UFC Fight Night Dublin Generates Record Viewing Figures on Irish TV

UFC Fight Night Dublin Generates Record Viewing Figures on Irish TV

 
The UFC has announced that UFC Fight Night Dublin: McGregor vs. Brandao has become the highest rating sporting event on channel 3e in Ireland.

Coverage of the event reached an enormous 600,000 viewers in total and recorded a peak audience figure of 340,200. An impressive average of 257,500 viewers (and 21% share of the available audience) tuned in to 3e on Saturday night to watch Conor ‘The Notorious’ McGregor put on a spectacular performance to defeat Brazil’s Diego Brandao in his hometown of Dublin, making it the highest rating sporting event in the channel’s history.

The sold-out event at Dublin’s O2 arena, delivered massive share figures for a number of demographics, including a 36.69% share for Men 15-34 and an even more impressive 43.33% share for Adults 15-24.

In a further coup for the station, 3e’s strong Saturday schedule, which included movies X Men 2, First Blood and a UFC Countdown special, saw the channel post the biggest ever share in its history. 3e posted an all-day share of 10.15% for Adults 15-44 on Saturday 19th July, making it the highest figure of any station for the day.

Garry Cook, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of UFC in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said:

"This was a night that will go down in history within the UFC for the record sell out and viewership figures. The collaboration between UFC and TV3, not just on the night, but in the weeks and days leading to the event has shown how an integrated partnership can benefit both organisations. Throughout the week, TV3 and 3e aired amazing content and were able to access the athletes across a number of platforms, building anticipation and ultimately driving the record breaking audience. We would like to congratulate our friends at TV3 and we look forward to bringing more UFC events in the future."

Jeff Ford, TV3 Group Director of Content, said:

“Saturday night’s fantastic UFC ratings prove that there is a real hunger for MMA in Ireland, in particular Ireland’s own star attraction and showman Conor McGregor. 3e was the first broadcaster to take the plunge and broadcast UFC Live and Free to Air and the feedback from our viewers has been great.  We would like to thank our friends and colleagues from the Ultimate Fighting Championship for their support and help and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them in the future.”

3e is the fourth biggest Irish TV channel, behind RTE1, TV3 and RTE2. It has a strong presence on Irish televisions and has established itself as the number one channel in the country outside of the traditional terrestrials, with a bigger share of viewing than Sky1, E4, Sky Living and 200+ other digital channels. The TV3 sister channel has a monthly reach of 3,004,700.

UFC Fight Night Dublin Results: Ilir Latifi Knocks Out Chris Dempsey in Round One

UFC Fight Night Dublin Results: Ilir Latifi Knocks Out Chris Dempsey in Round One

by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Sweden's Ilir Latifi made short work of late replacement Chris Dempsey, knocking out the American at the 2.07 mark, on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night Dublin.

The bout started with Latifi initiating the striking, catching Dempsey who fought on 2 weeks notice as a replacement for Injured Tom Lawler, with a lunging right hand. Dempsey tried to get in side and fire back with shots of his own, before shooting for a take down which was stuffed by Latifi.

Latifi fires off a huge leg kick which landed followed by another, which almost instantly slowed Dempsey down. Looking lively and visibly confident, Latifi connected with a massive right to send Dempsey thundering to the canvas. Latifi followed it up with one punch on the ground, and the referee had seen enough and stepped in to protect the American, Dempsey taking any more damage.

Following the bout Latifi:

"It is nice to come out of the fight with a fast victory. I was preparing for a tough battle. That's the most important thing - that I prepare myself. And I felt prepared and the results have shown. I loved fighting here in Dublin - the Irish fans were so supportive."

Latifi is currently on a 2 fight win streak defeating Cyrille Diabate at March's UFC Fight Night London. He is now 9-3 overall and 2-1 in the UFC.

UFC Fight Night Dublin Results: Cathal Pendred Produces Memorable Comeback to Beat Mike King

UFC Fight Night Dublin Results: Cathal Pendred Produces Memorable Comeback to Beat Mike King

by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Cathal Pendred produced one of the greatest comeback in UFC history to defeat fellow Ultimate Fighter 19 contestant, Mike King by Rear-Naked Choke on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night Dublin.

The bout started with a much larger King silenced the crowd shooting straight in for a takedown which he was able to land, but Pendred was able to get back to his feet almost instantly. With both fighter taking the centre of the Octagon, King landed a nice right hand that pushed Pendred back, but the Irishman was able to wrap King up and lands a take down of his own.

From the feet, King chases Pendred with with punches and drops the SBG fighter with a huge right hand. King swarms looking to end the fight early. Pendred some how manages to survive but King mounts Pendred eventually making his way to the back where he slapped on a Rear-Nake Choke. King took back mount letting the choke go,  and started pounding away wit heavy fist. With Marc Godard taking a close look at the action, a tiring King, attempted and armbar, and when he couldn’t get it and Pendred escaped to his feet, causing the Irish crowd exploded where the round closed. A strong argument could be made for a 10-8 round, with many outlets including ours scoring the bout that way.

The second round started Pendred, who looked like he had recovered from the damage he took in the first round catching a visibly fatigued King with his hand down land a couple of good right hand followed by an uppercut. King fired back with a kick to the body,which left an opening for Pendred to pick him up and slam him to the canvas. Pendred start to looked tired himself and this point couldn't keep King down and the two were back on their feet with 3 minutes left in the round. After a series of sloppy exchanges, Pendred was able to take Kings back for a double leg takedown. Pendred tied up King with a body lock, and sunk in a Rear-Naked choke that tight, and that quick King went unconscious before he could tap.

After the bout Cathal Pendred said: 

"Mike came out really strong but even when things aren't going my way, I can never count myself out. The crowd was amazing; it kept feeding my energy. I've shown that I'm an exciting fighter and that you can never count me out. I couldn't believe how excited Dana was about the fight. This is the fairytale start to my UFC career."

 Pendred improved to 14-2-1 overall and 1-0 in his UFC career. He will now like return to his natural weight class, 170lbs where he is currently enjoying a 7 fight win streak with notable wins over Che Mills, Gael Gimaud and Nicholas Musoke. 

UFC Fight Night Dublin Result: Nikita Krylov Hands Cody Donovan 3rd Straight Loss in Barnburner

UFC Fight Night Dublin Result: Nikita Krylov Hands Cody Donovan 3rd Straight Loss in Barnburner 

by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Nikita Krylov stopped an exhausted Cody Donovan with just 3 seconds remaining in the opening round at UFC Fight Night Dublin to earn his first win in the UFC's 205lb division. The bout was part of the preliminary card in Dublin.

The bout opened with Donovan looking to land with big left hooks but Krylov was able to push the action towards the cage catching the American with a solid headkick which looked like it hurt Donovan. Donovan was able to reverse position again the cage, and take the fight to ground where the BJJ black belt attempted a armbar which Kylov was able to escape from, taking the fight back to a standing position where he caught Donovan with several solid knees.

The bout turned into a brawl with Donovan returning with hard uppercuts from the clinch, but a front kick from Krylov to the cup of Donovan halted the action to allow Donovan to recovery. When the bout restarted, The Ukrainian came out firing going back upstairs catching Donovan with a head kick which put Donovan on wobbly legs. Still in the bout though, Donovan throw a counter left which caught Krylov, dropping the fighter, where he took the back fighting for a choke. Kylov was able to defend well, and easily reverse position on a visibly tired Donovan. On top Kylov started to rain down hammerfists leaving referee Mac Goddard no choice but to step in at 4.57 of the opening round.

Krylov who now moves to 2-1 in his UFC career, and 17-4 over said following the bout:

 “I’m really happy for the win but I will see from the videos how the fight went. I’m starting to feel more and more comfortable in the Octogan each time. The first time was rough but now it feels a lot better.”

Donovan, who has now lost 3 straight fights in the UFC and will likely loss his job following the loss to Krylov said:

“He hit me with a good head kick and it was hard to recover after that. My legs were pretty wobbly, it felt like I was ice skating. My hat off to him he is a great fighter and he fought a great fight. I’m going to go home and recover. This is the third loss in a row for me so I am going to go home and think and analyse things.”

UFC Fight Night Dublin Results: Paddy Holohan Upsets Josh Sampo

UFC Fight Night Dublin Results: Paddy Holohan Upsets Josh Sampo

by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Underdog Paddy Holohan submitted Josh Sampo in the opening bout at UFC Fight Night Dublin at The O2 to remain unbeaten and send his Irish countrymen into hysteria. 

Holohan caught Sampo with a lead upper cut early in the opening frame, dropping his opponent, however Sampo did well to recover, locking on to an arm for a submission attempt, going belly-down on Holohan. The 26-year-old Irishman, who fights out of SBG Ireland showed excellent composure to escape, slipping his arm out of the submission attempt. From there Holohan was able to slide around to take the back of Sampo and sunk in a deep rear-naked choke which left Sampo with no choice but to tap for the first submission loss of his career and, Holohan's 8th submission victory. The tap came at 3.06 of the first round.

After the bout Holohan said:

“That was just amazing. It felt like home in there. When I go out there the hooligan just consumes my body. I just put my head down and swing at people. I’m pretty buzzing right now. I just want to thank everyone who has stood by me and supported me. I’ve had loads of message of support it’s been crazy. We’re gonna have a street party tomorrow!"

Holohan extends his upbeaten record to 10-0 with 1 draw, while Sampo moves to 11-4 losing his last 2 bouts.

Interview: George Sullivan talks Igor Araujo and Gives his Predictions for UFC Dublin

Interview: George Sullivan talks Igor Araujo and Gives his Predictions for UFC Dublin

by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Early last week, news broke George Sullivan will be returning to the octagon to face, Igor Araujo at a UFC Fight Night event in Brazil in September. We caught up with Sullivan to discuss fighting in Brazil, his opponent Igor Araujo, and to get his predictions for UFC Fight Night Dublin.

You last fought in January, talk us through what you have been doing over last few months, and how does it feel to be back in action?
It feels great to be back in action after a long layoff. I got married and went to Hawaii for a little bit. Feels great to be back and training hard.
 Your fighting Igor Araujo in Brazil in September, how do you feel about fighting in Brazil, a notorious difficult place to win?
Going to Brazil is awesome I can't wait to travel the world and fight the worlds best. It's a honor to be in Brazil and fight there.

As far as preparing myself I don't mind getting booed, it fuels me. I fought in places and have been booed hard, but after I won they cheered. You get both types of fans, respectful ones and diehard, I wanna kill you ones haha. But all in all just getting to fight in Brazil is awesome!
 
And you opponent Igor Araujo, would you say this is the toughest test of your career, and how excited are you to be fighting Araujo?
Igor is a great BJJ artist and I know he's always looking for submission, I'm very excited to test myself against him. It's classic grappler vs striker [match up] and I'm always looking for the knock out, it's what I do. This fight is awesome in my opinion, our stats are opposite, yet identical - This is gonna be a great fight!

On Saturday the UFC will be in Dublin for one of the biggest MMA fights Europe has ever seen, give us you predictions for the fight.
I've got Conor winning by TKO in round 2, Gunnar by Sub - round 3, Brad by knockout round 2, and Naoyuki to take a decision over Parke.

UFC Dublin: Predictions

by Alex Dillon @_AlexDillon_

By now I am sure that you all know the UFC will be returning to Ireland on Saturday night, if you don't then you must have been locked in a dark room with no internet for the past 4 months. As with all the UFC events we have broken down the card and I have predicted how the event will go. Please read below for a full breakdown of the main card as well as predictions for who will win the prelim fights.

Featherweight: Conor McGregor (14-2, 2-0 UFC) vs Diego Brandao (18-9, 4-2 UFC)

The main event, the return of the notorious one: Conor McGregor. Having not fought since defeating Max Holloway last August in Boston, McGregor has been sitting on the sidelines rehabilitating his knee whilst still creating hype and being talked about by almost everyone.

McGregor burst into the mainstream with a scintillating KO over Marcus Brimage in his debut 17 months ago now and ever since it’s been nothing but maximum exposure for the Dublin man. He received the blackout treatment in Boston fighting on the prelims, dominated Max Holloway despite injuring his knee during the fight and there is a huge belief from himself that its only a matter of time before the featherweight gold is around his waist.

This fight was originally meant to be somewhat of a ‘grudge’ match with Cole Miller before Miller pulled out due to a hand injury so Brandao was drafted in to take his place and offer McGregor a different challenge.

Brandao has had an up and down UFC career since winning The Ultimate Fighter, he had a 3 fight win streak snapped by featherweight contender Dustin Poirier back in December, which to be honest, was an all around bad experience for him as he missed weight and also threatened to stab Poirier so it’s likely a time he’ll want to put behind him. Brandao’s head has been known to get the better of him but when he’s on fire, he is on fire and brings a significant threat to McGregor that Miller probably didn’t. The other problem with Brandao is that he tends to ‘gas’ as the fight goes on and McGregor is a machine so if his cardio isn’t up to scratch, its game over for Brandao. He’s recently moved from Jackson’s MMA to San Antonio to focus more on his BJJ which he says has benefited him and his preparation for this fight. We’ll see come fight night how prepared he is and if he really has put the past behind him.

There are arguments from all sorts of fans regarding Conor McGregor, ‘’McGregor’s the real deal’’ ‘’McGregors overhyped, never winning a title’’ One thing’s for sure though, everyone will tune in Saturday night and rightfully so, I expect McGregor to come out and dictate the fight from the off and put on an excellent performance, he’s said himself that’s what he needs to do and it’ll happen.

Win this in spectacular fashion and he’ll likely face Dustin Poirier next to elevate him further towards a title shot. Wherever this fight ends up it favours McGregor, he’ll be on Brandao from the off his skills are too much for this opponent. McGregor's too slick, too fast, too technical and too good for Brandao and I firmly believe we’ll see an even better Conor McGregor come fight night.

Prediction: McGregor via TKO

 

Welterweight: Gunnar Nelson (12-0-1, 3-0 UFC) vs Zak Cummings (17-3, 2-0 UFC) 

This co-main event was originally meant to feature Ryan LaFlare instead of Zak Cummings but an injury forced LaFlare out so Cummings was drafted in to fill the void. In many fans eyes, highly touted prospect Nelson hasn’t had the opportunity to really put a marker on the Welterweight due to injuries and activity but he is without doubt, a future contender.

Cummings has gone 2-0 since officially signing with the UFC after his stint on TUF 17 and has showed promise of his own with his last win coming as recent as May. Even though Cummings is a late replacement, the fascinating thing about this fight is that they are both legitimate submission fighters, although Cummings has the better wrestling so maybe we will see Nelson’s wrestling tested and subsequently see him go into deep waters.

Nelson may have had a layoff but his last outing at UFC Fight Night in London back in March proved that the time out of the cage didn’t really mean anything as he pulled out an emphatic submission victory in the 1st round. What’s more exciting about this fight is that Nelson trains alongside the main event man Conor McGregor under the tutelage of John Kavanagh at SBGi and is a massive fan favourite in Ireland and rightfully so as so far he’s shown he’s every bit of a contender just like his team mate. Regardless of Cummings wrestling pedigree, I see Nelson getting through this comfortably and with a finish.

Prediction: Nelson via Submission

Flyweight: Brad Pickett (24-8, 4-3 UFC) vs Ian McCall (12-4-1, 1-2-1 UFC)

This flyweight battle was originally scheduled for UFC London back in March but McCall pulled out through injury and was subsequently replaced by newly signed Neil Seery. The fight with Seery was Pickett’s first fight at Flyweight since the cut down from Bantamweight and in many fans eye’s he didn’t impress. Maybe it was because many believed he would steam through Seery and that he had an off day. In my opinion I believe Seery was and still is underrated and gave Pickett as good as he got that night. We’ll soon see in this fight if Pickett can handle the cut at flyweight and impress on Saturday night.

Ian McCall hasn’t had the best career so far in the UFC after coming in as ‘the best flyweight in the world’ he too has failed to live up to the hype when it comes to the big fights so this makes for a really interesting matchup.

Up until the announcement that Mighty Mouse would defend his belt against Chris Cariaso at UFC 177, both of these fighters probably believed the winner of their fight would go on to challenge MM for the title so it remains to be seen how they both treat this fight coming in now knowing that a title shot won’t happen straight away.

My issue with McCall is that he has been quite inactive, last fighting a year ago and has had his own personal issues outside of the octagon and Pickett will be out to prove a point. Personal issues and inactivity aside, Pickett is the better fighter and I expect him to come through this fight with a good performance.

Prediction: Pickett via TKO

Lightweight: Norman Parke (19-2-1, 2-0-1 UFC) vs Naoyuki Kotani (33-10-7, 0-2 UFC)

In his last outing in the UFC, TUF Smashes winner Norman Parke was unlucky to come away with just a draw and really should be 3-0 in what has been a promising UFC career so far. His opponent Kotani, has never won in the UFC but is currently riding a 13-0 win streak and boasts 25 wins via submission. With that in mind, it’s more than likely that Parke will deploy his favoured game plan of grinding down his opponents and using the clinch to his benefit. Kotani poses a risk with his BJJ but Parke should pick up the win here.

Prediction: Parke via Decision

 

Fight Pass Prelims

 

Light Heavyweight: Ilir Latifi (8-3, 1-1 UFC) vs Chris Dempsey (10-1, 0-0 UFC)
Prediction: Latifi via Submission

Flyweight: Neil Seery (13-10, 0-1 UFC) vs Phil Harris (22-11, 1-2 UFC)
Prediction: Seery via TKO 

Middleweight: Cathal Pendred (13-2-1, 0-0 UFC) vs Mike King (5-0, 0-0 UFC)
Prediction: Pendred via Decision

Middleweight: Tor Troeng (16-5-1, 1-1 UFC) vs Trevor Smith (11-5, 1-2 UFC)
Prediction: Troeng via Submission

Light Heavyweight: Cody Donovan (8-4, 1-2 UFC) vs Nikita Krylov (16-4, 1-2 UFC)
Prediction: Krylov via TKO

Flyweight: Patrick Holohan (9-0-1, 0-0 UFC) vs Josh Sampo (11-3, 1-1 UFC)
Prediction: Holohan via Submission