If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
Peter Queally asked… And the answer seemed to be a ‘we’ll do our best.’
The Waterford fighter offered to step up on two week’s notice to take on one of the world’s top welterweights in Tim Means, after Means’ original opponent Sean Strickland pulled out of UFC 202 with an injury.
I hear you need a dance partner?? I'm in Vegas ready to go!! Ireland vs USA!! 🇮🇪🇺🇸 #ufc202 @MeansTim @danawhite @UFCEurope @ufc
— Peter Queally (@peterqueally) August 5, 2016
Queally, a Straight Blast Gym teammate of Conor McGregor’s, campaigned heavily to be given a shot on the big stage but, unfortunately for the Dungarvan man, a visa issue got in the way.
Rumours circulated on Tuesday morning that the UFC had looked into signing Queally up for the Means fight but the short-notice element wouldn’t have given them sufficient time to get ‘The Showstopper’ a work visa.
“Yeah, they tried but didn’t have enough time to secure a visa for me,” Queally said when SportsJOE reached out for comment on Tuesday evening.
The promotion quickly moved down the list for another candidate and came up with Titan FC’s Sabah Homasi, according to a report from MMA Fighting.
It would have made perfect sense for Queally, who is thought to have already been on the UFC’s radar, to step in at UFC 202 given the fact that he was already in Las Vegas and that two of his teammates, McGregor and Artem Lobov, were also on the card.
There’s always next time!
