Irish fans will have to wait for another UFC Dublin event.
The rumblings were that a fourth UFC Dublin event was being targeted for May 27. Although the event had not been officially announced by the UFC, it was expected to take place at the 3Arena.
As soon as the rumours started doing the rounds, Irish fans put on their matchmaking hats. We were calling for Paul Redmond to get another crack, this time in his hometown. John Kavanagh and others were pushing for Gunnar Nelson to headline against Darren Till.
Plus, depending on how their next fights go, SBG fighters Artem Lobov, John Phillips and Hakeem Dawodu would have been shoe-ins to feature.
'@RedserMma has absolutely earned the right to fight at #UFCDublin if the event happens this summer https://t.co/un2V40uxXi
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 25, 2018
It’s all over
Unfortunately, the death knell sounded on any hope of a UFC Dublin event going down on May 27 on Friday. Just before the UFC London weigh-ins, the promotion confirmed that they will be making their Liverpool debut on that date.
Rising welterweight and hometown hero Darren Till will provide the main event against an opponent that has yet to be announced. Tom Breese will make his middleweight debut against veteran Daniel Kelly while Elias Theodorou vs Trevor Smith was the other fight announced on the card.
Simply put, Dublin doesn’t have a current star with as much hype behind him as Till to headline a local show. Conor McGregor has obviously outgrown carrying a 3Arena Fight Night. Shoulder surgery on a torn labrum has left Joseph Duffy on the sidelines for six months, so he was out of the running.
Plus, all you have to do is look at this weekend’s London show to see the depth of UK talent in the UFC right now. If they want to load up a Liverpool event with British fighters, they will probably be able to. It’s a far tougher task to fill an Irish card with Irish fighters in 2018.
