On January 17th 2009, the UFC landed in Ireland for the very first time.
Back when The Point (now the 3 Arena) was known as The O2, hardcore MMA fans from all over Ireland, and the entire continent of Europe to be fair, flocked to Dublin to get a glimpse at some of the very biggest names in MMA, and some lesser known names as well.
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The event was shown live on Setanta but there was very little in terms of mainstream media interest, arguably because the only Irish fighter on the card, Tom Egan, was fighting on the prelims, but despite that it still managed to expose curious sports fans to MMA as the main card was shown at the much more reasonable time of 8pm. It also made quite a big impression on two 20-year-old lads in the crowd called Conor McGregor and Paddy Holohan.
UFC 93 was a big success, but those who caught the bug were not to know that it would take over 5 years until the organisation would return to Dublin.
Considering how big MMA, and the UFC especially, has become over the past two years in particular, we decided to have a look back and see how the fighters that fought at UFC 93 have been doing in the last 7 years.
Main Card:
Dan Henderson Vs Rich Franklin
Henderson wins via split decision.
You should know exactly where Dan Henderson is right now, as he is still an active fighter in the UFC and is due to fight Lyoto Machida on April 19. Last time out he was KO'd by Vitor Belfort in the first round back in November.
After claiming a perhaps controversial decision win over Rich Franklin in Dublin, Henderson won the right to coach on one of the best seasons of the Ultimate Fighter against Michael Bisping, who he would KO in devastating fashion at UFC 100 in his next fight.
Since then, he left the UFC to sign with Strikeforce and eventually fight Fedor Emelianenko despite a vast size difference (and win via KO by the way), before resigning with the UFC and fighting the likes of Shogun Rua, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, and Daniel Cormier. There were calls for him to retire after the Belfort KO, but he clearly thinks he has more fight left in him.
After losing to Henderson, Rich Franklin became the first man to lose headline fights in bothern Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. He would fight six more times with the UFC going W-L-W-L-W-L before officially calling time on his career in 2015 although he had not fought since 2012.
Today, he is the Vice President of ONE Fighting Championship, a Singapore-based MMA organisation widely recognised as the biggest in Asia, having been appointed in 2014. He conducts seminars, promotes fights, and all that good retired athlete stuff.
Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua Vs Mark Coleman
Shogun wins via TKO (punches) in round 3.
Another one who you should be fully aware of their current events, Shogun is still competing in the UFC and is due to fight Corey Anderson at UFC 198 in May.
After stopping Mark Coleman with less than 30 seconds remaining in the third and final round, Rua then finished Chuck Liddell in the first in his next fight and earned a title fight with Lyoto Machida. After being agonisingly defeated the first time out, against a Machida that many thought was unstoppable at the time it's worth noting, Shogun blew his fellow Brazilian away in the rematch to win the UFC light heavyweight champion.
He never successfully defended his title, losing to Jon Jones at the first time of asking. Since then Shogun has claimed four wins and five losses over five years.
Now a UFC Hall Of Famer, Mark Coleman's presence on the card would have delighted the Dublin crowd and he would bounce back from the loss by defeating Stephan Bonner at UFC, before losing to Randy Couture at UFC 109 in the first ever UFC Hall Of Famer Vs UFC Hall Of Famer match.
Since retiring Coleman can be seen regularly showing off his OG championship UFC belt with his fans, and is an embassador for Rizin Fighting Federation in Japan. He is also having a seriously tough time with injuries, which is understandable considering his last fight for the UFC was at 45 years of age.
Rousimar Palhares Vs Jeremy Horn
Palhares wins via unanimous decision.
Ah Rousimar Palhares, one of the dirtiest fighters in MMA history, back in 2009 Irish fight fans got a glimpse at a man who later go on to get kicked out of the UFC for failing to release a submission like an absolute scumbag. His first fight after Dublin saw him hold on to a heel-hook even after Tomasz Drwal had tapped out, 90-day suspension. He then managed to resist the temptation to badly injure his opponents until he fail a drug test after fighting Hector Lombard in 2012. On his return to the UFC, Palhares defeated Mike Pierce by heel-hook, and of course he refused to let go. Dana White then kicked him out of the UFC.
Palhares then signed with World Series Of Fighting, won his first fight via heel-hook, raised questions over how long he held the submission in his second fight against Jon Fitch, and then, surprise, surprise, held a heel-hook too long on Jake Shields before being suspended indefinitely with the following quote from the WSOF vice-president:
He has mental problems and shouldn’t be allowed to fight until he fixes them.
Jeremy Horn managed to avoid being held in a heel-hook too long and would go on to have easily the least spectacular career of any fight on the main card, as the Dublin card was his last with the UFC.
From then until November of 2015 he would fight for organisations such as Adrenaline MMA, 5150 Combat League, UFO - Rumble At The Races, Superior Challenge 7 - Rise Of Champions... You get the drift.
His professional MMA record now stands at a barely believeable 91-23.
Alan Belcher Vs Denis Kang
Belcher wins via submission (guillotine) in round 2.
After defeating Denis Kang, Alan Belcher lost his next fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama before going on a four fight win streak, the last of which was a victory over our friend Rousimar Palhares. Back to back decision losses to Yushin Okami and Michael Bisping were Belcher's last fights in MMA, and he is now retired and an "entrepreneur" who posts a shit tonne of motivational messages on twitter.
You get what you work for..not what you wish for..????#nothingisfree ????????#hustlejitsu… https://t.co/cpMHIlJR5w
— Alan Belcher (@alanbelcherufc) March 17, 2016
Denis Kang made his UFC debut in Dublin, but would only fight two more times for the organisation before being cut later the same year. From 2009 to 2012 Kang competed for other organisations such as Road FC and Dream, but also opened his own gym 'Denis Kang MMA Academy' in Seoul, Korea, which he still runs today.
Marcus Davis Vs Chris Lytle
Davis wins via split decision.
Marcus 'The Irish Hand Grenade' Davis was the Boston-Irish representation in the UFC and had the Dublin crowd behind him as he defeated Chris Lytle, and he fought with the UFC until 2011. A win over Dan Hardy and a loss to Nate Diaz stand out from the rest of his UFC career, before fighting with Bellator MMA and Maximum Fighting Championship before hanging up his gloves in 2014.
He now runs his own gym called 'Team Irish MMA'... His family is from Waterford after all.
Chris 'Lights Out' Lytle would go on a four fight win-streak after losing to Davis, the last of which came over Matt Serra, but retired after a win over Dan Hardy in 2011, giving this as his reason:
I feel like I’m not being the type of dad I want to. I got four kids and lots of time I feel just an immense sense of guilt for not being there in times when I should.
He is now a full time firefighter, and ran for Indiana state senate in 2012. He hosts his own MMA podcast these days and is a very nice guy by all accounts.
Preliminary Card:
John Hathaway Vs Tom Egan
Hathaway wins via TKO (elbows) in round 1.
SBG's Tom Egan, cornered by none other than John Kavanagh, was the only Irish born fighter on the first Dublin card, and UFC 93 was his one and only appearance with the organisation. He remained competing in MMA until 2014, but was most recently seen cornering as part of Team McGregor's coaching staff on The Ultimate Fighter.
He has since revealed that he and Kavanagh both feel that UFC 93 came too early for them, but he blazed a trail for Irish fighters in the UFC.
After dispatching of Tom Egan and accumulating an impressive pro record of 17-2, John Hathaway took a two year hiatus from 2012 to 2014, and has faded out of the UFC picture somewhat having not competed since. He was due to fight Gunnar Nelson at UFC 189, but had to pull out due to injury.
Martin Kampmann Vs Alexandre Barros
Kampmann wins via TKO (punches) in round 2.
After taking a win at UFC 93, Kampmann would go on to fight the likes of Jake Shields, Rick Story, Thiago Alves, Johnny Hendricks, and Carlos Condit in the welterweight division before retiring in 2014. He is now a professional poker player and has competed in the World Series Of Poker.
Barros is someone that is very difficult to find information on today, as UFC 93 was his sole appearance with the organisation. He last competed on Road FC 19 in November 2014.
Dennis Siver Vs Nate Mohr
Siver wins via TKO (punches) in round 3.
Dennis Siver is of course still an active fighter with the UFC, but has fought just the once since he was picked apart by Conor McGrgeor in Boston in January or 2015. He also lost his next fight to Tatsuya Kawajiri in June of the same year, and now posts the vaguest possible updates on social media, such as this:
Seminar in Bukarest
— Dennis Siver (@DennisSiver) December 17, 2015
Nate Mohr retired from MMA later in 2009.
