UFC Sign Paddy Holohan, Meets Josh Sampo in Dublin

UFC Sign Paddy Holohan, Meets Josh Sampo in Dublin

by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

UFC officials have today confirmed Irish prospect Paddy Holohan has signed with the promotion and will meet Josh Sampo at UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin.

UFC Fight Night 46 takes place July 19th at The O2 in Dublin, and is headline by Conor McGregor vs Diego Brandao. The event will stream live on UFC Fight Pass, and will also be broadcasted on BT Sports in the UK. It is not known yet if Holohan vs Sampo will feature on the preliminary card or the main card.

Fighting out of SBG Ireland alongside top Irish fighters such as UFC Fight Night 46 headliner Conor McGregor and TUF 19 stars, Cathal Pendred and Chris Field, 26-year-old Paddy Holohan is currently riding a 10 fight unbeaten streak, enough to earn the Irishman a contract with the UFC.

Formerly a bantamweight, Paddy Holohan (9-0-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) tried out for season 18 of the Ultimate Fighter but was knocked out of the fight to get into the house by Josh Hill. A veteran of top Irish promotion Cage Contenders, it will be 2 years since Holohan last fought professionally when he steps into the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 46.

A pro since 2009, Sampo (11-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) made his UFC debut at Novembers TUF 18 finale defeating Ryan Benoit by Rear Naked Choke while putting on a fight of the night winning performance. However as Sampo missing weight before the bout, he forfeited his £50,000 bonus cheque to Benoit. Following the victory over Benoit, Sampo then went on to fight former Bellator champion Zak Makovsky, who he lost to by unanimous decision at UFC 170. The lost to Makovsky snapped a five fight win streak for the 29-year-old who has 6 submissions in 11 victories.

With the addition of Holohan vs Sampo, UFC Fight Night 46 card includes:

    Conor McGregor vs. Diego Brandao
    Zak Cummings vs. Gunnar Nelson
    Ian McCall vs. Brad Pickett
    Ilir Latifi vs. Tom Lawlor
    Cody Donovan vs. Nikita Krylov
    Phil Harris vs. Neil Seery
    Trevor Smith vs. Tor Troeng
    Naoyuki Kotani vs. Norman Parke
    Patrick Holohan vs. Josh Sampo

Stay Tuned to KingdomMMA.co.uk for all the latest on UFC Fight Night 46