Paddy Holohan set to face Louis Smolka at UFC Dublin

Paddy ‘The Hooligan’ Holohan has been granted his wish of a matchup with Hawaiian flyweight Louis Smolka at UFC Dublin on October 24 at the 3 Arena.

MMAFighting reported match up earlier this afternoon and UFC officials later confirmed the bout.

Both 125ers have gone 3-1 with UFC thus far, and a spot in the promotional rankings is potentially up for grabs based on the winner of the contest.

Smolka’s last outing was against another Irish flyweight, Neil ‘2 Tap’ Seery earlier this month at UFC 189. Despite being dropped in the early exchanges of the contest, Smolka was able to out grapple the former Cage Warriors world champion to secure the victory in the MGM Grand.

Similarly, Holohan was dominant over three rounds against Englishman Vaughan Lee. The SBG flyweight locked up a triangle in the first round that looked likely to bring the contest to an end, but Lee managed to make it until the final bell of the contest despite the efforts of the Tallaght man.

In his post-fight interview Holohan made is abundantly clear that he wanted to face Smolka next, and an interview with SevereMMA.com a few days after the Lee contest, the Dubliner claimed that he is “a better version” of the Hawaiian.

“When you look at our games, I just think I’m a better version of him. I think in terms of striking, I hit harder than him. If you look at his body the evidence is there as well, his muscle mass and things like that, he hasn’t filled into a man yet.

“I’m not taking anything away from him, he’s a good fighter and he has his record. He can fight, he comes willing to fight, he has that Hawaiian chip on his shoulder and I’m looking forward to this fight happening.

“He wouldn’t have even registered with me but he was saying something on Twitter not too long ago and it kind of caught me off guard. I think the fight makes sense, I’m 3-1 with UFC and he’s the same – it just makes sense.”

@PetesyCarroll