but if he wants to trade off submissions with me then I’m good with that.”
Holohan is well aware of the Irish presence that will be ready to cheer him on when he takes to the octagon in Boston.
He said: “There’ll be another Boston Tea Party! It’s always been somewhere I’ve wanted to fight. One of my team-mates from a long time ago, Tom Egan, is out there and he tells me that Boston’s like home to us.”
“I want to walk out there in front of my own people again. Like that feeling I got in Dublin was absolutely unreal.”
Holohan’s unbeaten streak came to an end last month when he lost a decision to Chris Kelades at UFC Fight Night 54 but the SBG fighter was not looking for excuses.
He said: “It was a fight. That guy came ready to fight and everyone thought I’d walk over him but that guy had a better record and was a better fighter than the guy I was supposed to fight. He was just less known. I knew what I was going in to face.”
The 30-year-old Dub will be looking to get back into the win column on the same card on which teammate Conor McGregor takes on Denis Siver but, when asked about his plan for his upcoming fight camp, Holohan was predictably confident.
“I don’t do fight camps. I might increase the intensity or whatever but I’m always ready to fight.”
