Neil Seery signs with the UFC; fights Pickett in London

Dubliner Neil ‘2 Tap’ Seery is set to become just the third man from the Republic of Ireland to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) , the biggest stage in Mixed Marital Arts.

Officials announced today that he will step in as a replacement to fight England’s Brad ‘One Punch’ Pickett at UFC Fight Night 37 in London on March 8th

Seery, 34, fighting out of Team Ryano MMA in north Dublin, will take the place of Ian McCall, who was forced to pull out of the scheduled bout with Pickett due to injury.

When news of McCall’s withdrawal spread, Seery became the subject of a concentrated social media campaign by fight fans around Europe in a bid to convince the UFC to add the Dubliner to the card of the London event.

UFC president Dana White and co. obviously agreed, and Seery will now join Conor McGregor and Tom Egan in the select group of Irish fighters that have competed in the world’s premier fight promotion.

Seery has won six of his last seven bouts, fighting most recently in June of last year, when he submitted Mikael Silander, of Finland, to win the inaugural Cage Warriors flyweight title in front of a hometown crowd at the Helix in DCU.

Photo: Cage Warriors

By Tom Rooney – @oldmanrooney