What the hell do Irish fans have to do to get a main event?
The scheduled welterweight main event of UFC Belfast involving Straight Blast Gym 170lber Gunnar Nelson and Dong Hyun Kim has been pulled from the card due to an injury to Nelson.
MMA Fighting reporter Ariel Helwani first broke the news that the Icelandic fighter was forced to pull out of the event.
He also reported that the organisation was looking at a potential middleweight rematch between Gegard Mousasi, who recently beat Vitor Belfort via TKO, and Uriah Hall.
The Nelson-Kim Belfast main event is off. Mousasi-Hall 2 is in the works as the new main, per sources. Story coming to @MMAFighting shortly.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 21, 2016
That fight has since been confirmed by MMA Fighting.
Hall stopped Mousasi’s momentum dead in its tracks last year with a come-from-behind finish and fresh from Mousasi’s UFC 204 victory, ‘The Dreamcatcher’ mentioned Hall’s name in the conversation about which opponent would make most sense for him next.
Fight fans from these shores will be getting far too familiar with the feeling of high-profile bouts being dropped from events as last October’s UFC show in Dublin saw the main card decimated due to injuries.
Donegal headliner Joe Duffy sustained a concussion in the final week of training which meant that he would be unable to meet Dustin Poirier in the scheduled main event.
BREAKING: Joe Duffy is out of UFC Dublin with concussion https://t.co/1GPwgcjvvA pic.twitter.com/IazHqVxvvQ
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 21, 2015
And a heavyweight match-up between Stipe Miocic and Ben Rothwell was expected to act as co-main event on the evening but an injury to Miocic, who has since gone on to become the UFC heavyweight champion, meant that bout was off and Paddy Holohan vs. Louis Smolka became the new headliner.
Nelson’s withdrawal from UFC Belfast, which takes place on November 19, reduces the Irish interest in the card somewhat, with now Neil Seery and Artem Lobov the only Ireland-based fighters remaining.
Let’s all just keep our fingers crossed that Mousasi and Hall manage to stay healthy for the next three weeks.
In the latest GAA Hour, we talk to Ken McGrath of Waterford and with Declan Brennan about a new club players’ association.
