Paddy Holohan set for Boston bout with Shane Howell on January 18

UFC’s January 18 return to Boston’s TD Garden, which already boasts Irish talents Conor McGregor and Norman Parke, has taken on an even deeper shade of green as Paddy ‘The Hooligan’ Holohan (10-1-1) has been confirmed to face off against American veteran Shane Howell (13-8).

“I’m so happy to be a part of the UFC card in Boston,” said Holohan. “We are going to recreate the same atmosphere we had in Dublin – it’ll be Dublin in Boston. As I always say to the fans, I’m one of them and I know with the Boston crowd it will be the same, like home away from home. I know I’m the job to start that party over in Boston.

‘The Hooligan’ also commented Shane Howell and how he is expecting a finish when they meet on January 18.

“I’ve seen a bit about him, his record suggests that he’s been around and I can’t wait to have a knock around with him. I don’t really do early predictions but I’m coming to finish this guy.”

Making his promotional debut in June at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs Stephens, Howell succumbed to Ray Borg’s rear naked choke in the first round of their bout. With seven of his 13 professional wins coming via submission, he could make for an intriguing challenge for the Dublin submission specialist.

The meeting of Holohan (5’10’’) and Howell (5’8’’) could be the tallest UFC flyweight contest to date and could also indicate that the pair will encounter similar challenges with their respective weight cuts.

Holohan is coming off his first professional loss and a ‘Fight of the Night’ performance having met late notice replacement, hometown hero Chris Kelades at UFC Halifax on October 4.

Speaking after the Kelades bout, Holohan was confident that he had learned a lot from the loss:

“I think I can push on from this, that won’t happen again. In my mind I’ve already learned from the mistakes. People always used to say to me, ‘what would you know, you haven’t lost a fight’. But I have lost things before that, it doesn’t always have to be about MMA.

“I know what it feels like to lose things and anytime I step in there I don’t want to lose. I’ve seen people come back from losses that have improved rapidly. I feel really motivated.”

UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Siver will mark Holohan’s first competitive outing in the United States of America given that his only other MMA contest on US soil was an exhibition against Joshua Hill for a spot in the TUF 18 household.

@PetesyCarroll