It's a question that nobody has been asking for a long time now... How would the toughest Irish football player get on if he were to fight in the UFC?
Having been inspired by the viral clip of Justin Beiber fighting Nate Diaz, we thought we would have a go at a fantasy matchup ourselves, and naturally the toughest man in the Irish football team, a man who rocks a bloody-head-bandage like a badge of honor and has appeared in the official FAI match programme with a black eye, was our first choice to be the guinea pig.
And our experiment went very well*.
Rather than throw him in at the deep end, Dana White chose to offer 'Big' Jon Walters a fight against CM Punk, with both men making their UFC debut...
After a devastating knockout of the former WWE superstar, Walters then went on a tear of first round finishes, knocking Rick Story, Stephen Thompson, and Johnny Hendricks out of title contention before finally getting his shot at the title:
The crowd was electric as Big Jon made his way to the Octagon:
But it wasn't much of a spectacle, as Jon Walters took Robbie Lawler to the ground and destroyed his face with a brutal ground and pound before being crowned the new welterweight champion of the UFC.
OK, so maybe we were a bit flattering with the stats, but you know if Jonny put his mind to it there would be no other outcome. The people's champ, here's hoping he can deliver a KO shot or two in France this summer. If not, at least the Jon Walters UFC adventure was a big success.
*We know it's not quite a dead ringer for Jon Walters, but the EA Sports Game Face will only allow you so much.