You’d have been hard done by to have picked a better main event than Joseph Duffy v Dustin Poirier but what fights would you like to see ahead of the lightweight tilt.
All Irish fighters, bar Conor McGregor, are without an opponent with just three months to go until the UFC’s next visit to the Irish capital.
We’re asking you to pick who you want to see your beloved fighting Irish paired up with for the October 24th event.
Aisling Daly
Aisling Daly will have the longest layoff of all Irish fighters if she holds out for UFC Dublin, having last fought in April but she will feel very hard done by if she’s not put on the Dublin card.
With the strawweight division the shallowest weight class in the UFC, there isn’t exactly a cavalcade of options for Daly but we’ve highlighted former TUF castmates Bec Rawlings and Heather Jo Clark, as well as Julianna Lima as potential candidates with Jessica Aguilar another excellent option if she loses to Claudia Gadelha this weekend.
Paul Redmond
The UFC career of Redser has a very real air of a man being thrown to the wolves. He had to drop to an unfamiliar weight class to face featherweight savage Mirsad Bektic in his promotional debut and had to battle hometown favourite Rob Whiteford in Glasgow last week.
You’d presume that a less high-profile name awaits Redmond in his next outing with the likes of Alan Omer, Masio Fullen and Mark Eddiva all making sense for Redser while Yaotzin Meza would provide a slightly more familiar name for an event as big as UFC Dublin.
Cathal Pendred
The Punisher has claimed that he is planning a break from mixed martial arts to pursue a few boxing bouts which will shore up his striking but he has made a point of expressing his desire to fight at UFC Dublin.
There are no shortage of options for the welterweight and a fight with Colby Covington would appeal to the Irish audience after the American’s comments on Ireland. Pendred critics wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch with Sean Spencer as many had given Spencer the decision when the pair met back in January. To make UFC Dublin unmissable, the UFC could award CM Punk his debut against Pendred although that’s not very likely considering the Irishman’s experience. Mickael Lebout would also make sense from a match-up point of view.
Neil Seery
With a win over Louis Smolka last time out, Seery would have been anticipating a ranked opponent for Dublin but it wasn’t to be.
We could see the realisation of a bout with Richie Vaculik that 2 Tap was forced to withdraw from after injuring a rib last year. Sergio Pettis would be a big enough name to enthrall the crowd while Jon Delos Reyes would provide an interesting clash. We’re also not hating the sounds of Neil Seery v Ryan Benoit.
Norman Parke
While he’s not a guarantee on the Dublin card considering he had a name made for himself before the so-called Irish invasion, Parke’s reception at last July’s event would lead you to believe that he’ll be discussed when Joe Silva is putting together his match-ups.
Stormin’Â was on a tear before his pair of defeats to Brazilian powerhouses Gleison Tibau and Francisco Trinaldo but he’s still very much knocking at the door of the lightweight top 15. A rematch with Leonardo Santos after their draw last year wouldn’t go astray. A meeting with Paul Felder would be huge while a fight with Nate Diaz would be a crowd-pleaser for the ages. Diego Sanchez in Dublin wouldn’t upset us at all either.
Paddy Holohan
Paddy Holohan is likely a close second to Conor McGregor in terms of recognisable Irish fighters and The Hooligan is starting to look like a real contender at 125 lbs after his most recent victory over Vaughan Lee.
A vague call-out of Louis Smolka means that the revenge mission for Holohan could be on the cards as he looks to get payback for fellow Dubliner Neil Seery who was beaten by Smolka earlier this month. Justin Scoggins would make for an entertaining fight while a victory over Ray Borg could see The Hooligan take his place in the top 15. Ian McCall, if recovered, would be a huge name for a main card slot.
Gunnar Nelson
It was always going to be between Gunnar Nelson (honorary Irishman) and Joseph Duffy for the main event of UFC Dublin but now that the latter has been announced as the headliner, the former will probably feature in the co-main event.
Gunni looked tremendous as he dominated the much bigger Brandon Thatch on the main card of UFC 189 and you’d struggle to find a better submission specialist at 170 lbs, Demian Maia excluded.
All the talk has been that Nelson should take on Stephen Thompson which we wouldn’t complain about. Thiago Alves is a veteran and would do a lot to test Gunnar’s striking ability. For a grappling exhibition worthy of the Abu Dhabi Worlds then the UFC could very well match Nelson up with the aforementioned Maia depending on how the Brazilian fares at this weekend’s UFC 190. Dong Hyun Kim would make for a fascinating match-up but it’s unlikely that the UFC would showcase an Asian fighter of his quality on a European event.
